The was some good, there was some bad and there was some ugly. But in the end Victor Martinez delivered a walk off single and the 5th straight Indians victory, 4-3, over the Yankees.
The Indians took advantage of Ian Kennedy's wildness for 3 runs in the bottom of the second. Jhonny Peralta and Asdrubal started the inning with single and Franklin Gutierrez sacrificed them to second. Casey Blake walked to load the bases and was followed by another walk to Grady Sizemore to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. A David Dellucci SF fly and a Travis Hafner single made it 3-0 Tribe after 2.
Jeremy Sowers worked in and out of trouble through five innings but ran into trouble in the 6th. After striking out Derek Jeter to start the inning, Sowers allowed a single to Alex Rodriguez, hit Jason Giambi and walked Shelley Duncan. Jensen Lewis relieved and promptly struck out Robinson Cano. Lewis looked to be possibly be out of the inning when pinch hitter Jorge Posada lofted a soft fly ball to LF.
David Dellucci was playing deep and a catch seemed improbable. Instead of simply allowing the ball to drop and only allow 1 or 2 runs to score he attempted to make a diving catch and the ball rolled to the wall for a 3 run triple and a 3-3 tie. The Indians caught a break as any other runner may have made it home with an inside the park home run.
Lewis got out of the inning without any further damage and skated out of a jam in the 7th inning after Johnny Damon led off the inning with a double. Masa Kobayashi pitched a clean 8th and worked out of a jam in the 9th after a line drive went off 3b Jamey Carroll's glove thanks to a 4-3 double play courtesy of The As-Man on a hard shot off the pitching mound.
The Indians squandered a scoring opportunity int he 6th when Yankees' 3B Alberto Gonzalez snared a Casey Blake laser beam and double off Jhonny Peralta at third. Grady Sizemore was caught stealing to end the 7th after leading off the inning with a single to snuff another potential rally.
The 8th inning saw Uncle Eric gets ejected for arguing a fielder's choice call at second base. Martinez walked and on a deep ground ball to shortstop, Ryan Garko was called out at second. Replays showed that Robinson Cano never fielded Derek Jeter's throw until his foot was off the bag and Martinez's was on it but Martinez was called out anyway.
In the 9th, Sizemore and Dellucci single with one out to bring up Travis Hafner. A Ross Ohlendorf wild pitch sent runners to second and third and Yankee skipper Joe Girardi decided to walk the slumping Hafner and face Martinez. A curious move with Hafner's struggles and Martinez's career number against the Pinstripers. Martinez delivered the game winner and Kobayashi's first MLB victory.
The win put the Indians at 12-12, the first time they have been at .500 since April 8. It only gets tougher as Chien-Ming Wang faces C. C. Sabathia in another National TV game on TBS Sunday. But the Tribe has taken the first 2 against the Yankees and seems to be gaining a little momentum.
It's Tribe Time Now.
Believeland.
No comments:
Post a Comment