It was a swift kick in the nuts kind of loss not because of a game-ending hit but because of a mid-innings comeback that vibrated, like the sensation of getting punched in the ball does, and lingered.
C.C. Sabathia had a no-hitter through five and a modest 3-0 lead. Considering all the hits the Yanks had in the early innings it should have been more but that’s how it goes when you’re on a non-gluten diet. In in the 6th, Nate McLouth led off with a hard single and then advanced to second on a bunt that rolled along the first base side of the field. David Adams, playing first, charged, leaving the bag open with no time for Robinson Cano, to cover. A mental mistake by Adams, for sure. The result, first and second and nobody out. Sabathia got Nick Markakis to pop out but then Manny Machado, that doubles-hitting machine–doubled to right center driving home both runners.
J. J. Hardy followed and popped out to centerfield and Machado took third, apparently catching Brett Gardner by surprise. The gamble paid off when Adam Jones had a cheap infield hit that scored the tying run.
Okay, 3-3 in the 7th. All was not lost. And Sabathia retired the first two hitters in bottom of the 7th before he left a flat breaking ball–slider or a curve–over the plate that McLouth sent over the right field wall. After he got the final out Sabathia returned to the dugout and rifled his mitt into the bench. He yelled and it was the most demonstrative show of emotion I remember seeing from him.
“You’ve got to finish the game, put a complete game together,” Sabathia said after the game. “I’m not saying go out and throw nine innings, but just put a good start, a complete start together. I feel like I haven’t done that all year.”
That one run lead was all the O’s would need as Tommy Hunter mowed the Yankees down in the final two innings and the O’s earned a 4-3 win.
Bollocks.
[Photo Credit: Doug Kapustin/Reuters]
I also note that the Yankees have decided to go with a short bench for no apparent reason. This may or may not have played into Girardi's decision not to pinch hit a various points in the game---or maybe the binder says that you don't pinch hit before you are losing or the seventh inning, whichever comes later. It's the same binder that has Vernon Wells batting cleanup, again. Then again, this is the organization that managed not to find a spot on the roster for, say, Chris Dickerson, and then perceived it was so absent any outfield talent that they had to sign Vernon Wells in the first place. From the tactical to the strategic, this well oiled machine is hitting on all cylinders.
I don't understand why people are saying it was a mistake by Adams.
There was a bunt on his side. He charged it. Cano was doing what, exactly? He couldn't get to first base before the batter??
2) When a right handed batter is up, it's generally the second baseman's job to cover second on a steal, that's why I think Cano had no chance of making it to first.
Oh, okay.
But he wasn't playing all that close to second base, so I thought he could have beat the batter pretty easily if he had headed straight for first. And once the ball was laid down, he had no other job than covering first.
[3][4] Of course, that Adams was playing first at all is related to the decision to go with a short bench---because a team whose strength is pitching needs to carry an extra long man...---and because the organization apparently has no one stashed away in AAA who can play 1B credibly. As far as I can tell, the AAA team comprises almost exactly zero replacement level players. One wonders why they even bother having a AAA team at all...I guess they need a place to keep all those relievers.
Not sure what you mean by carrying an extra long man. CC is probably the only really long man on the team. Maybe Boone.