Poor defense, Wise walk-off hit, beat Yanks in ninth
CHICAGO – Having a great defense can usually make the difference between winning and losing.
For the most part, the Yankees have been among the league best teams fielding the ball and that is part of the reason they have catapulted to the best record. Unfortunately, last night lapses on defense that led to their eventual defeat last night in Chicago.
Phil Coke gave up a walk-off hit to centerfielder DeWayne Wise (who was hitting .185 going into the at bat) on a single back up the middle to give the White Sox a 3-2 win in front of 31,305 at US Cellular Field. This made a loser of Phil Hughes (4-3), who was charged for his first run in 21 innings (spanning 16 appearances) the team will look back on the seventh inning where the game where they nearly gave the game away.
The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Andy Pettitte was pitching one of his best games of the season. Fielding a slow groundball in between home and first base, Pettitte slipped on the grass and allowed him to reach with no outs. After striking out Paul Konerko, Pettitte appeared to have an inning ending double play when Alex Rodriguez was unable to cleanly field a hard hit grounder to his left.
Joe Girardi came to the mound to end Pettitte’s night and gave the ball to Hughes to also look to have induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. However, Robinson Cano’s relay to first base pulled Mark Teixeira off the bag and allowed Thome to score the go-ahead run to make it 2-1.
Pettitte on the night pitched 6 1/3 innings, yielding only five hits and two runs (one earned), walking one and striking out eight.
He was upstaged by White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who has been inconsistent for most the year, but has found his groove as of late. The Yankee offense rarely got good swings against the right-hander and most times were on the wrong end of the strikeout.
Floyd dealt 7 2/3 innings of ball, giving up only four hits and a run, walking just one while striking out ten (seven looking) and leaving to standing ovation from the crowd.
Chicago grabbed the game’s first run in the third inning when rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham laced an RBI double into the left field corner, scoring Chris Getz. It would remain 1-0 into the sixth when the Yankees tied the score and got their only run off Floyd.
Jose Molina led off with a ground rule double to left center. Derek Jeter lined out, but Johnny Damon picked him up with an RBI single to right to bring Molina home with the game-tying run.
After Matt Thornton relieved Floyd, he gave up a single to Damon before striking out Teixeira swinging to end the frame. In the ninth, he struck out both Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui for the first two outs.
Former White Sox Nick Swisher came to the plate, having struck out all three times on the night and continuously booed in every plate. He fell behind in the count 0-1, and then was as able to connect on a 96 MPH fastball from Thornton and drill it over the wall in the left for a home run (17th) to tie the game.
Hughes stayed in to pitch the ninth and with one out in the bottom half, Jim Thome singled to center, followed up by a single by Konerko. Girardi made the change and called on Phil Coke to face lefties AJ Pierzynski and Wise.
Coke got Pierzynski to fly out to center and could not advance the runner. Scott Podsednik pinch run for Thome and when Wise’s single was not gloved or knocked down by the left-hander in time as it went through the middle, scoring Podsednik and giving the White Sox the win.
The Yankees (62-40) saw their lead in the AL East drop to 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox. While Boston begins a series at Baltimore this weekend, the Yanks play three more in Chicago. On Friday night, Sergio Mitre takes the ball against White Sox lefty Clayton Richard.
CHICAGO – Having a great defense can usually make the difference between winning and losing.
For the most part, the Yankees have been among the league best teams fielding the ball and that is part of the reason they have catapulted to the best record. Unfortunately, last night lapses on defense that led to their eventual defeat last night in Chicago.
Phil Coke gave up a walk-off hit to centerfielder DeWayne Wise (who was hitting .185 going into the at bat) on a single back up the middle to give the White Sox a 3-2 win in front of 31,305 at US Cellular Field. This made a loser of Phil Hughes (4-3), who was charged for his first run in 21 innings (spanning 16 appearances) the team will look back on the seventh inning where the game where they nearly gave the game away.
The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, and Andy Pettitte was pitching one of his best games of the season. Fielding a slow groundball in between home and first base, Pettitte slipped on the grass and allowed him to reach with no outs. After striking out Paul Konerko, Pettitte appeared to have an inning ending double play when Alex Rodriguez was unable to cleanly field a hard hit grounder to his left.
Joe Girardi came to the mound to end Pettitte’s night and gave the ball to Hughes to also look to have induced an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. However, Robinson Cano’s relay to first base pulled Mark Teixeira off the bag and allowed Thome to score the go-ahead run to make it 2-1.
Pettitte on the night pitched 6 1/3 innings, yielding only five hits and two runs (one earned), walking one and striking out eight.
He was upstaged by White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, who has been inconsistent for most the year, but has found his groove as of late. The Yankee offense rarely got good swings against the right-hander and most times were on the wrong end of the strikeout.
Floyd dealt 7 2/3 innings of ball, giving up only four hits and a run, walking just one while striking out ten (seven looking) and leaving to standing ovation from the crowd.
Chicago grabbed the game’s first run in the third inning when rookie third baseman Gordon Beckham laced an RBI double into the left field corner, scoring Chris Getz. It would remain 1-0 into the sixth when the Yankees tied the score and got their only run off Floyd.
Jose Molina led off with a ground rule double to left center. Derek Jeter lined out, but Johnny Damon picked him up with an RBI single to right to bring Molina home with the game-tying run.
After Matt Thornton relieved Floyd, he gave up a single to Damon before striking out Teixeira swinging to end the frame. In the ninth, he struck out both Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui for the first two outs.
Former White Sox Nick Swisher came to the plate, having struck out all three times on the night and continuously booed in every plate. He fell behind in the count 0-1, and then was as able to connect on a 96 MPH fastball from Thornton and drill it over the wall in the left for a home run (17th) to tie the game.
Hughes stayed in to pitch the ninth and with one out in the bottom half, Jim Thome singled to center, followed up by a single by Konerko. Girardi made the change and called on Phil Coke to face lefties AJ Pierzynski and Wise.
Coke got Pierzynski to fly out to center and could not advance the runner. Scott Podsednik pinch run for Thome and when Wise’s single was not gloved or knocked down by the left-hander in time as it went through the middle, scoring Podsednik and giving the White Sox the win.
The Yankees (62-40) saw their lead in the AL East drop to 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox. While Boston begins a series at Baltimore this weekend, the Yanks play three more in Chicago. On Friday night, Sergio Mitre takes the ball against White Sox lefty Clayton Richard.
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