Yanks win 15 inning thriller
A game that looked to be decided heading into the ninth inning turned out to be a midnight matinee, as the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 in 15 innings last night at Camden Yards.
This game took far longer than was to be expected. Heading into the ninth inning, the Yankees were leading the game 1-0 on a sacrifice fly back in the fourth inning by Nick Swisher off of Orioles’ starter Zach Britton.
Both starters pitched very well last night, but the real stand out performance went to the Yankees Bartolo Colon. In 8 innings of work, Colon only allowed 3 hits while striking out 7 in under 90 pitches.
Heading into the ninth, many people expected Colon to come out and finish the complete game shutout, because he still looked like he had his command and did not pitch too many pitches to that point. Yankee manager Joe Girardi, however, had other plans. He decided to let Colon take the ninth off and give the ball to his veteran closer Mariano Rivera.
But this move proved to be extremely costly. After getting the first man in the inning out, Rivera gave up two straight singles, putting runners on first and third with one out for the always dangerous Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero flew out to Brett Gardner, allowing the runner to score from third; it was a tie ball game.
Rivera blew his third save of the season, second against the Orioles, and once again Joe Girardi’s misuse of the Yankee bullpen had possibly cost them yet another game. Rivera was able to retire to next batter, and all of a sudden, a game that looked like it was in the books was going into extra innings.
In extra innings, the pitching duels continued, as both teams had key opportunities to score a run, but were stopped by solid pitching performances. In total, 14 pitchers were used when the game was all said and done.
Finally, in the top of the 15th, the Yankees were able to break through. After giving up two straight singles to Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira and third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the Orioles decided to take out reliever Jeremy Accardo and put in their last remaining relief pitcher, Michael Gonzalez.
On the very first pitch he threw, Yankee second baseman Robison Cano took Gonzalez’s offering over Orioles center fielder Adam Jones’ head, allowing Teixeira and Rodriguez to score, putting the Yankees up 3-1.
With Cano on third base, advancing on a throwing error by Jones, Yankee right fielder Chris Dickerson (who replaced Swisher in the ninth inning) came up to bat. The first pitch he saw was his last, as Gonzalez’s fastball rode up and hit Dickerson right in the helmet.
Dickerson rose after several seconds on the ground with a welt on the side of his head where his helmet hit from the impact of the ball. He was taken out of the game for precautionary measures, but there was another issue. Gonzalez was thrown out of the game for hitting Dickerson in the head, and the Orioles had no pitchers left.
The Orioles had no choice but to call on their starter Jeremy Guthrie, who was supposed to start tonight’s game, to get the final three outs of the inning. The Yankees had a problem as well; they had no one left on the bench to run for the injured Dickerson. So, they called on starter A.J. Burnett to pinch run.
After there were nine players on the field and two runners on, the game once again began. Guthrie gave up a sac fly to Brett Gardner, allowing Cano to score, and retired the next two Yankees. Heading into the bottom of the 15th, the score was 4-1 Yankees.
A.J. Burnett was taken out of the game, and Eduardo Nunez moved from shortstop to right field and Derek Jeter moved from designated hitter to shortstop, so if the game continued, the Yankees would have a pitcher batting in the lineup.
Yankees rookie Hector Noesi, however, had other plans. After putting the first two men on in the inning, Noesi retired the next three Orioles, and the Yankees had finally won the game.
In his major league debut, Noesi pitched four scoreless innings while striking out four on his way to his first major league victory. Orioles’ reliever Jeremy Accardo received the loss.
A game that looked to be decided heading into the 9th turned into a 15 inning spectacle, full of ejections, hit batsmen, and starting pitchers on the base paths and reliving. This game certainly did not lack excitement, and it will be interesting to see how the two teams play tonight, after exhausting their pitchers and bench players last night.
