In Roy Halladay's first ever playoff start, he pitched a No-Hitter versus the
Cincinnati Reds in front of the home crowd in Philadelphia; securing a Game One victory in the Divisional Round. This was Roy Halladay's second No-No of the season, in a sense as he pitched a perfect game earlier in the regular season. This was only the second no-hitter in MLB playoff history. I'm sure everyone is aware Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 against the Brooklyn Dodgers was the only time this feat had ever been achieved..., till this evening.
I can only characterize this as....Incredible.
Congratulations Roy Halladay! But I still hate the Phillies!
2010
American League Division Series
PLAYOFFS
NEW YORK YANKEES
VS.
MINNESOTA TWINS
SABATHIA (NYY) vs. LIRIANO (MINN)
GAME ONE
TONIGHT
OCTOBER 6, 2010
@
TARGET FIELD, Minnesota
IN-GAME:
BOTTOM 2nd ~
C.C. hit Thome with pitch. Cuddyer hit 2 run HR to straight away center.
TWINS 2 ~ YANKS 0
BOTTOM 3rd ~
Hudson goes from first base to third base on a tapper to 1B in which CC could not get to the bag in time. Tex fielded the grounder and had to dive to tag first. Hudson took advantage and took 3B on the play. Hudson scored on a passed ball by Posada. I don't know how the official scorer marked that,
but to my eyes that was a passed ball.
TWINS 3 ~ YANKS 0
TOP 6th INNING ~
After retiring 10 batters in a row, Liriano gives up a double to TEX. ARod walked. Cano with an RBI single scored Tex. Thames became Liriano's 7th strikeout victim. Posada singled to score ARod. Granderson tripled high off the right field wall to score Cano and Posada. Liriano gets pulled after 5.2 innings pitched. Gardner is 8th man to bat in inning; with two outs and Granderson on third ~ grounds out 5 to 3.
YANKS 4 ~ TWINS 3
Posada giveth and Posada Get'eth Back.
Now the real game starts. It's going to be BULLPEN time soon for both teams.
BOTTOM 6th INNING ~
Two out walk to Thome. Cuddyer gets a double as ball popped out of a diving Gardner's glove. CC throws his 102nd pitch of night to Kubel for ball four. Bases loaded; two outs and.....Ball Four to Valencia. The game is tied. Thome scores from 3b on the bases loaded walk.
CC still in; bases still loaded ~ 16 balls thrown and 9 strikes by CC this inning thus far,
still hit 94 mph on his fastball. Pitch number 111 is a strikeout to end the inning.
YANKS 4 ~ TWINS 4
TOP 7th INNING ~
With Swisher on first and one out, TEX wrapped a cloud scraper around the right field foul pole; 2 run Home Run. Yankees lead 6-4.
ARod follows with an infield single. Cano bounces out 4 to 3; two outs; ARod to 2B.
Thames out 5 to 3.
YANKS 6 ~ TWINS 4
BOTTOM 7th INNING ~
Two on, Two out; Thome at plate ~ STRIKES OUT!
BOTTOM 8th INNING ~
KERRY WOOD trying to preserve Yankee lead. Twins with first and second; 1 out;
Hardy vs. WOOD ~ runners move up and a ground out 4 to 3. Two outs.
Denard Span vs. WOOD ~ (Mariano is warming-up and the Yankees employ stall tactics) ~
Girardi makes the move; in comes Mariano Rivera, charged with getting the next four outs.
MO vs. Span
Ball One
Ball Two
Ball Three all inside to the lefty Span.
Strike One inside part of plate.
Inside pitch..Foul Ball, squibbed behind plate; Full Count.
Ground ball 6 to 3.
YANKEES 9 hits ~ TWINS 7 hits
Yanks go away one-two-three in the top of the 9th inning.
LAST LICKS FOR THE TWIN CITY NINE:
BOTTOM 9th INNING ~
MO vs. Hudson ~ (93mph) ~ ground out 4 to 3. One out.
MO vs. Mauer ~ (1 for 4) ~ come backer! out 1 to 3. Two outs.
MO vs. Young ~ (0 for 3) ~ liner to right field, umpire says Golson trapped the ball. Base hit.
All six umpires get together and decide batter is safe. Instant replay says they are WRONG!
MO vs. THOME ~ Tying run at plate.
Broken bat pop-up behind third base, ARod secures it.
Yankees Win Game One by a score of 6-4.
The Twins left 7 runners on base tonight. They couldn't get a big hit.
The Yankees "gain" home field advantage with the victory.
It wasn't the kind of win the Yanks anticipated with their Ace on the mound. But they did win, so the effect remains in tact. CC will tell you otherwise. He was angry in the dugout and took it out on his glove..
Mo proved to be as MO as ever. He pitched to one batter more than he should have. But the Twins never came close to sizing him up. He pitched 5 outs tonight; only 4 of them will be official. MO's playoff ERA remains under 1.00 ~ That's a sick stat.
TEX delivered the blow that knocked all the air out of everyone in Minnesota's tummy. Having that towering fly keep sailing and squeezing itself just fair of the pole took the collective spirit out of anything Minny.
Now it's time for the Yankees' biggest concerns to step forward and put their anxieties to rest.
Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes are next in line to pitch. One is unproven in the playoffs. The other is beyond Playoff Qualified; he's been flat out great over his career in the post-season. But, his physical status is something that has the Yankee fans feeling a little uneasy....no?
Me personally, I have always said to myself and out loud, the Yankees go as far as Andy takes them. If he's effective they go far. If he's ineffective they go home.
However, with a Game One victory under their belts, and having won against the Twins Ace, the Yankees have exactly one game of wiggle room now. The decision to return to Minnesota for a final game rests in the hands of the Yankees now.
I think we may have seen the best the Twins can muster. For the most part, they incorporated all elements of their game tonight. They ran smartly like greyhounds on the bases and got the long ball from Cuddyer. Liriano was cruising along at one point retiring 10 in a row, before things started to unravel. What killed them was the stat mentioned earlier; seven runners left on base. That may not seem like a tragedy, but in the playoffs, something like that is magnified 10-fold.
The Twins as an organization have now lost ten post-season games in a row.
On to Game Two.
Mike.BTB
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