Results tagged ‘ Cory Wade ’
Yanks savor an absolutely miraculous victory
There is an old saying among baseball writers that the sentence you never want to write is something along the lines of “Each side scored four runs in the 13th.”
It is naturally a reference to an unusually long game that seems as if it will never end. Well, I am getting to write that sentence today. The Yankees and the Athletics, both locked into tight races for postseason berths, got tangled in an old fashioned marathon Saturday at Yankee Stadium.
The game ended five hours and 43 minutes after the first pitch and memorably for the Yankees. Frankly, this was nothing short of a miracle. They blew early leads of 4-2 and 5-4 and were left for dead in the 13th when it appeared Oakland had taken an insurmountable lead. But the Yankees would simply not quit and because of that emerged with their most improbable victory this year.
That the winning run of the 10-9, 14-inning victory scored on an error is immaterial. The Yankees earned this victory, which kept them one game ahead of the Orioles in the American League East. The Birds had won yet another extra-inning game earlier at Fenway Park, 9-6, to raise their record in overtime games to 16-2. The Yankees improved to 5-3 in extras, which gives you an idea what kind of season Baltimore is having.
“It was an unbelievable comeback,” Yanks manager Joe Girardi said in the understatement of the season.
The back-and-forth game reached its zenith in the 13th when, that’s right, each side scored four runs. Oakland pounded three home runs in the top half, two off Freddy Garcia and one off Justin Thomas as the Yankees were well into a depleted bullpen.
But then, so were the A’s. Lefthander Pedro Figueroa could not get an out as the Yanks filled the bases in the bottom of the 13th on singles by Ichiro Suzuki, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano. Righthander Pat Neshek, a side-winder, wild-pitched in a run and gave up another on a sacrifice fly by Eduardo Nunez.
Raul Ibanez, who had a remarkable game, pushed it into the 14th with a two-run home run. His first homer of the game as a pinch hitter in the fifth unlocked a 4-4 score. In the 12th, Ibanez led off with a double as he looked very much like the Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, who always broke out of the batter’s box after a hit with an idea of taking an extra base. Ibanez was out at the plate on a contact play later in the inning. There was a lot of contact as he slammed into catcher Derek Norris.
Cory Wade, the Yankees’ ninth pitcher of the game, supplied a scoreless 14th and was rewarded with a winning decision when the Yanks rallied once more in the bottom half. Eric Chavez started it with a single off righthander Tyson Ross. Melky Mesa made his major-league debut as a pinch runner and would figure dramatically later in the rally.
Derek Jeter bunted Mesa to second. After Suzuki was walked intentionally, Rodriguez singled sharply through the middle. Those remaining in the Stadium crowd of 44,026 figured the game was over and were stunned when Mesa did not score. The problem was that he missed third base rounding it and by the time he went back to tag it did not have the momentum to come home even though A’s center fielder Yeonis Cespedes hesitated before throwing the ball.
The situation loomed large when Ross made a graceful fielding play flagging down a high chop and recovering to get a force at the plate for the second out. Nunez followed with a grounder to the right side that behaved like a cue ball with a lot of English on it and clanged off the glove of first baseman Brandon Moss for a tough error but an error nonetheless as Ichiro trotted home.
The scene that followed was something out of a World Series. The Yankees mobbed the field the way they have over the years when a championship was secured. They are a long way from that, of course, but as the Yankees continue their march toward another invitation to the postseason dance they will look back on this game for inspiration.
Nunez, 5 others called up from Triple A
Infielder Eduardo Nunez, one of six players called up by the Yankees from the minor leagues as major-league rosters expanded beyond the 25-man limit Saturday, was thrust right into the lineup against the Orioles. Nunez was the designated hitter and in 8-hole hitter in the batting order.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi had contemplated starting Nunez at shortstop and giving Derek Jeter a DH day but changed his mind. Nunez joined the Yankees from Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre along with right-handed pitchers Cory Wade and Adam Warren, left-handed pitcher Justin Thomas , catcher Francisco Cervelli and outfielder Curtis Dickerson, who was signed to a major-league contract and selected from SWB.
Jeter finished August with a major-league-leading 43 hits, the most for him in any month since August 2009 when he had 46. It was the 15th time in his career that Jeter had at least 40 hits in a month, the most for any Yankees player since Joe DiMaggio did it in 17 months.
Jeter’s six home runs in August matched his third-highest career total or any month in his career, behind the nine he had in June 2004 and the eight in August 2001. The Captain also had six homers in August 2009, September 2004 and July 199. Jeet has homered four times in his past 10 games and six time in his past 18.
DJ homered in a career-high four consecutive road games, the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since former teammate Tino Martinez homered in five straight road games from Sept. 23 to Oct. 4, 1999. With 14 homers in 2012, Jeter has reached double figures for the 16th time in his 17 seasons. He and Willie Mays are the only players in history with at least 3,000 hits, 250 homers, 300 stolen bases and 1,200 runs batted in.
In his injury-rehabilitation assignment Friday night for Class A Tampa at Lakeland, Alex Rodriguez as the DH had 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. A-Rod was to play third base for Tampa Saturday. Righthander David Aardsma also appeared in Friday night’s game and pitched one inning of scoreless relief. Lefthander Pedro Feliciano pitched one inning of relief for Class A Staten Island at Brooklyn and allowed one earned run, on a home run, with one strikeout. It was the first run Feliciano yielded in 7 1/3 innings in injury-rehab assignments.
Who’s hot? Everybody but Yankees
As the temperatures in New York keep rising during this heat wave, the Yankees have cooled off. The American League Central-leading White Sox under rookie manager Robin Ventura beat the Yankees for the second straight game Friday night in a game the Bombers were hoping to steal with a pitcher making his major-league debut.
No ninth-inning heroics were required this time from the White Sox, who overcame a 4-0 deficit against rookie righthander Adam Warren and went on the beat the Yankees at their own game. Chicago used four home runs to the Yanks’ one (by Curtis Granderson) on the way to a 14-7 victory.
Warren was not stuck with the losing decision because the Yankees, who had 11 hits, came back from 6-4 to tie the score in the fourth inning on the second of two doubles by Andruw Jones. But relievers David Phelps and Cory Wade couldn’t keep the ball in the yard any more than Warren had. A.J. Pierzynski swatted two home runs and Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez one apiece as part of a 19-hit attack that also included five doubles.
The underbelly of the Yankees’ bullpen has been exposed somewhat the past two nights. Wade especially has been on a downhill cycle. He was roughed up for six earned runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings and has allowed 10 earned runs in his past two outings totaling three innings. That is an ERA of 30.00. Over his past six appearances, Wade has pitched to a 28.69 ERA and given up 13 earned runs and 17 hits, including three home runs, in 5 1/3 innings. His season ERA over that stretch has gone from 2.63 to 5.79.
“He relies on location,” Girardi said of Wade. “He was up in the zone, and he can’t live there.”
The situation reached the perilous point that Yankees manager Joe Girardi resorted to using outfielder DeWayne Wise to get the final two outs, which was one of the few highlights for Yankees pitching in the game.
“You can see guys pitching in and out and changing speeds and plains and can’t get anybody out and then someone comes in and simply throws BP [batting practice] and gets both hitters out,” Girardi said. “It’s a strange game.”
That Wise guy is the center of attention again
If the Yankees start hitting with runners in scoring position and with the bases loaded more regularly, they might just run away and hide in the American League East. The Yanks entered play Tuesday night against the Indians with a three-game lead in the division despite hitting a combined .220 in 592 at-bats with runners in scoring position and .176 in 74 at-bats with the bags full.
Despite those horrendous figures, the Yankees rank fifth in the league in runs. They lead the majors in home runs, which is a chief factor in their winning ways, along with a pitching staff that ranks fifth in the AL with a 3.65 ERA and a bullpen that is second in the majors with a 2.63 ERA.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi is tired of talking about the team’s problems in the clutch and is confident that the numbers will even out. If that ever happens, watch out!
All that came to mind in the second inning when the Yankees got three consecutive hits with runners in scoring position, including one with the bases loaded. That is not a typographical error.
And on top of that, all the hits came after two were out. DeWayne Wise, who earned another start in left field after his fine game Monday night (triple, home run, three RBI), set up the situation with a single to right that moved Nick Swisher, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice, to third base.
Instead of getting stuck there as has often been the case in such situations for the Yankee this year, Swish came trotting home on a single to center by Chris Stewart. Birthday boy Derek Jeter, who turned 38, singled off the leg of Tribe pitcher Justin Masterson, which loaded the bases. No ducks left on the pond this time as Curtis Granderson singled home Wise and Stewart.
It was the sort of rally the Yankees could use on a more consistent basis instead of relying so often on the long ball. That was one reason Girardi put Wise in the lineup again, to make use of his speed, a facet in short supply with regular left fielder Brett Gardner on the disabled list the past two months.
Wise became the center of attention in the game with a tumbling catch or non-catch as it turned out into the left field stands in the seventh inning for the final out with a runner at third base. Wise disappeared into the seats as he reached for the ball. Third base umpire Mike DiMuro made the out call, even though it was unclear whether Wise ever had control of the ball. It appeared to have hit off the heel of his glove, but he and the ball were soon out of sight.
“Truthfully, the ball popped out,” Wise said afterward. “He never asked to see the ball. It was a tough angle for the umpire. I wasn’t going to argue with him. That’s why I got back up and ran on to the field and headed for the dugout.”
Fans in the area apparently tried to put the ball in Wise’s glove as he lay prone but failed to do so. Wise returned to the dugout with an empty glove.
“He disappeared into the stands, and I believed that the ball was in his glove when he came out of the stands,” DiMuro said. “In hindsight, I should have asked him to show me the ball since he fell into the stands and out of my line of vision.”
DiMuro added after the game that he had seen the replay and “It’s obvious that the ball fell out of his glove.”
Wise is having a good series with the umpires. On his triple Monday night, video replays showed that he was actually out at third base. The catch loomed large when the Indians, held scoreless for eight innings by a very strong Phil Hughes, scored four runs in the ninth off Cory Wade and needed Rafael Soriano to save the 6-4 victory.
How fitting such a play as the best catch Wise never made should come on Jeter’s birthday. Diving into the left field stands is one of the captain’s specialties. Jeter had 2-for-5 to improve his birthday batting average to .327 with two doubles and three RBI in 11 games and 49 at-bats. The only players to accumulate more hits prior to turning 38 were Ty Cobb (3,666) and Hank Aaron (3,272). He has 13 more hits than all-time leader Pete Rose (3,170) at the time of his 38th birthday.
CC vs. R.A. not so OK after all
Sunday night’s finale of the Subway Series at Citi Field was another case of a dream match-up not living up to its marquee value. The anticipated pairing of the Yankees’ CC Sabathia and the Mets’ R.A. Dickey was something of a letdown as neither pitcher was at his best. Neither was involved in the outcome, either.
The Yankees got to Dickey for five runs and five hits in his six innings during which his pitching line had some elements of a knuckleball pitcher (one hit batter, one wild pitch, one error) that he had been avoiding in his magical, 11-1 season. Perhaps the best thing Dickey did was to single in the fifth inning and eventually come around to score.
Sabathia had leads of 4-0 and 5-1 but failed to get through the sixth inning for the first time this season. His defense failed him as well as only one of the five runs he yielded was earned. CC’s catcher, Chris Stewart, made two throwing errors, one of which led directly to a run. An error by second baseman Robinson Cano helped fuel the Mets’ sixth when they tied the score with three more unearned runs.
The Mets lead the majors in two-out runs, and the four they got to square things by the sixth were all of that variety. Dickey scored in the fifth on a two-out single by Ruben Tejada. The last pitch Sabathia threw was hit for a two-out, two-run single by Andres Torres. Tejada followed that with another two-out, RBI single off reliever Cory Wade, who walked David Wright to load the bases but came back to strike out pinch hitter Kirk Neuwenhuis.
Cano atoned for his muff the next inning when he powered a 2-0 changeup from Miguel Batista over the center field wall for his 16th home run. That would prove the deciding run in the Yanks’ 6-5 victory that gave them a 5-1 record in this year’s Subway Series.
Mets manager Terry Collins had hoped Citi Field would play larger than Yankee Stadium and the long ball would not be as much a factor as it was two weekends ago when the Yankees swept the three-game set. They out-homered the Mets, 8-2, at the Stadium in that series and nearly did the same, 7-2, at Citi Field.
Winning pitcher Boone Logan (2-0), David Robertson and Rafael Soriano (15th save) combined for three shutout innings as the Yankees’ bullpen again dominated the Mets. In the six Subway Series games this year, Yankees relievers combined to go 3-0 with three saves and a 1.65 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. So it was not just home runs the Yankees used to handle the Mets.
You keep hearing about how the Subway Series has lost much of its appeal and lacks the intensity of past years. Don’t believe it. This year’s home-and-home series drew a total of 270,828 persons to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. They averaged 45,138 per game and drew the two largest gates in Citi Field’s four-season history.
With the Major League Baseball schedule changing next season due to realignment with the Astros moving from the National League Central to the American League West, the Subway Series is likely to be reduced from six games to four or perhaps even three. Many of the players on both teams and both managers seem to believe that is a good idea, a view that might not be shared in the front office when they consider that two or three capacity crowds will probably be sacrificed.
Yanks end drought of homerless victories
The Yankees finally won a game without hitting a home run. It just took 14 innings and nearly five hours to do it. On another day when the Yankees had a miserable time of it hitting with runners in scoring position, they finally broke through for a huge clutch double by Mark Teixeira in the top of the 14th. Rafael Soriano protected the 5-3 lead in the bottom half for his 12th save.
In truth, the Yankees were lucky to have been able to get into extra innings and have the chance to win their eighth straight game and knock off a Nationals team that had been just as hot as they were entering the series. The Yankees, who had been 0-12 when they did not hit a home run, can now try to complete a sweep of the three-game set and the six-game trip with a victory on Father’s Day.
The fortunate part comes from a play in the bottom of the eighth inning in which Tyler Moore was called out at the plate trying to score from second base on a single to right field by pinch hitter Adam LaRoche. Moore had moved into scoring position with two out by stealing second.
Wise, who had entered the game that inning in left field and moved to right field in a double-switch involving Boone Logan and Jayson Nix, made a strong throw home. Plate umpire Tim Timmons called Moore out, but video replays clearly showed that Moore’s left hand touched the plate before catcher Russell Martin applied the tag to Moore’s midsection with his mitt.
Had that run counted, the Nationals would have taken a 4-3 lead. The Yankees put two runners on base in the ninth without scoring, but who knows if the inning would have been different if there were another pitcher, etc.
Anyway, it was renewed life for the Yankees but a tough break for Andy Pettitte, who deserved better than a no-decision for his terrific work over the first seven innings. A two-out, broken-bat double by Jesus Flores in the second inning scored the only two runs off Pettitte, who had three walks and six strikeouts pitching the day after his 40th birthday and not looking a day over 30.
Doubles by Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez helped the Yankees go ahead in the sixth. Swisher had to come out of the game after bruising his left quad sliding into the plate failing to score on a pepper shot by Martin that was splendidly played by Nationals starter Jordan Zimmerman with a bare-handed grab of the ball and an accurate throw home.
After Pettitte left, Cory Wade pitched the eighth and got two quick outs before Ian Desmond, the Washington shortstop who had made a costly error in the fourth that gave the Yankees a run, hit a 2-2 fastball for a home run to left that knotted the game. Wade departed after walking Moore with Boone Logan coming in to face the lefty-batting LaRoche.
The Yankees went hitless for seven innings against four Washington relievers before they came up against an old punching bag of theirs, Brad Lidge. Nix started the 14th with a single and stole second. He had to stop at third base on Derek Jeter’s single to left. Both scored one out later on Tex’s double to right. Including his work against them in the 2009 World Series for the Phillies, Lidge has a career ERA of 17.18 against the Yankees in 7 1/3 innings.
Only one of Soriano’s saves has featured a 1-2-3 inning, and Saturday was no different. He gave up two one-out singles before getting the last two outs. It was somewhat fitting that the final out was made by rookie phenom Bryce Harper, 19, who had the worst day of his brief major-league career by going 0-for-7 with five strikeouts.
Freddy Garcia, who pitched for only the second time since May 21, provided two scoreless innings and got the victory. The Yankees ended up 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position, but those two hits were the last ones they got in the game and proved good enough to settle a 4-hour, 49-minute marathon without once homering.
Hot stretch has Yanks tied for first in AL East
Welcome back to first place, Yankees.
The Bombers’ 3-0 victory at Atlanta Monday night brought them into a tie for the top spot in the American League East with Tampa Bay. It was the first time the Yankees have been in first in 43 games since April 24. The Yankees have been a first-place team for seven days this year but only one (April 21) all by themselves.
Other such days may soon be in their future as the Yankees are on a roll. They have won four consecutive games, nine of 11 and 14 of 18. June has really been busting out all over for the Yankees, particularly their starting pitching. The rotation has done two complete turns this month, and in those 10 starts combined for a 7-1 record and 1.76 ERA with 16 walks and 71 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings.
Perhaps the hottest of those hands has been Ivan Nova, who shut the Braves down for seven innings while allowing five hits, all singles, and one walk with six strikeouts. Nova also got his first major-league hit, a single in the second inning, and made a nifty defensive play in the third to turn a wicked line drive by rookie shortstop Andrelton Simmons into a double play.
Nova, who has not lost a game on the road for more than a year, is on a four-game winning streak during which he has pitched to a 2.83 ERA and lowered his season ERA from 5.69 to 4.64. With an 8-2 record, Nova has taken over the staff lead in victories over CC Sabathia, who is 7-3 and will go for his eighth victory Tuesday night.
With Rafael Soriano unavailable because of a blistered finger, Yankees manager Joe Girardi mixed and matched with his bullpen and got two scoreless innings from an ensemble of Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada, Cory Wade and Boone Logan.
Considering the wildness of Braves starter Randall Delgado (six walks and a wild pitch), the Yankees probably should have scored more than three runs, but they stranded 11 runners. Again, their problems with the bases loaded surfaced as they went 0-for-3 with the bags full and are now hitting .149 in 67 such at-bats this season.
The Yanks’ offense had some solid moments as well. They scored a two-out run in the first on a double by Alex Rodriguez and single by Robinson Cano. Raul Ibanez, who had never homered at Turner Field in 105 career at-bats, ended that drought with a drive to right in the second. The next inning, daring base running by Rodriguez fueled a rally that produced a run on a wild pitch that scored A-Rod.
The fielding gem of the night was a wall-climbing catch in right field by Nick Swisher, who robbed Brian McCann of a potential two-run home run in the seventh that would have made it a one-run game. The Braves never got that close again.
The only Yankees player who batted but failed to reach base was Sunday’s hero, Russell Martin, who was 0-for-4 Monday night. But as Girardi pointed out Sunday, it takes different people to contribute at different times.
The Yankees are a season-high 10 games over .500 and back where they belong, in first place.
Intensity returns to Subway Series
Now this was more like it. Yankees fans surely loved Friday night’s 9-1 victory over the Mets, but from a purely baseball sense it was a game lacking drama once the Bombers took an early lead off Johan Santana, who had pitched a no-hitter in his previous start.
Saturday night was a different story, however. This was a Subway Series game filled with action and intensity. And Yankees fans could still be happy that the game went in their favor, 4-2.
Phil Hughes continued his hot hand of late with his third straight winning decision. Over his past seven starts, Hughes is 5-1 with a 3.50 ERA in 46 1/3 innings. It also continued a strong run this month by Yankees starting pitchers. The rotation is a combined 6-1 with a 1.84 ERA in June.
Both of the runs Hughes allowed were on home runs (by Omar Quintanilla and David Wright), but his teammates countered with a pair of homers as well. Mark Teixeira’s two-run blow in the sixth off Dillon Gee put the Yanks ahead for good. Curtis Granderson, who had walked and scored on Tex’s 11th homer of the season, added insurance with a solo shot (No. 18) in the eighth off Bobby Parnell that stopped a hitless string that had reached 18 at-bats.
Granderson also made the defensive play of the game. Boone Logan relieved Hughes with one out and a runner on first base in the seventh to face Quintanilla, who had the only hit in seven innings off Hiroki Kuroda Friday night, a double. The Mets shortstop made a bid for another double with a drive to deep left-center, but Granderson caught up to it with a splendid, leaping, one-handed grab.
Quintanilla also represented the potential tying run in the ninth against Rafael Soriano and singled to center with two out to keep the Mets’ rally alive with runners on first and third. Soriano retired pinch hitter Jordany Valdespin on a fly to left to chalk up his ninth save in nine opportunities.
Cory Wade and Clay Rapada also were effective in relief as manager Joe Girardi negotiated the pen adroitly. Rapada was key because the Mets bunch three left-handed batters in the middle of the order with Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis. That makes them vulnerable to the move Girardi made in the eighth by bringing in Rapada to face Duda and Murphy after Wade had set down Wright on a ground ball. Rapada got the two lefty swingers on grounders as well.
The sellout crowd of 44,575 at Yankee Stadium also proved a strong chorus in backing up MaryKay Messenger’s moving rendition of “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch. It was that kind of night at the yard.
Yanks avoid getting swept by Angels
It was hard not to get that here-we-go-ahead feeling in the first inning Wednesday night when Curtis Granderson doubled with one out and was stranded at second as Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano struck out. Two more fruitless at-bats with a runner in scoring position was a poor early sign for the Yankees.
The Angels struggled just as much in that circumstance in the bottom half. They loaded the bases against Ivan Nova on a hit batter, a single and a walk with none out and made the least of it with merely one run on a sacrifice fly by Mark Trumbo, who would do much more damage later on.
The Yankees finally got a hit with a runner in scoring position in the third on Granderson’s 16th home run, a three-run shot to right off Ervin Santana. After Santana struck A-Rod with a pitch, Cano slammed a two-run homer to right. It was the fifth career homer for each off Santana, who seemed headed for an early exit but eventually made it through five innings.
Ivan Nova could not have been in a better situation, but for the second time in this series a Yankees starter could not hold an early lead. Phil Hughes squandered a 3-0 lead Monday night, and Nova spit out the 5-1 advantage in the fourth. A leadoff walk spelled trouble, particularly since it came in front of Trumbo, who turned around a 95-mph fastball for a two-run home run to right.
The Yankees had had their fill of Trumbo, who won Monday night’s game with a ninth-inning home run, also homered Tuesday night and had the Yankees nervous when he had a chance to win Wednesday night’s game in the ninth again. For the series, Trumbo had 8-for-15 (.533) with one double, one triple, three home runs and six RBI.
The Angels kept it up against Nova. A well-placed bunt by catcher Bobby Wilson in front of Rodriguez playing deep at third base gave the Angels runners at first and second with two out. Both scored on a double to right-center by Mike Trout, which gave him four RBI in the series, to make it 5-5.
Wilson might not have been able to score except that right fielder Nick Swisher missed both cutoff men. Swish made up for the rock two innings later by regaining the lead for the Yankees on a sacrifice fly that scored Raul Ibanez, who tripled off reliever Hisanori Takahashi. It was poetic justice for Swisher, who was robbed of a home run and another extra- base hit by Angels outfielders Tuesday night.
Nova didn’t cough up the lead this time and ended up extending his unbeaten streak on the road to 13 starts during which he is 10-0 with a 3.61 ERA. He lasted two outs into the seventh and got huge backup support from Cory Wade after Boone Logan allowed a pair of two-out singles upon Nova’s departure.
Wade, who gave up the game-winner to Trumbo Monday night, struck out Howie Kendrick to end the seventh and pitched a perfect eighth with two more punchouts. Rafael Soriano had to sweat for his sixth save as the Angels had runners on first and second with two out and Trumbo at the plate. No heroics this time as he flied out to left.
Despite losing two of the three games in Anaheim, the Yankees pulled to 1 ½ games of the first-place Orioles and Rays in the American League East. The Yanks also stayed a half-game ahead of the hard-charging Blue Jays, who swept a three-game set from Baltimore.
Jack O'Connell
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