10/01: Live Blogging: Yankees vs. Red Sox (October 1, 2005)
Posted by: Patrick
Tino is in the lineup today at 1B with Giambi DHing. Posada will get a day off with Flaherty batting last. It goes Jeter, A-Rod, Giambi, Sheff, Matsui, Cano, Tino, Williams, Flaherty.
Top 1: Jeter leads off with hit number 200 of his season (first time since 2000). A-Rod follows with a single up the middle and Jeter hustles over to third. 1st and 3rd, no out. Giambi hit a ground ball fielded by the second baseman in short right field and he threw to second to force A-Rod, Renteria lost his balance (untouched by A-Rod) and was unable to throw to first. Jeter scores, leaving on a man on 1st with 1 out. Yankees 1, Red Sox 0. Sheffield hits a rocket over the monster - 3-0, Yankees. Matsui grounds to first for the second out. Cano flies out to Manny for the third out. Yankees 3, Red Sox 0.
Bottom 1: Damon walks on 5 pitches. There is a sign in the stands that says "Red Sox Nation, Please Don't Hate Me... I just [Heart] Jeter". Damon steals second easily. Renteria flies out to Sheff in right with Damon advancing to the third. With 0-2, Johnson goes in on Ortiz and Buck and McCarver say that he was hit. They said they heard things. They replayed it and I didn't see it, but Ortiz reacted, so perhaps he was hit. He then strikes out. Bucks calls it "a huuuge turn of events." Eh... I guess. Manny hits a long shot over the monster that makes it 3-2. Blast. Millar flies out to Sheff to end the inning. Yankees 3, Red Sox 2.
Top 2: Tino leads off with a single up the middle, just past the outstretched Wakefield. Bernie lines one down the right field line. Millar reaches up but it hits his glove and keeps going, heading into right. Tino and Bernie easily advance to 2nd and 3rd. Double for Bernie. Flaherty gets the job done with a sac fly that advances both Tino to home and Bernie to third. Yankees 4, Red Sox 2. Jeter gets the job done as well with a sac fly of his own, scoring Bernie and making it 5-2, Yankees. Good job guys. A-Rod pops out to Manny in short left to end the inning. Renteria and him were looking for it before Manny finally took charge. Yankees 5, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 2: Mueller walks to lead off the inning. Mirabelli strikes out on 3 pitches. Nixon does the same. Graffanino hits a hard ball past Jeter's right, good for a single with Mueller holding at 2nd. Damon walks to load the bases with 2 outs. Out comes Mel and the infield converges. McCarver: "You have 6 shrinks on the mound because Randy thinks there's a shrinking strike zone." Is it just me or does McCarver not like The Unit? Earlier he said that Randy needs to be coddled, that he's eccentric... he's painting him to be a nut now. From 3-1, Johnson battles back with a called strike to get it full. Renteria fouls off a borderline pitch and then strikes out swinging to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded. Yankees 5, Red Sox 2.
Top 3: Giambi pops up to Renteria for the first out. Gary hits a hard grounder to Renteria who throws him out at first. Matsui hits a home run to dead center field - hitting the top of the wall. Cano hits a slow chopper and is barely out at first. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 3: Ortiz hits a long fly ball off the big green wall, reaching 2nd with a double. Manny hits a fast grounder to A-Rod who fields it cleanly, holds Ortiz and goes to first for the first out. Millar hits a fly ball into the gap between right and center where Sheffield makes a nice grab to get the out. He slides, bouncing up and throwing in to prevent Ortiz from advancing. Mueller pops out to Cano to end the inning. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Top 4: Tino strikes out. Bernie grounds out to second, 2 down. McCarver says that his vote for MVP would be A-Rod. Ortiz is the most valuable hitter, but because of A-Rod's gold glove defense and good baserunning, he is MVP. Buck goes for Ortiz because he's come up with big hit after big hit and "makes this thing go." Meanwhile, Flaherty pops out in foul territory to end the Yankees half. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 4: Mirabelli flies out to left and Sheffield makes a sweet play, going to his left to catch line drive off the bat of Trot Nixon for the second out. Graffanino singles to left for the Red Sox first hit since Ortiz doubled to lead off the 3rd. Graffanino stole second, just beating the tag. Damon grounds out to Cano to end the inning. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Top 5: Mueller makes a good play on a high chop off Jeter's bat, just throwing him out. A-Rod hits home run number 48, a deep, deep shot over the monster in left. This home run gives him the AL lead in home runs. Mike Stanton is warming up. Buck and McCarver go through the Stanton deal, the summation is that Epstein is brilliant. Graffanino throws Giambi out at first from short right. Buck and McCarver now talk about tomorrow's pitching mathup. Mussina is in trouble, didn't last 2 innings in his last start, etc. Then McCarver says... "Meanwhile... Schilling had his best start against the Yankees September 10th" (or something like that). Um, yeah? How about, meanwhile Moose pitched 6 scoreless on September 22? Schilling allowed 5 in 6 and 1/3 in his last start... 4.46 ERA this month. Anyway, Gary pops out to Mueller at third to end the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 5: Renteria flies out to Sheff make the first out of the inning. Randy gets Ortiz to ground to Tino at first for the second out. Manny grounds out to A-Rod to end the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2. Now, get this...
They talk about the MVP race. McCarver says that from a publicity stand point, the Red Sox are promoting Ortiz as the MVP. And then he says he is "shocked" that the Yankees haven't been promoting A-Rod as the MVP. Huh? Who the freak cares about promoting someone for the MVP? What good does that do? What in the world does that mean... and who cares?
Top 6: Mike Stanton enters. Matsui strikes out. Graffanino makes a nice play up the middle but is too late to throw out Cano, who reaches safely. Cano gets himself picked off for the second out. Martinez hits a slow roller to short to end the top half of the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 6: Millar Ks swinging to start it off. Mueller is caught looking for K number 6. Mirabelli has the same fate. Johnson retires the side with strikeouts. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Top 7: Jeremi Gonzalez. Bernie goes shopping at the gap, but gets robbed by Trot Nixon in right. Flaherty takes Manny to the track for the second out. Jeter strikes out looking on the inside for the third out. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 7: Tino makes a nice play on a Trot Nixon grounder to make the first out. Tony Graffanino hit a long fly ball that just went over the red stripe on the monster for a home run. Damon strikes out looking for the 2nd out of the inning and the 8th strike out for RJ. Renteria flies out to Sheffield to end the 7th. Solid outing. 7 IP, 8 Ks, 3 ER. He may be done.
Top 8: A-Rod doubled off the monster. Kenny DiNardo in for the Sox to face Giambi, who strikes out. Sheff is given a free pass, bring up Matsui. Matsui hit a hard ground up the middle which Renteria made a great play on. He flipped it to Graffanino, who wasn't on the base, allowing Sheff to slide in safe. Bases loaded, 1 out. Cano hit a ground ball that Renteria fielded on the first base side of second. He tried to tag Matsui, but Matsui avoided him (going out of the base path, according to Buck and McCarver) and then threw to first, but was too late to get Cano. Run scores, everyone is safe. 8-3 Yankees. Tino fouls out to the catcher behind homeplate to make the second out. Bernie strikes out for out number three.
Bottom 8: Randy is back out to face David Ortiz. He induces a ground ball before giving way to Flash Gordon. Nice job Randy. There were boos, but there were also Yankees fans applauding him, to which he tipped his cap (I think, my brother walked in front of the TV, heh). Manny welcomed him into the game with a deep homer to center. Olerud grounds to Tino at first to make it 2 outs. Millar strikes out to end the inning. To the 9th we go...
Top 9: Chad Bradford is in to face Flaherty. He pops to Mirabelli in foul territory. Jeter singles down to right field line, bringing Craig Hanson in for the Sox to face A-Rod. The Indians are now down to 1 out, losing to the White Sox 4-3. We all know what that could mean. White Sox just ended it holding onto a 4-3 victory. If the Yankees win this game, they'll clinch the division! A-Rod singles, with Jeter stopping at 2nd. Giambi pops out to Mueller to make it 2 outs. Sheffield grounded out to 3rd to end the top half.
Mariano is warming up. We're 3 outs away from a division title. Here we go...
Bottom 9: Cano went back into the son and dropped a pop up off the bat of a pinch hitting Jason Varitek. Nixon flied out to Sheff in right and then Graffanino hit a high pop out to A-Rod coming in (didn't go past the pitchers mound) and then A-Rod bobbled it, nearly dropping it, but held on with a smile. 1 out away! Damon hits a chopper to Rivera on the mound, who fires it over to first for the division! Yankees win! Division won!
Top 1: Jeter leads off with hit number 200 of his season (first time since 2000). A-Rod follows with a single up the middle and Jeter hustles over to third. 1st and 3rd, no out. Giambi hit a ground ball fielded by the second baseman in short right field and he threw to second to force A-Rod, Renteria lost his balance (untouched by A-Rod) and was unable to throw to first. Jeter scores, leaving on a man on 1st with 1 out. Yankees 1, Red Sox 0. Sheffield hits a rocket over the monster - 3-0, Yankees. Matsui grounds to first for the second out. Cano flies out to Manny for the third out. Yankees 3, Red Sox 0.
Bottom 1: Damon walks on 5 pitches. There is a sign in the stands that says "Red Sox Nation, Please Don't Hate Me... I just [Heart] Jeter". Damon steals second easily. Renteria flies out to Sheff in right with Damon advancing to the third. With 0-2, Johnson goes in on Ortiz and Buck and McCarver say that he was hit. They said they heard things. They replayed it and I didn't see it, but Ortiz reacted, so perhaps he was hit. He then strikes out. Bucks calls it "a huuuge turn of events." Eh... I guess. Manny hits a long shot over the monster that makes it 3-2. Blast. Millar flies out to Sheff to end the inning. Yankees 3, Red Sox 2.
Top 2: Tino leads off with a single up the middle, just past the outstretched Wakefield. Bernie lines one down the right field line. Millar reaches up but it hits his glove and keeps going, heading into right. Tino and Bernie easily advance to 2nd and 3rd. Double for Bernie. Flaherty gets the job done with a sac fly that advances both Tino to home and Bernie to third. Yankees 4, Red Sox 2. Jeter gets the job done as well with a sac fly of his own, scoring Bernie and making it 5-2, Yankees. Good job guys. A-Rod pops out to Manny in short left to end the inning. Renteria and him were looking for it before Manny finally took charge. Yankees 5, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 2: Mueller walks to lead off the inning. Mirabelli strikes out on 3 pitches. Nixon does the same. Graffanino hits a hard ball past Jeter's right, good for a single with Mueller holding at 2nd. Damon walks to load the bases with 2 outs. Out comes Mel and the infield converges. McCarver: "You have 6 shrinks on the mound because Randy thinks there's a shrinking strike zone." Is it just me or does McCarver not like The Unit? Earlier he said that Randy needs to be coddled, that he's eccentric... he's painting him to be a nut now. From 3-1, Johnson battles back with a called strike to get it full. Renteria fouls off a borderline pitch and then strikes out swinging to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded. Yankees 5, Red Sox 2.
Top 3: Giambi pops up to Renteria for the first out. Gary hits a hard grounder to Renteria who throws him out at first. Matsui hits a home run to dead center field - hitting the top of the wall. Cano hits a slow chopper and is barely out at first. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 3: Ortiz hits a long fly ball off the big green wall, reaching 2nd with a double. Manny hits a fast grounder to A-Rod who fields it cleanly, holds Ortiz and goes to first for the first out. Millar hits a fly ball into the gap between right and center where Sheffield makes a nice grab to get the out. He slides, bouncing up and throwing in to prevent Ortiz from advancing. Mueller pops out to Cano to end the inning. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Top 4: Tino strikes out. Bernie grounds out to second, 2 down. McCarver says that his vote for MVP would be A-Rod. Ortiz is the most valuable hitter, but because of A-Rod's gold glove defense and good baserunning, he is MVP. Buck goes for Ortiz because he's come up with big hit after big hit and "makes this thing go." Meanwhile, Flaherty pops out in foul territory to end the Yankees half. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 4: Mirabelli flies out to left and Sheffield makes a sweet play, going to his left to catch line drive off the bat of Trot Nixon for the second out. Graffanino singles to left for the Red Sox first hit since Ortiz doubled to lead off the 3rd. Graffanino stole second, just beating the tag. Damon grounds out to Cano to end the inning. Yankees 6, Red Sox 2.
Top 5: Mueller makes a good play on a high chop off Jeter's bat, just throwing him out. A-Rod hits home run number 48, a deep, deep shot over the monster in left. This home run gives him the AL lead in home runs. Mike Stanton is warming up. Buck and McCarver go through the Stanton deal, the summation is that Epstein is brilliant. Graffanino throws Giambi out at first from short right. Buck and McCarver now talk about tomorrow's pitching mathup. Mussina is in trouble, didn't last 2 innings in his last start, etc. Then McCarver says... "Meanwhile... Schilling had his best start against the Yankees September 10th" (or something like that). Um, yeah? How about, meanwhile Moose pitched 6 scoreless on September 22? Schilling allowed 5 in 6 and 1/3 in his last start... 4.46 ERA this month. Anyway, Gary pops out to Mueller at third to end the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 5: Renteria flies out to Sheff make the first out of the inning. Randy gets Ortiz to ground to Tino at first for the second out. Manny grounds out to A-Rod to end the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2. Now, get this...
They talk about the MVP race. McCarver says that from a publicity stand point, the Red Sox are promoting Ortiz as the MVP. And then he says he is "shocked" that the Yankees haven't been promoting A-Rod as the MVP. Huh? Who the freak cares about promoting someone for the MVP? What good does that do? What in the world does that mean... and who cares?
Top 6: Mike Stanton enters. Matsui strikes out. Graffanino makes a nice play up the middle but is too late to throw out Cano, who reaches safely. Cano gets himself picked off for the second out. Martinez hits a slow roller to short to end the top half of the inning. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 6: Millar Ks swinging to start it off. Mueller is caught looking for K number 6. Mirabelli has the same fate. Johnson retires the side with strikeouts. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Top 7: Jeremi Gonzalez. Bernie goes shopping at the gap, but gets robbed by Trot Nixon in right. Flaherty takes Manny to the track for the second out. Jeter strikes out looking on the inside for the third out. Yankees 7, Red Sox 2.
Bottom 7: Tino makes a nice play on a Trot Nixon grounder to make the first out. Tony Graffanino hit a long fly ball that just went over the red stripe on the monster for a home run. Damon strikes out looking for the 2nd out of the inning and the 8th strike out for RJ. Renteria flies out to Sheffield to end the 7th. Solid outing. 7 IP, 8 Ks, 3 ER. He may be done.
Top 8: A-Rod doubled off the monster. Kenny DiNardo in for the Sox to face Giambi, who strikes out. Sheff is given a free pass, bring up Matsui. Matsui hit a hard ground up the middle which Renteria made a great play on. He flipped it to Graffanino, who wasn't on the base, allowing Sheff to slide in safe. Bases loaded, 1 out. Cano hit a ground ball that Renteria fielded on the first base side of second. He tried to tag Matsui, but Matsui avoided him (going out of the base path, according to Buck and McCarver) and then threw to first, but was too late to get Cano. Run scores, everyone is safe. 8-3 Yankees. Tino fouls out to the catcher behind homeplate to make the second out. Bernie strikes out for out number three.
Bottom 8: Randy is back out to face David Ortiz. He induces a ground ball before giving way to Flash Gordon. Nice job Randy. There were boos, but there were also Yankees fans applauding him, to which he tipped his cap (I think, my brother walked in front of the TV, heh). Manny welcomed him into the game with a deep homer to center. Olerud grounds to Tino at first to make it 2 outs. Millar strikes out to end the inning. To the 9th we go...
Top 9: Chad Bradford is in to face Flaherty. He pops to Mirabelli in foul territory. Jeter singles down to right field line, bringing Craig Hanson in for the Sox to face A-Rod. The Indians are now down to 1 out, losing to the White Sox 4-3. We all know what that could mean. White Sox just ended it holding onto a 4-3 victory. If the Yankees win this game, they'll clinch the division! A-Rod singles, with Jeter stopping at 2nd. Giambi pops out to Mueller to make it 2 outs. Sheffield grounded out to 3rd to end the top half.
Mariano is warming up. We're 3 outs away from a division title. Here we go...
Bottom 9: Cano went back into the son and dropped a pop up off the bat of a pinch hitting Jason Varitek. Nixon flied out to Sheff in right and then Graffanino hit a high pop out to A-Rod coming in (didn't go past the pitchers mound) and then A-Rod bobbled it, nearly dropping it, but held on with a smile. 1 out away! Damon hits a chopper to Rivera on the mound, who fires it over to first for the division! Yankees win! Division won!
Seamus wrote: