Purgatorio

Monday, August 14, 2006
Home Game 59
Yankees 7 Angels 2
Subway Race Winner: Jailhouse Rock (see notes)
Cap Game: #1



Much better. The Yanks manage to come away with a split against the Angels. Would've been nice if they took one on either Friday or Sunday, but I'm not going to complain. Boston lost and the Yanks' lead in the East is back to 2.

This was a good win. Randy was great, scattering 8 hits over 7 innings. He struck out 5 and on his second K of the evening, he hit number 4,500 for his career. His only real trouble came in the 7th, when he gave up 2 runs. Finally, the Yankees' bats weren't cold (16 hits on the night). However, they couldn't quite get it together for the first 6 innings. They had a chance to score in the second but Giambi appeared to run through a Bowa stop sign and was thrown out at home. I was hoping he'd throw a shoulder at Molina just to try to make it interesting. Jeter put them on the board in the 3rd with a 2-run homer (and trotted the bases to some MVP chants). They had runnners on in 4th, but a base-running gaffe by A-Rod (that's all he needs now, right?) kind of killed the inning. With Cano and 1st and Alex at 2nd, Posada hit a grounder to Kendrick at second. It was a low liner that one hopped to him, so A-Rod had to hold up a bit to see if it was caught. I'm assuming he thought there would be a 4-6-3 double play, so he half-assed it to 3rd. Cabrera saw this and made a heads up throw to third to get A-Rod on the tag play. Lucky for A-Rod, he would later redeem himself. Come to think of it, that's really the only thing I think you can pin on him tonight. He played a solid third base, making some nice charging plays. He looked more comfortable tonight.

In the 5th, the Yanks ran into some bad luck. With Melky on 1st, they put on a hit and run. Damon smacked a liner to right field but it was right at Vlad, who made the easy double play. Can't really blame them for trying a hit and run. Although a bunt could've worked in that situation too (or maybe even a straight steal). At this point in the game, everyone is getting pretty antsy. We can see that Detroit is ahead, but we know that a 4 or 5 run lead at Fenway isn't going to cut it. Plus when the Yankees lose opportunities to put more runs on the board, things tend to not go their way. Sure enough, in the 7th, the Angels finally get to Johnson and put 2 runs on the board to tie the game. (My only real solace at this point in the night is that the Mets are getting clobbered. Not that I personally really care what the Mets do, but Philly pitcher Cole Hamels is on my fantasy team)

Bottom of the 7th, Damon leads off with a single. With Jeter up next, you could just smell a bunt coming. And he did. It was a perfect bunt and Jeter is safe at 1st. (They should make Melky watch tape of that bunt over and over again.) Abreu is now up with runners at 1st and 2nd. I heard someone in the crowd say that he should bunt the runners over. But I didn't really think they'd have their number 3 hitter do it. But, they did. Again, it was a great bunt, and he didn't look to be out by much at first. I'm already reading a lot of criticism for this move (cause, ya know, some people just can't be happy when the Yankees win a game). On the post-game they were talking about it and Joe had Larry approach Abreu to see if he was comfortable with it. Bobby was, so they put the bunt on. I really don't have a problem with it. The way their luck had been all night it looked like they would need to manufacture that go-ahead run. So now, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, they intentionally walk Giambi to pitch to A-Rod. When Molina stood up and held his hand out, the Stadium started to boo. By the 3rd pitch, chants of "A-Rod A-Rod" started. It was probably the most tense I've felt at a game this year. I sooo wanted to him to get a run home. I didn't care how. Hit, walk, sac-fly, HBP, whatever. I just wanted him to succeed. I guess partly because I'm tired of the boos and partly because he needs some confidence. I don't remember the count, but I do remember a couple foul balls. Then Alex to a pitch the opposite way, hitting a high fly ball to right. I knew it was fair and a run would come in, but I didn't know if it had enough to go over. I didn't see the catch, but later I heard that Vlad got it right a the wall. A-rod missed a grand slam by a couple feet. But, a run scored to put the Yanks ahead.

Farnsworth pitched the 8th and threw absolute heat. I can't see the gun readings where I am, but I'm sure a couple of those hit triple digits. The first batter was Vlad, a great power vs. power match up. And Farns' first pitch made Vlad's swing look slow. Hopefully he now realizes that his fast ball is his friend. In the bottom of the 8th, the Yanks finally got their offensive shit together and put 4 more runs on the board. Posada led off with a homer (3-4 on the night, maybe he's getting out of his slump now?). Wilson singled. Melky singled on a bunt! (Maybe he was watching Jeter and Abreu when they executed theirs). Abreu reached on an infield single, scoring Melky. A-Rod hit another infield single, scoring Jeter. 7-2 Yanks.

Mo was already warming up in the pen, so they brought him in the pitch the 9th, even though it was no longer a save situation. I would think that people would know by now that when Mo is already warmed up, he's going to come in to pitch. That's how it is. Get used to it. Quinlin led off with a single and moved to second on "defensive indifference". Molina grounded out to A-Rod. Willits tried to bunt his way on, but Alex made a nice charging play to nail him at first. Figgins grounded out to Cano to end the game. Despite their early troubles with getting runners home, this was a good win. I think (hope) Randy got over that 130 pitch outing and is now on track again to pitch these types of games. I really think that was the big issue with those troubled starts he had prior to the White Sox game.

Random Notes
– Cast members from the musical Jersey Boys sang the national anthem.

– When the Subway Race came on, there was sound but no video. In the middle of John Sterling's intro to the race, they cut in with Jailhouse Rock, so there was no race tonight. (unless I missed it later on, which is entirely possible)

– The giveaway today was a CD sampler from J & R. It has 6 songs: Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones, I Want Action by Poison, Warrior (Paulie's Theme) by Scandal (featuring Patty Smyth), I'm Walkin' by Fats Domino, Let's Work Together by Canned Heat, and of course Cotten Eyed Joe by Rednex.

– On Giambi's sac fly to right in the 8th, Vlad gunned the ball home to try to get Damon. The throw was late. Let me just say it was an absolute thrill to watch Vlad make that throw (especially since Johnny was safe).


I have 2 tickets to the Thursday day game that I can't use. If anyone is interested, email me (address is in the sidebar). I also have 1 for for tonight (Tuesday).

In attendance record: 24-15