New York-Oakland: A Crazy Day for a Yanks Fan

I was about to tee off at the tenth when the Yankees-A's game began at 1 pm Saturday.

Involved in a four man scramble event at Kutsher's Golf Course in Monticello, New York, I was forced to follow the baseball action on my old college roommate's Blackberry.

Before teeing off at the twelfth, I was pleased to see that the Yanks had taken a 2-0 lead in the second, but less pleased with what they did after scoring those two runs.  With men on second and third and no one out, Oakland starter Sean Gallagher struck out Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez to escape further damage.  That's a situation with the meat of the order up that New York HAS to score two more runs.

After my group completed our eight-under round, two shots off the pace, I returned to the clubhouse to see Jose Veras enter the game with a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh.  I understand it was a hot day, but I would've liked to have seen Joba Chamberlain throw more than 96 pitches because he was tossing another great game.  Veras, meanwhile, was unusually erratic, allowing the tying run to score on a wild pitch.

I hopped in the car shortly after 4 pm to begin my 94-mile journey back to Weehawken, NJ.  Along the way, I heard John Sterling detail how Mariano Rivera couldn't hold the tie and how the Yankees subsequently put together a crazy two-out, nobody on rally to re-tie the game in the bottom of the ninth.

As the game went to extra innings, I realized how much more enjoyable it is to listen to the Yankees after Suzyn Waldman has gone down to the field to conduct post-game interviews.

I parked on my street around quarter to 6 and walked to my house while Alex Rodriguez was getting intentionally walked in the bottom of the twelfth.  I entered my room and turned on the TV just in time to see Jose Molina get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to win the game and clinch the series for the Yankees, despite stranding an astounding 21 base runners.

Quite a crazy day for the Bombers and their fans.

Here are the grades from New York's 4-3 win in 12 innings over Oakland.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (B-) I thought he took out Joba a little too soon and he could've played a little more small ball to spark the Yankees' offense while they were stranding all those runners, but once the game moved to the bottom of the ninth and beyond, Girardi attempted two steals and had Wilson Betemit lay down a sacrifice bunt.

Derek Jeter, SS: (A) The Captain started 0-4 but became clutch, like always, in extra innings, picking up two hits and scoring the game winning run.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (C) Abreu was 0-4 and stranded five, but he walked three times and stole a base.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (D) A-Rod was even worse, going 0-5 and leaving an incredible seven runners on, but he did walk twice.

Jason Giambi, DH: (C+) 0-2 with three walks before being lifted for a pinch faller in the ninth.

Jorge Posada, C: (D-) I think Posada's days as a catcher are over.  He was 0-2 throwing out base stealers and he went 1-5 at the plate with two strikeouts.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A+) Did you hear that?  That's the sound of all the Fantasy Baseball owners who dropped or traded Cano earlier this year banging their heads against their keyboards.  The second baseman went 4-6 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored.  He's been big in both games since the All Star break, and that's exactly what the Yankees need to see out of Cano in the second half.

Wilson Betemit, 1B: (A+) Betemit drove in the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.  He went 2-4 with a double, an RBI, a run scored, a walk and a sac bunt.

Melky Cabrera, CF: (A) Here's another guy the Yankees are happy to see hitting again.  Cabrera went 2-6 with a run batted in.

Brett Gardner, LF: (A) Gardner also went 2-6 with a double and an RBI.  The bottom four in the Bombers' lineup went 10-22 on Saturday.

Justin Christian, PR-DH: (F) Christian pinch ran for Giambi in the ninth and promptly fell down trying to steal second.

Richie Sexson, PH-DH: (C) In his second game as a Yankee, Sexson struck out swinging with two on in the tenth, but drew a big walk to load the bases for Molina's HBP in the twelfth.

Jose Molina, C: (A) That's called taking one for the team.  Molina was inserted for his defense, but wound up the offensive hero when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to win the game.

Joba Chamberlain, SP: (A) Ho hum.  Another great start by Joba.  Six innings, six hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts.  For those of you ghosts who thought it was a bad idea to take Chamberlain out of the bullpen, his ERA is now 2.64 in nine starts.  The Yankees are 6-3 in those games and are 32-20 since Joba began his transition to the rotation.

Jose Veras, RP: (F) Not a good outing for Veras, who gave up a run and four base runners while blowing the lead in the seventh.

Kyle Farnsworth, RP: (A) If you asked me before the game, out of Veras, Farnsworth and Mo, who was going to be the only one not to give up a run, I would've punched you in the face.

Mariano Rivera, RP: (F) It's funny how Rivera's groupies, such as Jayson Stark and John Sterling, tout his great record when the Yankees already have the lead but fail to mention that opposing batters are now hitting .297 (11 for 37) off Mo when he enters a tie game.

Edwar Ramirez, RP: (A) Ramirez was the best reliever on this day, striking out four and allowing just two base runners in two innings of work.  He hasn't allowed a run since June 27.

David Robertson, RP: (B) Robertson got the win for his shaky inning of work.

Yankees Overall Grade: (C+) The offense hit a new low Saturday, leaving 21 men on base, but the batters came through in the clutch, driving in big runs in the ninth and twelfth.  While the bullpen was shaky, Joba Chamberlain once again did his job. 

New York has now jumped ahead of Oakland in the Wild Card standings and trail Boston by just four games, now that the Red Sox have dropped two in a row to the Angels.