After all the months of injuries, hot and cold streaks, too many homers, not enough small-ball, it all came down to three games for the Yankees against their heated foe the Boston Red Sox to determine if they'll be comfortably crowned the AL East champs or would have to roll the dice with the new one-game playoff rules of the Wild Card round. The Yankees showed up in a big way to make their claim as the best team in the division and all the pieces are coming together in just the right time for a successful playoff run.
While the Orioles, in a dead heat with the Yankees in the standings, were down in Tampa to mettle with the Rays, whose playoff chances were hanging by a string, the Yankees hosted the last place Red Sox and their last place roster with lame duck manager, Bobby Valentine, on his way out the door. CC Sabathia was looking for his fourth strong start and the decimated Red Sox lineup was the perfect opponent. Starting for the Red Sox was the oft-injured Clay Buchholz and the Yankees tore him apart in the 2nd inning and put the first game away immediately. Robinson Cano started the fun with a solo homerun, Curtis Granderson added a 2-run shot, Russell Martin then went opposite field for another, and by the time Cano got up again in the long inning, his double made it 7-0 Yankees and drove Buchholz from the game after 1.2 innings. Mark Teixeira made his return to the lineup after his weeks long calf injury, and he launched the fourth homer of the inning, a 2-run blast off of Alfredo Aceves. With the 9-0 lead, CC Sabathia had things well in hand; just giving up a solo homer to Daniel Nava in the 4th and a sacrifice fly in the 7th. Sabathia went 8 innings and struck out 7 batters to reach his 15th win of the season. Base running expert Melky Mesa had his first hit and RBI in the majors to increase the lead to 10-2, which is where the score ended. The Yankee win, combined with an Oriole loss in Tampa on the night, put the Yankees back in sole possession of first place!!
If there was a game the Yankees were going to lose in this final regular season series, it likely was the second with tough-lefty Jon Lester starting against David Phelps, replacing the ineffective Ivan Nova in the rotation. Under wet skies the Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning from a Jacoby Ellsbury single followed by a Dustin Pedroia double. Pedroia would eventually come around to score, but Phelps held the punchless Red Sox lineup from there. Meanwhile the Yankee offense was knocking on the door almost every inning against Jon Lester, but couldn't get that big hit with runners on. In fact, Mark Teixeira painstakingly hit into two double-plays with two runners on. The first Yankee run didn't come across until the middle of the Teixeira hitting gaffs, the 2nd inning, and it took an Eduardo Nunez lined shot to short that wasn't handled well and Curtis Granderson came into score. The score amazingly stayed 2-1 Red Sox to the top of the 9th inning when Rafael Soriano was brought out in the non-save situation. As he has been bit by the homerun bug lately, Soriano gave up another to James Loney that increased the Sox lead to 3-1. With the Orioles winning their game in Tampa, the pressure was on for the Yanks to hold onto their one-game lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox went with their free agent replacement of Jonathan Papelbon, Andrew Bailey, and the struggling closer brought the Yankees back to life. A Curtis Granderson single put a runner on, then Raul Ibanez, solid in pinch-hitting scenarios lately, slapped a game-tying over the right field wall which put the Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
The Yankees would go on to load the bases in the inning, but couldn't push across that winning run, yet. It wasn't until the bottom of the 12th that the Yankees were able to hold serve with the Orioles. After two solid innings of relief from Derek Lowe, which included a frog on the field game pause, the Yankees had a two-out rally. September call-up Francisco Cervelli, in as catcher, was in the hole 0-2 against the tough, tall, hard-throwing Andrew Miller. Somehow, Cervelli worked the count to 3-2 and drew a walk. The next hitter, Curtis Granderson, was the beneficiary of a four-pitch walk, which put Cervelli into scoring position. With that hero again, Ibanez, due up next, Girardi stuck with him instead of going to Andruw Jones for the righty-lefty match-up. The night ended with a well-placed single by Ibanez through the shortstop hole and the speedy Cervelli rounded the bases for the 4-3 game-winning run.
There was one game left and the AL East, along with the best record in American League, was in front of the Yankees for the taken. A win would not only secure them the AL East title, but with the Texas Rangers limping to end the season, the Yankees also had the opportunity to give themselves home field advantage through the AL rounds. Two Japanese imports would take the hill, Boston's also oft-injured Daisuke Matsuzaka and his mythical gyro-ball versus the solid Yankee Hiroki Kuroda. Boston grabbed a quick 1-0 in the 1st inning, but Curtis Granderson erased that and then some with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd. An inning later, Robinson Cano went deep as well on Dice-K with a massive 2-run shot that made it 5-1 Yankees and eventually would make Bobby V to have to call upon his overworked bullpen. Cano wasn't done with just the first homer, he smoked another in the 5th inning and then poked a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the 6th. The rout was on for the Yankees and the AL East was only inches from their grasp, as the Orioles were also trailing in their final game in Tampa. Boston would score again in the 7th to make it 9-2, but Curtis Granderson responded with his second homer of the night, the 43rd of the season. Just about every Yankee hitter got into the action one way or another and by the time the 7th inning was done, the Yankees had a massive 14-2 lead. Kuroda went 7 innings and picked up his 16th victory of the season. The Orioles ended up losing anyways, which would've given the division to the Yankees, but the Yanks stormed their way to finish the regular season with the 14-2 and Robinson Cano elevated his hitting to a whole new level before the playoffs are about to start.
On Friday night the Orioles and Rangers play the one-game Wild Card playoff to determine which team faces the 2012 AL East Champion Yankees. Meanwhile the 95-67 Yankees can rest up some of their overused and overworked players and prepare for Game 1 of the ALDS. The Bomber line-up finally resembles what GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi had in mind with all the sluggers back healthy and Ichiro making his impact. CC Sabathia looks strong again, and Andy Pettitte is as sure as a bet as their is for postseason starts. There's no Mariano Rivera for those automatic saves, but a few days rest should serve Rafael Soriano well. Meanwhile Bobby Valentine would be relieved of his managerial duties in Boston after just one season of turmoil, Miquel Cabrera would be the first Triple-Crown winner since 1967, and the Mets had another wasted season. All is right in Yankeeland for the time being......
While the Orioles, in a dead heat with the Yankees in the standings, were down in Tampa to mettle with the Rays, whose playoff chances were hanging by a string, the Yankees hosted the last place Red Sox and their last place roster with lame duck manager, Bobby Valentine, on his way out the door. CC Sabathia was looking for his fourth strong start and the decimated Red Sox lineup was the perfect opponent. Starting for the Red Sox was the oft-injured Clay Buchholz and the Yankees tore him apart in the 2nd inning and put the first game away immediately. Robinson Cano started the fun with a solo homerun, Curtis Granderson added a 2-run shot, Russell Martin then went opposite field for another, and by the time Cano got up again in the long inning, his double made it 7-0 Yankees and drove Buchholz from the game after 1.2 innings. Mark Teixeira made his return to the lineup after his weeks long calf injury, and he launched the fourth homer of the inning, a 2-run blast off of Alfredo Aceves. With the 9-0 lead, CC Sabathia had things well in hand; just giving up a solo homer to Daniel Nava in the 4th and a sacrifice fly in the 7th. Sabathia went 8 innings and struck out 7 batters to reach his 15th win of the season. Base running expert Melky Mesa had his first hit and RBI in the majors to increase the lead to 10-2, which is where the score ended. The Yankee win, combined with an Oriole loss in Tampa on the night, put the Yankees back in sole possession of first place!!
If there was a game the Yankees were going to lose in this final regular season series, it likely was the second with tough-lefty Jon Lester starting against David Phelps, replacing the ineffective Ivan Nova in the rotation. Under wet skies the Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning from a Jacoby Ellsbury single followed by a Dustin Pedroia double. Pedroia would eventually come around to score, but Phelps held the punchless Red Sox lineup from there. Meanwhile the Yankee offense was knocking on the door almost every inning against Jon Lester, but couldn't get that big hit with runners on. In fact, Mark Teixeira painstakingly hit into two double-plays with two runners on. The first Yankee run didn't come across until the middle of the Teixeira hitting gaffs, the 2nd inning, and it took an Eduardo Nunez lined shot to short that wasn't handled well and Curtis Granderson came into score. The score amazingly stayed 2-1 Red Sox to the top of the 9th inning when Rafael Soriano was brought out in the non-save situation. As he has been bit by the homerun bug lately, Soriano gave up another to James Loney that increased the Sox lead to 3-1. With the Orioles winning their game in Tampa, the pressure was on for the Yanks to hold onto their one-game lead. In the bottom of the 9th, the Red Sox went with their free agent replacement of Jonathan Papelbon, Andrew Bailey, and the struggling closer brought the Yankees back to life. A Curtis Granderson single put a runner on, then Raul Ibanez, solid in pinch-hitting scenarios lately, slapped a game-tying over the right field wall which put the Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
The Yankees would go on to load the bases in the inning, but couldn't push across that winning run, yet. It wasn't until the bottom of the 12th that the Yankees were able to hold serve with the Orioles. After two solid innings of relief from Derek Lowe, which included a frog on the field game pause, the Yankees had a two-out rally. September call-up Francisco Cervelli, in as catcher, was in the hole 0-2 against the tough, tall, hard-throwing Andrew Miller. Somehow, Cervelli worked the count to 3-2 and drew a walk. The next hitter, Curtis Granderson, was the beneficiary of a four-pitch walk, which put Cervelli into scoring position. With that hero again, Ibanez, due up next, Girardi stuck with him instead of going to Andruw Jones for the righty-lefty match-up. The night ended with a well-placed single by Ibanez through the shortstop hole and the speedy Cervelli rounded the bases for the 4-3 game-winning run.
There was one game left and the AL East, along with the best record in American League, was in front of the Yankees for the taken. A win would not only secure them the AL East title, but with the Texas Rangers limping to end the season, the Yankees also had the opportunity to give themselves home field advantage through the AL rounds. Two Japanese imports would take the hill, Boston's also oft-injured Daisuke Matsuzaka and his mythical gyro-ball versus the solid Yankee Hiroki Kuroda. Boston grabbed a quick 1-0 in the 1st inning, but Curtis Granderson erased that and then some with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 2nd. An inning later, Robinson Cano went deep as well on Dice-K with a massive 2-run shot that made it 5-1 Yankees and eventually would make Bobby V to have to call upon his overworked bullpen. Cano wasn't done with just the first homer, he smoked another in the 5th inning and then poked a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the 6th. The rout was on for the Yankees and the AL East was only inches from their grasp, as the Orioles were also trailing in their final game in Tampa. Boston would score again in the 7th to make it 9-2, but Curtis Granderson responded with his second homer of the night, the 43rd of the season. Just about every Yankee hitter got into the action one way or another and by the time the 7th inning was done, the Yankees had a massive 14-2 lead. Kuroda went 7 innings and picked up his 16th victory of the season. The Orioles ended up losing anyways, which would've given the division to the Yankees, but the Yanks stormed their way to finish the regular season with the 14-2 and Robinson Cano elevated his hitting to a whole new level before the playoffs are about to start.
On Friday night the Orioles and Rangers play the one-game Wild Card playoff to determine which team faces the 2012 AL East Champion Yankees. Meanwhile the 95-67 Yankees can rest up some of their overused and overworked players and prepare for Game 1 of the ALDS. The Bomber line-up finally resembles what GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi had in mind with all the sluggers back healthy and Ichiro making his impact. CC Sabathia looks strong again, and Andy Pettitte is as sure as a bet as their is for postseason starts. There's no Mariano Rivera for those automatic saves, but a few days rest should serve Rafael Soriano well. Meanwhile Bobby Valentine would be relieved of his managerial duties in Boston after just one season of turmoil, Miquel Cabrera would be the first Triple-Crown winner since 1967, and the Mets had another wasted season. All is right in Yankeeland for the time being......
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