New York Yankees 5 — Chicago White Sox 6 (12 innings)
Two blown leads and the Yankees lose tonight’s game by a score of 6-5 in 12 innings against the Chicago White Sox.
With a bunt, the Yankees offense was sparked in a good way. Brett Gardner reached base via the bunt on the first pitch of the game. Alfonso Soriano would give the Yankees the pop of some early runs with his 19th home run of the season. His two-run home run gave the Yankees an early lead With the way CC Sabathia was pitching this season, it would be easy to think this lead would not last.
Tonight wasn’t the same CC.
Through the first four innings, CC Sabathia wasn’t dominant but he was in control. Six of the first nine outs were fly outs. He would allow a single in the first inning but would turn a double play and still faced the minimum. Sabathia would give up a solo home run in the fifth inning to Gordon Beckham but the Yankees still had the lead.
In the third inning, Alfonso Soriano walked with one out and Alex Rodriguez got a single to left field. Where Robinson Cano was unable to succeed, Vernon Wells did, hitting a single to bring in the third run for the Yankees. Eduardo Nunez hit a double in his first at-bat but his second at-bat would be a blast, his first home run of the season came in the fourth inning.
CC started to struggle in the seventh inning. Back-to-back singles started the inning and Paul Konerko hit a double into left field to get the Yankees lead to just two. Another run would score on Gordon Beckham’s ground ball to Robinson Cano but it was a good out. Instead of getting the routine out at first, Robinson Cano turned his sight to the slow-footed Konerko advancing to third. Cano threw to Alex Rodriguez at third and got the runner in scoring position out. The lead was cut down to one on the play but the fly out to follow could have brought home a runner standing on third. The first out of the inning proved to be a huge out and the Yankees still had the lead.
CC Sabathia would get the first out in the eighth inning but “the formula” would be put into effect. David Robertson would come in for the last two outs. Despite allowing a single, Robertson would finish off the inning.
In 7.1 innings, CC Sabathia allowed three runs on five hits while striking out just one. Not vintage or dominant CC Sabathia, but it is a Sabathia the Yankees needed.
After eight innings with a lead, Mariano Rivera would enter for the save opportunity. With just five pitches, Mariano Rivera calmly got the first two outs of the inning. The last out, would prove to be a problem. Gordon Beckham would hit a double to get into scoring position. For designated hitter Dayan Viciedo, Adam Dunn would come in as a pinch-hitter. Rivera would get ahead on Dunn with two called strikes but the third strike would be hit the opposite way by the normally-pull heavy Dunn. The single would be enough to bring the tying run. This would be Mariano Rivera’s third blown save of the season.
Baseball is a strange sport.
Mariano Rivera would pitch the 10th inning and hold the game tied. Adam Warren would get the 11th inning. He would get three strike outs in his first inning of work but a ground ball deflected by Adam Warren would be an infield single. Remember this.
In the 12th inning, the Yankees would get something they haven’t had in nearly a month.
To start the inning, Robinson Cano would hit a deep home run to right center field. This was Robinson Cano’s 22nd home run of the season but his first home run since July 10. This gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead but this was all the Yankees could get.
Adam Warren would get the 12th inning too in an attempt to end the game and get a win on the way back home. Warren would strike out the first batter he faced and got a ground out to the shortstop. With two strikes to catcher Tyler Flowers, Warren got a high chopper to his left. The slow chopper would appear playable to Adam Warren and he made a reach for it. The deflection off his glove would knock the ball off route to Robinson Cano. What could have been a routine third out became an infield single.
Baseball, what an unpredictable sport.
The next batter, Alexei Ramirez would hit a single to right center field that let Flowers advance to third base. On an 0-1 pitch, Alejandro De Aza would hit a line drive to right center. It would go all the way to the wall and the second comeback would be complete. The White Sox center fielder hit a game-winning, walk-off two-run triple to defeat the Yankees.
CC Sabathia pitched far better than he has been and Eduardo Nunez was a triple away from the cycle and walked twice. Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano each hit a home run in tonight’s game. Mariano Rivera was the victim of the unusual, a notorious pull-hitter going the other way. Even Adam Warren is the victim of just bad luck. If he didn’t deflect the chopper in the 12th inning, the routine ground out would have been turned by Gold Glove second baseman Robinson Cano. So what went wrong?
The offense as a whole went wrong. The lead should have been bigger. The Yankees were 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
In the second inning, Eduardo Nunez hit a double with one out. He advanced to third on a ground out but Austin Romine struck out on three pitches, stranding one.
In the third inning, after Vernon Wells singled in one run, he also stole second base. With two runners in scoring position, Curtis Granderson would fly out to center field, stranding two.
In the sixth inning, Vernon Wells singled. With one out, Eduardo Nunez walked. Then with two outs, Austin Romine walked too and loaded the bases. Against a left-handed reliever, Brett Gardner would end up grounding out softly to end this threat, stranding three.
In the seventh inning, Alfonso Soriano hit a single and Alex Rodriguez walked to put two on. Robinson Cano would deflate the rally with a double play.
In the eighth inning, Curtis Granderson walked and Eduardo Nunez hit a single. Lyle Overbay would hit a ground ball to third base where a double play was turned, getting the runner at third and Overbay. With a runner at second, Austin Romine would strike out swinging, stranding one.
In the ninth inning, Ichiro would single with one out. He advanced on a wild pitch and with two outs, Robinson Cano was intentionally walked to face Vernon Wells. He would be called out on a slider, looking.
In the 11th inning, a difficult play created a bad turn of events. After Austin Romine walked, Jayson Nix was brought in as a pinch-runner. Brett Gardner would hit a pop fly ball to shallow right field. Second baseman Gordon Beckham ran out and right fielder Alex Rios came in, Beckham would make a sliding attempt at the catch but would be unable to catch it. For lead runner Nix, he faced the dilemma of where to go. If he went back too soon and Beckham didn’t catch it, he would be out at second. If he went to second too soon and Beckham did catch it, he would be doubled off at first. In this particular play, Nix would attempt to make it to second but fell between the bases, for the force out at second.
In total, the Yankees left 12 on base. Simply put, the Yankees should have scored but they didn’t get the hits when it counts in a loss that few could put into words.
Win – Dylan Axelrod (4-8)
Loss – Adam Warren (1-2)
Notables
Yankees
*Eduardo Nunez – 3 for 4, R, 2 BB, 2B, Solo Home Run (4), RBI (12)
*Alfonso Soriano – 2 for 3, 2 R, BB, 2-Run Home Run (19), 2 RBI (57)
White Sox
*Alejandro De Aza – 2 for 6, R, Game-Winning 3B, 2 RBI (48)
*Gordon Beckham – 2 for 4, 2 R, BB, 2B, Solo Home Run (3) in the 5th, 2 RBI (16)
Current Yankees Record: 57-56
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