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Swisher salvages series with 9th inning home run
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By Dave Caldwell
September 8, 2010
Baltimore, MA — The Yankees were two outs from being swept by the Orioles when Nick Swisher slammed a 2-0 pitch from Baltimore closer Koji Uehara into the Baltimore bullpen for a two-run home run that lifted the Yankees to a 3-2 victory over the Orioles.
Buck Showalter, the former Yankees manager, is managing the Orioles, who have become feisty and competitive even though their season will end Oct. 3. They were looking to post their first three-game series sweep in the Bronx since June 1986.
Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters slammed a two-run home run off Yankees starter Ivan Nova in the fifth inning to give the Orioles a lead that looked as if it would last. But Alex Rodriguez led off the ninth inning with a single off Uehara (1-1), and Swisher smacked his 26th homer.
Nova shut down the Orioles on one hit through three innings, giving the Yankees a chance to build a lead. They finally did in the top of the third, but they scored only once. They could have had more if not for a quick stumble.
After Curtis Granderson led off the third with a walk, the leadoff hitter Brett Gardner belted a pitch from Baltimore starter Brad Bergesen over the head of left fielder Felix Pie. The ball rolled to the fence, and Granderson scored easily.
Gardner tried to stretch the hit into a triple, but he had lost his balance slightly after he rounded first base, giving Pie enough time to collect the ball and throw it to shortstop Cesar Izturis. His throw to third beat Gardner, who was tagged out. Deter Jeter grounded out to end the inning.
The Orioles took the lead in the fifth. Adam Jones beat out a throw from Rodriguez at third for a leadoff hit, and Wieters worked the count to 3-0 before belting a 91-mile-an-hour fastball into the left-field seats for his 11th home run.
INSIDE PITCH
Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said before the game that the 24-year-old right-hander Phil Hughes would skip his next start Sunday in Texas. Dustin Moseley will replace Hughes, who has a 16-7 record but has lost two of his last three starts, allowing 11 earned runs. Hughes, who has pitched 155 innings, is expected to make his last three starts of the regular season. . . . Andy Pettitte, who has been on the disabled list since July 19 with a strained left groin, is scheduled to begin his rehabilitation assignment Thursday by pitching for the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees’ Class AA farm team, in an Eastern League playoff game at home against New Hampshire.
• MLB News Archive Index:
2010, 2009
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