FLUSHING – No matter what takes place the rest of the weekend in the Subway Series, the Yankees can already claim their weekend a success.
They won the game last night, a tough 2-1 hang-on decision over the Mets at Citi Field. However, the biggest story came from the performance of the pitcher on the mound.
Here was Javier Vazquez, a pitcher in search of building back his confidence torn apart by an atrocious beginning to his season where his ERA soared near ten and a fan base and (drive by) media already calling him a bust, unable to handle the pressure that comes with being a Yankee.
It got so bad the team looked out for his “best interest” by nothing pitching him in Fenway Park two weeks ago. Instead, he would start In Detroit and threw seven strong innings, giving up only two runs in a Yankee loss.
On Monday, the team called for him to come out of the bullpen because no one else was available and he struck out Kevin Youkilis and became the winning pitcher when the offense rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth against Jonathan Papelbon.
Now here he was on the mound starting at Citi Field in New York’s showcase series where all of the eyes would be on him. Failure here against a struggling Mets offense, a low-middle class National League offense and he might of wanted to book his flight for Siberia.
Vazquez would respond.
For six innings, he was nearly unhittable and the hit that he gave up was a shallow bloop to center by Angel Pagan.
He was so good he probably could have gone the distance, buy on a bunt attempt in the seventh inning in which the Yankees had finally broke through to take a 2-0 lead, it was Vazquez finding out that his night would end.
He squared to bunt and fouled it off. On the next pitch, he got the bunt down to move the runner over. On the way back to the dugout, he shook his hand and removed his batting glove, what he found was a finger that was bleeding and in need of healing.
Night over.
It took away from his magnificent performance. From the outset, Vazquez pitched like a man in control, having belief in everything he was doing on the mound.
Effective pitching comes from confidence and mental stability, two things the Yankees enigmatic right-hander did not have during the month of April.
He had no conviction in any of his pitches. The decreased velocity in his fastball clearly altered his mindset. With that, the crispness of his other pitches suffered.
Perhaps that break several weeks ago was the best thing for him. A chance to clear his mind and get back to the things that made him among the decade’s most consistent pitchers as opposed to the man we have seen as dispirited, lost and at other times, confused.
Two strikeouts in the first inning Friday night set the tone. Two more in the second served notice that was here and ready for this stage. All of the prior stuff about not being able to pitch under the “bright lights” was going for nothing.
You waited for that patch in the game where “Bad Javy” would appear, knowing it is always around the corner where his game crashes oh so suddenly.
His only hiccup was that he walked light-hitting Alex Cora twice, certainly not the man in the scouting report you expect to beat you. However, for the first four innings, no Mets player reached base beside him.
Pagan finally singled with one out in the fifth to take away any possibilities that this could be an historic and shocking night. Any possible trouble ended one pitch later when Rod Barajas quickly grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The sixth saw the Mets once again go quietly. Despite not touching more than 91 MPH on the radar gun, it was his placement of the fastball that made him effective and having hitters swing-and-miss. His curveball and slider had bite to it. When he wanted to throw his changeup, he would have hitters far out in front.
His last pitch to Jose Reyes of the night was a pop up to short that Derek Jeter caught. It was only his 69th pitch of the evening as the Mets went up to the plate swinging quickly and returning to the bench just as fast.
The final line was impressive. Six innings and one hit with six strikeouts. Even though he would not return because of the bruise on the finger, he could leave with only positive thoughts knowing that he is indeed capable of this performance.
For the Yankees, this was like a gift from the heavens.
For Vazquez, it was his way of saying he still has plenty of game left in that right arm of his.
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