The Yankee Clipper: A Great Win

It was one of those nights where I knew I had other things to do, but I was frozen on the couch watching the Yankee game. Down 6-1 to Cliff Lee the Yankees looked down and out, facing a two-game sweep and a three-game losing streak with Tampa Bay and Boston getting awfully close in the rear view mirror. And then they had one of those comebacks that you remember during every championship year. 7-6 final. Amazing. Let's talk about it:

A big high five to Thames for his performance last night (Star-Ledger)

1. Reminds me a lot of last year's win against the Braves. On June 24, 2009, the Yankees were 39-22, 5 games back in the American League East, and and having lost three in a row, 5 out of 6, and 9 out of 12. It was make or break for the Yankees as they faced the Atlanta Braves after having been shut out by a rookie (Tommy Hanson) the night before. They were being no-hit through 3 innings when all of a sudden Joe Girardi got himself tossed, Francisco Cervelli hit a home run, and the Yankees won the game on their way to a 7-game winning streak--and a 13 out of 15 game streak that launched them into first place. It was one of those games that is drilled into my skull as a great comeback and one of those defining moments of the season. Last night's win against Cliff Lee (an old-school battle the starter and come back against the bullpen win they used to have a lot against Pedro Martinez), felt like that to me. The team seemed like they were going to be a day late and a buck short like their previous two losses when they couldn't get a hit in the key situations. But, in the end, they did. I was exhilarated afterward and it look like the team was as well. Those types of wins can go a long way--especially if they face the Rangers again in October.
2. Marcus Thames has been in the middle of a few big wins this season. Brien @ IIATMS calls him a not-so-unlikely hero. On May 17th vs. Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox, Alex Rodriguez tied the game in the 9th inning with a home run and a few batters later, Marcus Thames hit a walk-off home run. Last night, Derek Jeter tied the game in the 9th inning and Marcus Thames got the go-ahead hit. Thames also blasted a home run (which I think brought down rain) an inning earlier in the game to bring the Yankees within one run. As Mark Feinsand of the Daily News writes, Marcus Thames is once again showing his value on the bench. When the Yankees went out and acquired Austin Kearns and Lance Berkman at the trade deadline, some wanted the Yankees to get rid of the slow, defensively challenged Thames. But the Yankees held on to him because of his bat. Most of that damage this year has done against lefties. But his two biggest hits of the season, have come vs. right-handed pitchers. Against lefties this year Thames is hitting .343/.416/.448 (with a .384 wOBA) with 1 HR and vs. righties he's he's hit .289/.393/.511 with 3 HR. It's a small sample size (and his BABIP is off-the-wall high) but this does show that Thames is truly a threat off the bench no matter who is pitching. A good thing to know before the playoffs start.
3. The Great Mariano as Houdini. Sportscenter last night had this stat: Mariano Rivera's opponents (in his career) have had 14 ABs w/ just a runner on 3rd representing the tying run. Those batters are 0-14 with 0 RBI. Amazing. It looked like the Yankees could lose two days in a row after dramatic comebacks but after a leadoff triple, Rivera closed the door. While the other closer in New York was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Rivera, once again, was the man who came through and did the right thing. Side note for interesting tweet last night: @BobKlap: Telling that M. Rivera never liked K-Rod. Asked that K-Rod not be given a nearby locker in AL (Yankee) clubhouse for 2008 All-Star Game.
4. The rest of the bullpen was fantastic last night. Sergio Mitre (usually known as Meat-Tray) came in and did his job with 1.2 hitless innings. Then came Kerry Wood who followed with two shutout innings. Those are big innings in a game like that. Another run may be too much for the Yankees to come back from. Wood seems like the perfect pitcher for the Yankees to throw against the Texas Rangers: strikeout righty against a lot of free-swinging righties. Wood has struck out 12.8 per 9 in his short time in the Bronx and may be a key arm come October. 
5. There is some concern with Javy. Velocity is down and results against playoff teams are not good. That's not a good sign and something the Yankees will have to monitor   

That's it for now. Will have plenty more later but for now let's enjoy the big win before the Quest for 28 continues tonight in Kansas City.

Update 1:45 PM: I have a few other things to add

• ESPN had a great stat on SportsCenter. The last two times the Yankees had a 5-run deficit, they've won. They had lost the previous 42 games where they were down by 5 runs.
• The Yankees are now 61-0 when leading after 8 innings. As the two Marcus Thames-themed comebacks show, that's not a small fete as Jonathan Papelbon and Neftali Feliz can attest
• The worst at-bat of the game for Javier Vazquez was against Bengie Molina in the 4th inning. Vazquez had Molina 0-2 with two outs and runners on the corners. He ended up walking Molina--a guy who has an OBP under .300 in 3 out of the past 4 seasons including 2010--on four straight pitches. Ugh. A single followed that drove in two and made it 3-1 Texas. That's a horrible walk.
• Chad Jennings of LoHud has some good notes in appreciation of Thames and Rivera. Aaron Gleeman of HardballTalk has some great stuff about Javy'z velocity issues (he really is getting killed on sliders). Robinson Cano is becoming a marketing darling according to Darren Rovell of CNBC.