Six hundred and ninety-eight year old baseball player Raul Ibanez hit the game-tying two-run home run in the 9th and the game-winning single in the 12th to give the Yankees a 4-3 win over the Sox in the Bronx.
Jon Lester went five innings before leaving early due to a potential injury concern. The Red Sox got mixed results from the bullpen. Rich Hill, Junichi Tazawa, and Craig Breslow pitched three pretty spotless innings leading up to closer Andrew Bailey in the 9th. Bailey just couldn't do anything -- there's not really any analysis to be provided. The only strikes he threw were fastballs with no movement. You know how that works out.
Mark Melancon bailed Bailey out by retiring Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded, and then came back out for another good inning. I know, it was as shocking as it sounds. For what it's worth, Melancon's ERA is down to 6.20; Bailey's is 7.04.
Vicente Padilla pitched the 11th and gave up just one hit, only to be replaced by Andrew Miller, who went from outstanding to unacceptable in about 30 seconds. He was going along fine, and up 0-2 on Francisco Cervelli. Then one of my least favorite strategic moves happened. Miller buried a breaking ball about six feet in front of the plate. The next pitch was -- literally -- three feet outside. It sailed by Salty and wouldn't even have hit a left-handed batter. At 2-2, Miller tried to hit the plate again, and just couldn't. Seven seconds later Granderson walked on four pitches, and then Ibanez singled in the run.
I don't know who's to blame -- the catcher, the pitching coach, the manager, the pitcher. But this kind of thing happens too often. The idea is that you don't want to give the hitter anything to work with on 0-2, but you throw such terrible pitches that you're back in a hitter's count in no time. It's especially stupid for a guy like Miller, who's 17 feet tall and has mechanics that could be called inconsistent. Let him attack the zone. It was Francisco Cervelli, not Mickey Mantle.
