NIGHTMARE IN THE BRONX

In spite of the fact that destiny in the person of Raul Ibanez's heroics has helped to push the Yankees to the ALCS round of the playoffs, it seems that fate has stepped in to short-circuit Yankee hopes for anything beyond this round.  The Yankees could not capitalize on a miraculous ninth inning rally in game one of the ALCS championship series against the Tigers, and Yankee captain Derek Jeter broke his ankle in the twelfth inning while fielding a ground ball.  A devastating 6-4 12-inning loss to Detroit, and the loss of the teams best player and catalyst for success, has cast a pall over the Yankees and their fans.

The details of the game almost seem insignificant, but the results need to be considered in light of the Yankees' paltry hopes for success in this series.  Offensively, the Yankees' performance in game one mirrored their struggles during the second half of the 2012 season.  They loaded the bases in the first and second innings and again in the sixth but produced zero runs for the effort.  That futility established a new club standard for post season failure.

In the first inning, three Yankee walks brought Alex Rodriguez to the plate with two out.  ARod had been reinserted into the lineup for game one, and he was hitting in the sixth spot.  He grounded sharply to shortstop, but Jhonny Peralta was able to retire Ibanez advancing to second for the third out.

In the second inning, three straight two-out hits by Russell Martin, Jeter, and Ichiro Suzuki loaded the bases for Robinson Cano.  Cano's sharply hit ball struck Tigers' starter, Doug Fister, on the wrist of his throwing hand.  The ball ricocheted to Peralta who was able to retire Cano at first.  In spite of the solid blow to his wrist, Fister was able to remain in the game and pitched wonderfully for 6.1 scoreless innings.  Fister's success included retiring ARod two more times, once a 6-4-3 double play in the third and a strike out in the sixth.  In the sixth, the catcher did not catch the third strike cleanly but ARod made no effort to run to first and was tagged out by Gerald Laird as he walked away.  Eric Chavez pinch-hit for Rodriguez in the eighth inning. 

Fister got solid relief help from both Phil Coke and Joaquin Benoit to keep the Yankees scoreless through eight innings. 

Andy Pettitte pitched well until the sixth inning when allowed three hits, two walks, and two runs while facing eight Detroit batters.  Derek Lowe relieved Andy but gave up two more runs on two hits, including a HR by Delmon Young.  Those runs staked Detroit to a 4-0 lead which they held until the ninth inning.  Miraculously, New York rallied with four runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth.  Martin singled and scored on Ichiro's two-run HR off Tiger closer Jose Valverde.  Valverde subsequently gave up a walk to Mark Teixeira and another two-run HR to that man again, Raul Ibanez.  The Ibanez HR came with two out and dramatically tied the game at 4-4.

The Yankees squandered chances to score the winning run in the 10th and 11th innings.  In the 10th, Curtis Granderson walked and Girardi inserted Brett Gardner to pinch-run.  Gardner stole second and third but could not score as fly outs by Martin and Jeter left him stranded.  In the 11th, Ichiro Suzuki led off the inning with a single to center, but could not advance as Cano (0 for 6 on the night), Teixeira, and Ibanez flew out in succession.

In the twelfth inning, Girardi inserted David Phelps to pitch.  He was a disaster.  Phelps allowed three hits, a walk, and two runs that staked the Tigers to a 6-4 lead.  The second hit of that inning was an infield single to Jeter which he fielded while moving quickly to his left.  He went to the ground with a grimace and a yell and tried to flip the ball to Cano.  Jeter had to be carried from the field and Girardi reported in the post-game interview that Jeter's ankle was fractured.  Following that total and unimaginable disaster, the Yankees went out meekly in the bottom of the inning.  Chavez and Swisher struck out and Gardner grounded out to second base.

While it is only one loss in a seven game series, it felt much worse.  Yankee fans were unhappy with the team's performance most of the night and voiced their displeasure with vocal boos.  Rodriguez, Swisher (who botched a key defensive chance in the twelfth), and Curtis Granderson were the most obvious targets of Yankee fan wrath.

There was plenty of blame to be shared, and the pall cast by Jeter's injury seemed to combine with the fans' displeasure to create a really down atmosphere among the fans who stuck it out for the entire game.

The really unhappy final:  Detroit 6  New York 4  in twelve innings.  Detroit leads the 2012 ALCS 1-0. 

     

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

Twitter: @yankeefrank23

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