2009 New York Yankees/Game 8/@ Tampa Bay
By Matthew
New York Yankees - 7 (4-4)
Tampa Bay Rays - 2 (4-4)
Winning Pitcher: AJ Burnett (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: JP Howell (0-1)
A night after a blowout, filled with sloppy defense and still-in-Spring-Training Pitching, the Yankees and the Rays played an instant classic at the Trop last night - a scintillating pitcher's duel between two hard throwing RH studs (AJ Burnett, Matt Garza).
And, on this night, although Garza had the advantage of a terrific first name - AJ got the cake.
Yankees loaded the bases right away in the Top of the 1st inning on back-to-back singles from Brett Gardner/Derek Jeter and a walk to Mark Teixeira (nursing a sore wrist). Garza then got tough and struck out the sizzling hot bat of Nick Swisher before Jorge Posada fought off an outside pitch and drove it to deep left to score Gardner with the critical first run in a game that was clearly not going to see many.
From there, Garza settled in and began mowing down Yankees and strutting around the mound, going so far as to buzz Swisher under the chin when he arrived at the plate during the 4th Inning. Refreshingly, Swisher, one of three Yankees who are 2nd Generation MLB (Shelly Duncan, Robinson Cano) did NOT stare at the mound, grab his crotch, charge the hill...he just stepped back, got his bearings, stepped back into the box...
And hit the next pitch 400 Feet over the Right Centerfield wall, his 4th HR in his 6th Yankee start, replacing a guy who had 4 HR in 189 at-bats in 2008.
2-0 Yankees.
Meanwhile, AJ Burnett was CRUISIN'...with only a harmless walk to Pat Burrell marring perfection over the first 6 innings. Burnett just looks like a different guy than the rattled, wild-eyed, emotional power pitcher whose body seemed as out-of-control as his temper for all those years of underperformance and injury. Now, with his Roy Halladay-inspired calm, he looks like a Zen master..quietly rocking his body back and firing those cannon shots with an easy toss. He mixes in two speeds of curve-balls, an occasional change-up and can dart the heat up or down. The contrast between the low '70's curve, the mid '80s slider and the high '90s gas makes it tough on the hitter and the calm motion and self-control keep him in the strike zone.
He held the no-hitter until the bottom of the 7th, when Carl Crawford put a BEAUTIFUL at-bat on him and laced a clean 1B to LF, then, momentarily...the old 'Bad' AJ surfaced, as a clearly shaken Burnett lost his focus and left two successive pitches out over the plate against two terrific hitters (Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena) and they each smacked singles...when Pat Burrell flied-out, it was a 2-2 game. The No-Hitter, Shutout and Lead all lost...
In the top of the 8th, the Rays brought in last year's stud set-up man, JP Howell (who looks 12 years old), and Brett Gardner burned Crawford in LF by smashing a 2B over his head - there is NOTHING that a hitter likes better than getting to see the OF's Number, when he has tried to play you short and you've forced him to retreat with his back to the plate...on Monday, the Rays did so twice and came up with circus catches - on this night, the balls kept flying. With another hit from Jeter and the Yankees sitting with 1st and 3rd, Teixeira came up, hitting RH for the first time since the wrist injury, it was obvious that he was feeling uncomfortable and JUST as obvious what a critical situation this was. Teixeira did the best he could with a long, lazy fly ball to break the tie. 3-2 Yankees.
Burnett came out for the bottom of the 8th and dominated, finishing his night with 8IP/9K/1BB/3H/2R, the kind of performance the Yankees needed with a tired bullpen coming off innings of Monday relief.
In the 9th, facing Dan Wheeler, Cano and Melky Cabrera (hitting for Nady, who he'd replaced in RF during the 8th) had a 1B and Brett Gardner smashed a 2B to dead CF, this time burning BJ Upton who turned to chase as Crawford had the inning before. This was Gardner's best game as a Yankee and, if he can swing with authority - he is a keeper, his legs are a given. 4-2 Yankees.
Derek Jeter stepped in, with 2 soft 1B's already in the game and blasted a 3 Run HR into the RF seats that the OF never moved on, the 'no-doubter' that gave Gardner and Jeter 6 hits combined on the night and put the game out of reach.
Brian Bruney, who pitched a dominant 7th Inning on Sunday, before the 8th inning meltdown by Phil Coke, came in to face the formidable top of the Rays order and mowed down Upton/Crawford/Longoria on just 10 pitches, striking out the side and sealing the Yankees best win of the first week of 2009.
Today its afternoon baseball at the Trop, the battle of the Andy's - Pettitte and Sonnanstine, should be one to be decided by the offenses...
