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In 7th, Yanks swing and miss a big chance
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By Mark Viera
August 10, 2010
Yankee Stadium, NY — There was an air of inevitability surrounding the Yankees on Monday afternoon. That made what ended up happening so surprising.
The Yankees had distanced themselves from the Red Sox during the first three games of the four-game series, winning twice. But they trailed by two runs in the seventh inning Monday, and the Yankees loaded the bases with none out and three recent All-Stars on their way to the plate. Was there any doubt what would happen next?
Instead, the Yankees surprised perhaps even the Red Sox when all three batters struck out to end the inning on the way to a 2-1 Boston victory at Yankee Stadium. It was the defining moment of a series that lacked the characteristic sizzle, and the Yankees did not seize the opportunity.
“I can’t imagine it getting any more intense,” said reliever Daniel Bard, who struck out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher to end the inning. “The season’s on the line for us a little bit.”
Boston starter Jon Lester was in control throughout, and by the seventh inning, his velocity was down only a shade, his location still sharp. The tense sequence was set in motion because the Yankees’ batters started seeing him better.
Jorge Posada led off with a single before Marcus Thames drove a 1-1 pitch — a sinker that did not sink — off the top of the wall near the Yankees’ bullpen in right-center field for a double.
“Guys had good at-bats,” Austin Kearns said. “It’s hot out there. I don’t know if he lost a little something. It’s hard to tell.”
After Kearns was hit by a cutter to load the bases, the left-handed-hitting Curtis Granderson came to the plate. That allowed Red Sox Manager Terry Francona to keep the left-handed Lester in the game for one more batter. Lester had thrown 95 pitches.
“As the inning was unfolding, we wanted him to get through Granderson,” Francona said.
The decision made sense. Granderson is a .209 lifetime hitter against left-handers, and he has continued to struggle against them, batting .206 this season.
“I’m honestly not sure,” Granderson said, speaking about his problems against left-handers. “I just try and go up there and get a feel. That’s been my theme and philosophy all year long.”
Granderson fouled off two pitches that were out of the strike zone before striking out on a 1-2 curveball that buckled beneath his swing. Francona then lifted Lester and brought in Bard.
Bard pumped six straight fastballs, none of them slower than 98 miles per hour. Francona called it the “perfect situation” for Bard, who needed only six pitches to strike out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher to end the inning — crisis averted.
“I was just trying to keep them in the infield, not necessarily strike them out,” Bard said. “It happened to be two strikeouts.”
In Jeter’s at-bat, Bard attacked inside with the first two pitches, then changed Jeter’s eye level with a pitch high out of the strike zone. It was effective: Jeter chased it and missed.
Bard took the opposite approach with Swisher, throwing three pitches outside. Bard’s last pitch tailed away from the left-handed-hitting Swisher, who flailed at it.
“That last pitch he threw at me, man, 99 miles per hour,” Swisher said. “It’s not supposed to move like that.”
Bard said he was motivated by the fear of failure on the mound. The Red Sox began the day seven games behind the Yankees in the American League East, and Bard said he did not want to be the one who lost the game for Boston in a pivotal situation.
Instead, the Yankees went down swinging.
• MLB News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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