Now, that was the way the start of the Fourth of July weekend.
Masahiro Tanaka got out-pitched by Chris Archer but the Yanks were able to chase Tampa’s ace from the game with two men out in the 7th. Trailing 3-0, Mark Teixeira had the big knock in the 8th, hitting a 3-run home home run.
Just felt like the Yanks were going to win the game, never mind the double plays they hit into to end the 8th and 9th innings. When Evan Longoria was called out at second after a replay review in the 11th, the good vibes continued. Longoria slid into second and for a fraction of a moment came off the bag. Nice catch by the Yankees to even review it. Strangely, for my glass-half-empty-ass-self, I still felt hopeful even after the Rays scored a couple of runs in the top of the 12th.
The bottom of the inning went like this: Brett Gardner walked–oh, those lead-off walks–and after Chase Headley whiffed, Alex Rodriguez hit an excuse-me single to right. It was a slow ground ball, squibbed off the end of his bat, but since the Rays were positioned for him to pull, a sure fire double play turned into a single, with Gardner taking third. Rodriguez smiled on his way to first, and could have been singing “With a little bit of luck” if he was a musical theater kind of guy.
Gardner scored when Mark Teixeira singled hard to right field. It was a relief too because Teix took the first pitch of the at bat, a fastball right down the middle, and I figured that’d be the best pitch he’d see. The one he singled on wasn’t as good, but fat enough.
So, Yanks down 5-4, first and second for Brian McCann. Oh, a double play loomed in our minds but McCann golfed a fastball over the fence in right field for a 3-run, game-ending home run instead.
Smiles, cheers, high-fives, first place. After the game, Brett Gardner called it “the biggest win of the year for us, by far.”
Illustration by Michael Sloan.
I was only half following the game, and I went to bed after the eleventh! WW. Damn.
When I saw the result this morning I wanted to phone my dad. I guess that kind of thing is going to happen a lot for a while.
[0] I watched whole game silently. Alex, your title is slightly subtle. Best part for me was the fireworks display beyond right field grandstands that began during Tex at bat and continued as Brian hit his walk off HR. Reminded me of the climactic scene in "The Natural," where Redford hits the HR off the lights as the lightning strikes! A memorable win indeed.
2) Great point. And lousy of me to forget that. You are SO RIGHT. That's the storyline right there! Good call.