"LOOKS LIKE I PICKED THE WRONG WEEK TO QUIT DRINKING!"

Holy cow, what a game! As the distinguished Jack Curry said in the Yankee post-game wrap, "I don't really know where to begin."  I don't really know where to start myself with this wild affair featuring the Yankees and Oakland A's, but I will begin with pitching, or the lack thereof.  The two starters were awful.  Oakland A's manager Bob Melvin actually juggled his rotation to get a start for Travis Blackley in Yankee Stadium. He lasted all of two innings and allowed four runs, but only two were earned.  Blackley could have employed a lawyer to argue non-support, as third baseman Josh Donaldson made an error in the first that directly contributed to the first unearned run.  That argument would have required someone with the skill of Perry Mason to make the case, because Blackely was just as culpable.  He allowed two hits and three walks in the first inning alone.  In the second, Blackley allowed two more hits and contributed a wild pitch as another unearned run scored thanks to another Oakland error by second baseman Cliff Pennington.

The Yankees had similar pitching problems but without the errors.  Ivan Nova was erratic.  He allowed three straight doubles to start the game, and the first two Oakland runners scored.  Nova recovered to pitch a solid second inning, but then yielded a HR to Stephen Drew to begin the third.  Ivan then loaded the bases via two walks and single, and Joe Girardi had seen enough of Mr. Nova.  Reliever Clay Rapada allowed a run in the fourth inning and the score was knotted at 4-4 after four.  Both teams would scramble for pitching for the rest of the day thanks to the ineffective starting pitching.

The game stabilized somewhat as each team added one run over the next three innings.  Raul Ibanez hit a solo, pinch-hit HR in the fifth for New York to give the Yanks a 5-4 lead.  Oakland added a run in the seventh on a walk to Yoenis Cespedes, a single by Brandon Moss, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Carter.  The A's run tied the game at 5-5 and it stayed that way over the next five innings.  If you need help with that math, the game was tied at 5-5 through twelve innings.

The Yankees squandered a golden opportunity to score in the twelfth inning as they benefited from a hustle double by Raul Ibanez.  Unfortunately, Raul was gunned down at home on a contact play.  Ibanez had advanced to third on a passed ball, but was put out on a ground ball to Pennington at second.  Girardi had the contact play on with one out, and Oakland catcher Derek Norris held the ball as Ibanez crashed into him at home plate. The Yankees put two more runners on base via walks (Curtis Granderson & Eric Chavez) and that loaded the bases.  They were left loaded as Derek Jeter was retired via fly ball to right.

In the thirteenth inning, Freddy Garcia imploded.  Garcia had pitched well for three innings (10, 11, & 12), but in the 13th, he allowed a single and back-to-back HR's to Jonny Gomes and Cespedes.  Justin Thomas relieved Garcia and allowed yet another Oakland HR, this one off the bat of Chris Carter.  The Yankees appeared defeated at that point as the A's lead ballooned to 9-5 through 12.5 innings.  Miraculously, the Yankees rallied with singles from Suzuki, Rodriguez, and Cano to load the bases.  Ichiro scored via wild pitch and Eduardo Nunez followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Rodriguez.  Suddenly the A's lead had shrunk to 9-7.  Having a career day, Ibanez ripped a HR to right field that went "high and far" and tied the game at 9-9!  Wow! 

 (In Photo: Melky Mesa / Eduardo Nunez)

Cory Wade pitched like a closer in the 14th inning, as he retired the A's one, two, three.  In the bottom of the inning the Yankees got a lead-off single from Chavez and Melky Mesa made his major league debut in a pinch-running capacity.  Jeter sacrificed him to second and Suzuki was promptly intentionally passed.  ARod ripped a single to center and Mesa could have cruised home, but he missed third base!  He returned safely to the bag and the Yankees had the bases loaded.  Cano bounced back to the pitcher who fired home to force Mesa.  I'm really not making this up!  This stuff actually happened!  Nunez hit a fairly routine ground ball to first that should have ended the Yankee threat, but the A's first baseman, Brandon Moss, made an error that will live in infamy, especially if the A's miss the playoffs.  Suzuki strolled home and the Yankees had a 10-9 victory.  What else can I say?  Believe it; the Yankees still have a one game lead in the AL East division race, as the Oriole juggernaut rolled on in Boston with an extra inning victory of their own.

Saturday's unbelievable final:  New York 10  Oakland 9! 

Oh and for you youngsters out there who have never seen the film Airplane, Lloyd Bridges is the picture at the head of this recap and it's one of the more famous lines in the film, along with a few others...we found a clip on YouTube with those lines.


Enjoy the clip and the win! Go Yanks!

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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