White Sox 6, Yankees 5, 11 Innings
Yankees Fall After Rivera Blows Save in 9th
By TYLER KEPNER
Published: August 9, 2006
CHICAGO, Aug. 8 — Ten months later, the Yankees finally made it to
Chicago. They had packed their bags for a trip here last October, and
even sent a pitcher ahead of the team. The Yankees needed only to win
the final game of their playoff series in Anaheim to meet the White Sox
in the American League Championship Series.
They lost, of course, and the White Sox steamrolled the Angels on their
way to a World Series crown. Despite a slow start to the second half,
the White Sox are not giving up their title easily.
The surging Yankees had a chance to beat the White Sox on Tuesday night
in the first game of their series at U.S. Cellular Field. But Mariano Rivera
blew the save in the ninth inning when Paul Konerko hit a leadoff home run
to tie the score.
Two innings later, Jermaine Dye hit a one-out single to center off Scott
Proctor to give Chicago a 6-5 victory before a capacity crowd of 39,872
fans. The Yankees maintained their two-game lead in the A.L. East because
the Boston Red Sox lost in Kansas City.
“It’s tough, but you can do nothing about it,” said Rivera, who had
converted his previous 15 save chances. “If you leave the ball a lot
over the plate, those things are going to happen.”
After striking out the side in the 10th, Proctor allowed a leadoff single
in the 11th to Tadahito Iguchi, who scorched a grounder that Robinson Cano
backhanded. But Cano could not throw out Iguchi, who advanced to scoring
position when Jim Thome walked.
After Konerko flied out to shallow right, Dye came to bat. One pitch after
a foul ball dropped between Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera down the
left-field line, Dye lined a pitch into center to score Iguchi and end the
game.
Rodriguez said he missed the foul pop by 10 feet. “I can’t catch that
ball, and probably Melky can’t, either,” he said. “You hit that ball
100 times, I can’t catch it 100 times.”
The Yankees had broken a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning. After Rodriguez’s
third hit loaded the bases with one out, Neal Cotts hit Jason Giambi on
the right elbow to force in a run.
Giambi would leave the game with a bruise, so when the designated hitter’s
spot came up again, in the 10th inning, Bernie Williams hit for him. With
Rodriguez on second after a stolen base, Bobby Jenks fanned Williams with
a 99-mile-an-hour fastball to end the inning.
X-rays on Giambi’s elbow came back negative, but he did not know if he
could play on Wednesday. “I’ll ice it all night long and we’ll see,”
Giambi said. “It’s pretty big as far as the swelling.”
Jenks worked two and two-thirds innings for the victory, stifling the
Yankees in the 11th after his throwing error on a pickoff attempt put
a runner at second with one out. Craig Wilson, who had homered earlier,
struck out, and Cabrera grounded out to third.
Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang lasted only five innings, allowing four
runs on seven hits and two walks. Cano returned from the disabled list
and had three hits, as did Rodriguez, who homered.
Wang said he was opening his front shoulder too soon in his delivery,
and his arm angle was inconsistent, causing his sinker to flatten.
“He was due for one of those games, even though you don’t look forward
to it,” Manager Joe Torre said of Wang, who came into the game with an
18-inning scoreless streak. “But he never gave up.”
The White Sox have started the second half with an 9-14 record, a stretch
that began when the Yankees swept them in New York on July 14-16. The
tailspin has left the White Sox nine games behind Detroit in the
Central division.
Starting pitching has been a prime culprit. The White Sox relied heavily
on their rotation last October, but Jose Contreras is 1-4 since the
All-Star Game break, and Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia have not won
since June.
Garcia came into the game 0-3 with a 5.50 earned run average in his
last seven starts.
Johnny Damon led off the game by reaching base on an error by center
fielder Rob Mackowiak, stole second and scored on a single by Bobby
Abreu. Craig Wilson made it 2-0 in the second inning with his first
home run as a Yankee.
But Wang quickly lost the lead. Konkerko and Dye greeted Wang with
hard-hit doubles in the second.
After a walk to A. J. Pierzynski, the pitching coach Ron Guidry visited
the mound. Yet Wang fell behind the next hitter, Joe Crede, before
allowing a single that brought up Mackowiak with the bases loaded.
Wang’s specialty is the ground ball, and he got a big one — a comebacker
that he threw home to start a 1-2-3 double play. The next hitter, Alex
Cintron, took five pitches in a row, before singling to left on the eighth
pitch of the at-bat, scoring two runs to put Chicago ahead, 3-2.
Wang generally keeps a low pitch count by inducing contact. Before
Tuesday, he had the fewest strikeouts (48) of any pitcher who qualifies
for the E.R.A. title. But the White Sox seemed determined to make Wang
work; 16 of the 20 hitters he faced took the first pitch.
The Yankees gave him another lead in the third, when Abreu singled with
two out and Rodriguez hit a two-run homer to left on the first pitch.
Rodriguez had been 1 for his previous 17, but the homer put the Yankees
ahead, 4-3, and tied Rodriguez with the Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski
for 31st place on the career home-run list, with 452.
Wang held the lead through the third, getting another double play, but
Crede pulled a homer in the fourth to tie the score, 4-4. Wang was gone
after five, having thrown 95 pitches. It was his shortest start since
June 1.
http://0rz.net/251Ga
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 140.109.23.211