The Yankees are in Chicago tonight, taking on the White Sox. Chien-Ming Wang will pitch for the Yanks, while Jose Contreras goes for the Sox. Posada returns to duty behind the plate, while Morgan Ensberg fills in for A-Rod at third base. Giambi is still playing first…but, other than that, it’s the same old Yankees. Time for the game:
Top 1: Damon, playing left, leads off against the former Yankee Jose Contreras. He hits one off of Konerko’s glove and it trickles into right. Damon goes to second with a double.
Jeter shatters his bat on a check swing 0-1 pitch and has to go to the dugout for a new stick. He lines out to second. Damon can’t advance.
Abreu has a chance to move the runner along or score. He BARELY bloops one of the shortstop’s head. It looked like it’d be a catch, so Damon had to stutter and could only make it to third.
Matsui, the DH, is hitting in the fourth spot tonight. He chops the first ball down to second. The force is made at second. Nobody’s covering first, so Matsui is safe. The run scores and the Yanks are up 1-0.
Posada’s back behind the plate tonight and batting fifth. He’s got a runner on first and two out. He bloops one just in front of the centre fielder and it’s a single. The runner goes to second.
Robbie Cano is up with runners on first and second. Maybe he’ll hit a blooper as well…Jeter, Abreu, and Posada all hit them. Robbie’s putting up a good fight at the plate on a 3-2 count. He chases a high pitch, though, and strikes out swinging.
Bottom 1: With a one-run lead, Wang takes to the mound and faces the lead-off man for the Sox, Nick Swisher. Swisher hits one down to Ensberg at third. It hits off his glove and bounces in front of him. Ensberg can’t find it. When he does, he can’t throw out Swisher in time. It’s ruled a single, though.
Ensberg makes up for the mistake, though. Cabrera grounds the next pitch right down to him, and he starts an around-the-horn DP.
Thome is up and a shift is on. He starts with a 3-0 count, but Wang works it back to 3-2…but ends up walking him anyway.
Konerko’s up with a man on first. He has a 3-2 count, so Thome will be running. He hits a solid single to left centre and Thome was moving on the pitch. Melky throws it into third, but Ensberg can’t handle it and Thome is safe sliding in. The runner goes to second on the throw.
Dye has runners on second and third now. An E-8 was called on Cabrera for letting Konerko go to second. Dye is putting up a good AB, fouling a bunch of pitches off. He works a 3-2 count. Runners will be on the move again. He grounds in the hole to Jeter, who gloves it and throws a bullet across the diamond to get Dye.
End of 1st: 1-0 Yanks
Top 2: Giambi leads off the inning for the Yanks. He’s only batting .109 this year. The entire left side is wide open…and Giambi drives a pitch into the left field seats! It’s a miracle! 2-0 Yanks.
Ensberg is up. He’s the third baseman tonight. Ensberg goes down swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
Melky gets his first chance at the plate tonight. He flies out to left field.
Back to the top of the order with Damon at the plate with two out. He hits an easy grounder to second for the final out.
Bottom 2: Pierzynski flies out to right field.
Quentin is batting now. He grounds a single up the middle off of Wang’s glove.
Crede doubles down the left field line. The runner goes to third.
Uribe doubles down the left field line and both runners score. 2-2.
Swisher is back up with a runner on second and one out. After being down 0-2 in the count, he’s now working on a 3-2 count. Then there’s an odd sight…Swisher swings and misses at strike three…no foul at all…and the bat breaks before the ball even reaches the plate!
Cabrera’s up with two out now. He grounds out to Jeter to end the inning.
End of 2nd: 2-2
Top 3: Jeter leads off the inning for the Yanks. He chops one down to third and is thrown out at first.
Aw, how sweet. They’re doing the story of how the Yanks became the Evil Empire on YES. My blog thanks the Red Sox. Anyway, Abreu’s up. He flies out to left.
Two out and Matsui’s batting. He hits one down the right field line and Dye gets to it very quickly. It would have been a double with just about any other outfielder, but Dye holds him to a single.
Posada hits another blooper, but this time Quentin makes a nice sliding catch to end it.
Bottom 3: Wang is going to have to be a lot more economical. He already has 50 pitches. He’s pitching to Thome right now…and has another 3-2 count. At least he gets him to strike out swinging.
Konerko, who had the 2-run double last inning, is back up. Wnag is getting behind in the counts again. Konerko almost hits a homer into the left field bullpen, but the ball dies on the warning track and Damon makes the catch.
Dye hits a double on the first pitch into left centre.
Wang definitely isn’t himself tonight. AJ is batting with a man on second and two out. Another 3-2 count…but AJ strikes out swinging.
End of 3rd: 2-2
Top 4: Cano drives the first ball that he sees into the left centre gap and gets a double off the wall.
Giambi’s up again. Last time up, a miracle occured and he hit a homer into left field. This time, he gets under a ball and skies one to right field. Dye makes the catch and makes a perfect throw to third base. Robbie wasn’t going; he just drew the throw.
Ensberg hits a slow roller to shortstop with Cano on the move. Cano’s safe at third and Ensberg’s out at first.
Cabrera’s up with his buddy down at third. He checks his swing and is called out on strikes.
Bottom 4: Quentin smacks the first ball out to Damon. The catch is made on the warning track.
Crede flies out to Melky.
Uribe hits a grounder to Cano, who throws him out at first.
End of 4th: 2-2
Top 5: Damon is getting his third chance at the plate. He hits an easy fly ball to left for the out.
Jeter chops a ball up the middle, but Cabrera throws him out at first.
Abreu grounds out.
Bottom 5: Top of the order is back up for the Sox, starting with Swisher. He grounds out to second.
Masset is warming for the Sox. Cabrera’s batting and lines a single into left.
Man on first for Thome. He walks.
Two men on for Konerko, who has mashed the ball both time up. He keeps it up and doubles down the left field line. One run scores and there are now runners on second and third. 3-2 Sox.
Hawkins is up in the pen with Dye at the plate and one out. Dye K’s swinging.
AJ chops a ball to Cano, who makes the toss to first for the out.
End of 5th: 3-2 Sox
Top 6: Matsui gets plunked on the hip. Ouch!
If that ball had gone any more inside on Matsui…uh…let’s just say he wouldn’t be playing for a week or so. At least. Posada’s up now. He grounds into a 3-6-3 DP.
With the bases clear and two out, Cano steps up to the plate. He flies out to Dye.
Bottom 6: Quentin leads off the inning against Wang, who seems to be having problems with his fingernail again. Quentin flies out to right.
With his pitch count over 90, Wang deals to Crede. He singles over Ensberg’s glove. Damon threw it into second.
The hit and run is on and Uribe hits a perfectly placed ball between Wang and first. Both runners are safe and no play is made.
Runners on first and second for Swisher with one out. He strikes out looking.
Cabrera’s now batting with two on and two out. He grounds out to Giambi.
End of 6th: 3-2 Sox
Top 7: Giambi lines a ball into the shift. The out is made at second.
Ensberg walks.
Melky pokes a single into left.
Contreras is coming out of the game. Logan is coming in to face Damon. He gets an infield single on a ground ball to short.
Dotel is in to pitch now. Jeter’s up with bases loaded and one out. He K’s swinging.
That brings up Abreu with the bases loaded and two out. The Yanks are down by one. He fixes that in a hurry with grand slam into left field! 6-3 Yanks!!!
Matsui’s at the plate now and the bases are clear. That was Bobby’s 7th career granny. Matsui works a 3-2 count and walks.
The lefty Thorton is pitching and Georgie flips around to bat righty. Matsui’s sitting on first with two down. Posada grounds out to second and is thrown out at first.
Bottom 7: Wang’s out and Traber is in to pitch to Thome. Bruney is warming in the pen. Thome walks.
Traber doesn’t do his job, so Bruney comes in. He would have anyway. Anyway, he’ll face Konerko with a runner on first and no out. The count is 2-2…now 3-2…and it’s a walk.
Dye has two on and no out. He strikes out swinging. Big out there.
AJ hits a ball off of Giambi’s glove…and nobody’s covering first, so everyone safe. Cano, who got the ball, has nobody to throw to.
Bases loaded and one out. I guess the ball hit off of Giambi’s arm. Quentin’s up and there’s a pitching change. It’s time for Joba. He gets Quentin to strike out swinging.
Crede gets a chance with the bases loaded and two out. He walks to bring in a run. 6-4 Yanks.
Uribe comes up and pops out to Posada in foul territory. Whew.
End of 7th: 6-4 Yanks
Top 8: Cano leads off the inning against Thorton, who is still in for the Sox. He has a 3-2 count…and walks.
Giambi continues his struggles by going down on strike three looking.
Ensberg gets a single into left. Cano goes to second.
Melky grounds into a force out at second. He’s safe at first and Cano goes to third.
Runners on the corners and two out for Damon. He hits a homer into right field! 9-4 Yankees!
MacDougal gets a call in from the bullpen to face Jeter. He gets Jeter to ground out to second to end the inning.
Bottom 8: Sorry, but I’ve got to take a break right now. I might be back for the 9th.
I’m back for the bottom of the 9th: Bottom 9: Kyle Farnsworth is pitching.
I guess he allowed one run to score and then got Uribe out to end the game. Sorry I missed most of the end.
Final score: 9-5 Yankees
Wang didn’t have his best stuff tonight, but he gutted through the game and pitched through the 6th. Abreu added his support with a granny in the 7th, while Damon hit a 3-run homer in the 8th to provide the greater portion of the Yanks’ offensive support.
