Okay, they may be 10.5 games out of first place, but nonetheless the Yankees won again last night and are now tied for second place in the AL East:
Last night?s 5-4 Yankees victory over Pittsburgh ? won on a bases-loaded infield single by Derek Jeter in the 10th inning ? was not a flawless game, but it was a delight for those who enjoy good pitching, especially from left-handed starters.
Neither Andy Pettitte of the Yankees nor Tom Gorzelanny of the Pirates got the decision before 54,240 fans at Yankee Stadium. But both starters pitched well enough to win in masterly displays of their art.
The victory came when Jeter ?didn?t have a good swing,? he said, on a two-seam fastball from Matt Capps (3-3), the fifth Pittsburgh relief pitcher. The ball bounced slowly to second baseman Freddy S?nchez, who could not make a play while Robinson Can? scored.
?I was lucky,? Jeter said. ?It?s not like you try to hit it right there.? But, with a smile, Jeter added that it was all right to write that he tried to do just that. It was his night, from start to finish. On their way in, fans were given souvenir dolls of Jeter, who had two hits and two runs batted in while raising his average to .332.
Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Gorzelanny, who is in his first full season and has a 6-3 record. Getting the victory was Mariano Rivera (2-3), who worked the final two innings after Pettitte gave up four runs and nine hits in eight innings.
?It was a good night and I?m proud of the guys,? said Pettitte, who did not seem upset that his record remained at 3-4 despite another fine performance. The most damaging hit he gave up was a two-run, inside-the-park homer to Chris Duffy in the seventh to put the Pirates up by 4-2.
It happened when Melky Cabrera, playing center field, misplayed a line drive by moving sideways, stopping, leaping and falling down as the ball skipped to the wall. ?I read it wrong off the bat,? Cabrera said through an interpreter, ?and the ball took off.?
It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Yankees, their best streak of the season, and their seventh in nine games, matching their best stretch. Roger Clemens is scheduled to start today in his return to the Yankees against Paul Maholm of the Pirates.
That’s right, here comes Roger:
Baseball’s luxury tax never seemed so luxurious. The Yankees are shelling out $24.6 million in salary and luxury tax for a 44-year-old six-inning pitcher whose return already was once delayed by a “fatigued groin” that occurred after just three minor league starts. Consider it money well spent for New York. Roger Clemens, yes, even the six-inning version back in the more difficult American League, brings exactly the kind of ferocity and competitiveness an underachieving Yankee team needs.
Put it this way: would you rather give the ball to Matt DeSalvo, Kei Igawa, or one of the greatest pitchers of all time? And the money? Forget it. It won’t prevent the Yankees from any other moves, so it’s a non-issue. Just wait until Clemens’ teammates, most of whom never have played with him, hear Clemens cussing and shouting in the runway between innings, all worked up about not executing a pitch exactly the way he wanted. Wait until they see a guy who turns 45 in August outworking them. We’re talking about a guy who lathers his body in heat balm and pops in a mouthpiece before every start as if he’s on the kickoff coverage team.
Here’s how the Washington Post put it:
NEW YORK, June 8 — On Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before Roger Clemens was to take the mound for the New York Yankees for his season debut, his nameplate had been placed over the same back-of-the-clubhouse locker he occupied when he last pitched for the team in 2003. But there was a problem in the players’ parking lot.
It seems Clemens’s old spot had been assigned of late to pitcher Carl Pavano, and while Pavano is long gone — on the disabled list for the umpteenth time, still under contract but likely never to be seen around these parts again — his car was still in the lot, sitting tauntingly in that particular spot, which once again belongs to Clemens.
“Last I heard,” said one Yankees veteran, having just parked and entered the stadium, “they were going to tow it if it wasn’t gone by [Saturday] morning.”
Ha !
