Oakland Athletics 9 — New York Yankees 10 (14 innings)
In an unlikely series of events, Eduardo Nunez brought in the winning run on an error in today’s 10-9 win over the Oakland Athletics in 14 innings.
Ivan Nova started today’s marathon of a game and was not good. In just 2.1 innings, Ivan Nova gave up 3 runs on 5 hits. Nova opened the game with 3 consecutive doubles and 2 runs. He would also give up a home run to shortstop Stephen Drew to leadoff the 3rd. Nova would issue 2 walks and a single before being taken out of the game with 1 out and the bases loaded. The bullpen would take on a tremendous workload and Clay Rapada was called on first. The left-hander would induce a double play and get out of the jam. Rapada would start the 4th inning with a hit batter and 2 singles, giving up a run, before striking out his next 2 batters and letting Derek Lowe take it to the mound next. Derek Lowe would pitch 2.2 innings of solid work, and would exit in the 7th inning with 1 on and Boone Logan taking over with the lead at 1. A single and a sacrifice fly would bring in the tying run before Logan gets out of the inning. Logan would get 2 outs in the 8th inning but would leave with the bases loaded with Cody Eppley facing Yoenis Cespedes. Eppley would get the only batter he faced to fly out and keep the game tied. Joba Chamberlain pitched an outstanding 9th inning by getting 2 strikeouts. Freddy Garcia would be brought in for 3 innings of relief in extra innings, his first appearance since his September 9th start in Baltimore. Garcia would start the 13th inning but would not be touched up for 3 runs on 2 home runs. Reliever Justin Thomas would also give up a home run before he would get out of the inning. In an unlikely turn of events, Cory Wade would be needed in the 14th inning and would get the 3 outs needed to get the win in this unbelievable game.
The offense got to starter Travis Blackley quick and waited him out. Ichiro Suzuki put the first run on for the Yankees with a laser of a home run into right field. It seemed like Blackley lost command of his breaking ball as he would walk Alex Rodriguez on 4 pitches and would throw 3 more balls to Robinson Cano before he would hit a 3-2 pitch for a run-scoring single. Nick Swisher would walk again. The problem with walks is that the defense also becomes stagnant and are more prone to errors as the third baseman would commit an error that could have ended the inning but instead required more pitches from Blackley. The next 4 pitches he threw would walk Andruw Jones with the bases loaded as he would give up 3 runs in the 1st inning. Blackley continued to be erratic as a run would come in on a wild pitch following another error. In the 5th inning, Raul Ibanez would be asked to pinch-hit in a tie game and hit a home run into deep right to put the Yankees ahead. The Yankees had a chance to break the 5-5 tie in the 6th inning but Robinson Cano would hit into a double play following the intentional walk of Alex Rodriguez. There would be another opportunity in the 7th inning with runners on 2nd & 3rd with 1 out but a pop out and a strikeout would end that threat too. Raul Ibanez would get to 3rd in the 12th inning but, with the infield in, he was caught at home and extend the game further. After giving up 4 runs in the 13th inning, the Yankees didn’t put their head down and give up but fought on in an amazing rally. The Yankees opened the bottom half of the 13th inning with 3 consecutive singles, putting the tying run coming to bat. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly would bring in 2 runs before Raul Ibanez would deliver an amazing game-tying, 2-run home run. The game would continue into the 14th inning and it started with an Eric Chavez single. Pinch-running for Chavez was rookie Melky Mesa, making his major league debut. After moving over to 2nd, Ichiro Suzuki gets walked for Alex Rodriguez. On a single to right center, Melky Mesa would score but when running to 3rd, he missed the base and was forced to scramble back. Robinson Cano would ground out back to the pitcher, forcing Mesa at home and seemingly set into motion more innings of baseball. Eduardo Nunez came up with the bases loaded and hit a ground ball to first baseman Brandon Moss who mishandled it and would create a walk-off error. Unbelievably, Eduardo Nunez was on the beneficial end of an error in this marathon game.
The Yankees clearly had numerous opportunities to win the game and hit 4 for 17 with runners in scoring position. They benefited from poor defense and poor pitching and managed to get this win after persevering through a 3 home run outburst in the 13th inning.
Win – Cory Wade (1-1)
Loss – Tyson Ross (2-10)
Notables
Athletics
*Yoenis Cespedes – 2 for 5, 2 R, 2 BB, 2B, Solo Home Run (20) in the 13th, 2 RBI (75)
*Jonny Gomes – 1 for 1, R, 2-Run Home Run (17) in the 13th, 2 RBI (45)
Yankees
*Raul Ibanez – 3 for 4, 2 R, 2B, 2 HRs (17; Solo & 2-Run) in the 5th & 13th, 3 RBI (56)
*Ichiro Suzuki – 3 for 5, 2 R, 2 BB, Solo Home Run (9) in the 1st, RBI (51)
Current Yankees Record: 88-63
