Thread: The Unofficial 2011 New York Yankees Thread

Originally Posted by The Benjamin

Considering I've never said that........ okay

C'mon, Benji, we all know the truth.

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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Yankees 6, Orioles 5
(6-5)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E BAL
0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
5 11 0 NYY
0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 1 1
6 11 1 W:Rivera (1-0)L:Gonzalez (0-1)


(7-4)



Swisher sac fly culminates Yankees' rally

Hughes struggles, but right fielder caps comeback in 10th

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 4/14/2011 10:36 PM ET

• Comments (15)

BAL@NYY:: Swisher's fly ball gives Yanks walk-off win

NEW YORK -- Nick Swisher lifted a game-winning sacrifice fly off Mike Gonzalez in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Yankees defeated the Orioles, 6-5, on Thursday.


Down to their final three outs, the Yankees received a game-tying homer into the Yankees' bullpen from Jorge Posada off Kevin Gregg. It was Posada's fifth blast of the young season.


Mark Teixeira opened the 10th by working a full-count walk off Gonzalez, and Alex Rodriguez ripped a double down the left-field line to put the winning run 90 feet away.



Swisher popped a one-out fly ball to right field, and Teixeira slid home safely for New York's first walk-off victory of the season, earning Swisher a whipped cream pie in the face for his efforts.



The late rallies wiped clean a brief and ineffective start for Phil Hughes, who continues to search for answers following a mysterious drop in velocity.


An 18-game winner and American League All-Star last season, Hughes walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium to boos from some in a crowd of 40,517. Manager Joe Girardi had a quick hook, yanking the right-hander after just 70 pitches with one out in the fifth.


With a fastball that averaged 89 mph and touched 91 mph, still several clicks below where it sat last year, Hughes made it through the first two innings scorelessly before Baltimore was able to connect.


Nick Markakis turned on an 86-mph cutter and blasted it to right field for a two-run homer, his second of the season. Mark Reynolds added a sacrifice fly in the fourth, a play that could have been more damaging had Granderson not skillfully propped a foot on the outfield wall to reel in the drive.


Swisher also helped save damage for Hughes by tracking down a Brian Roberts fly ball near the right-field wall in the fifth inning, but Markakis immediately struck again with an RBI double to right that knocked Hughes out of the game.



Facing long reliever Bartolo Colon, Vladimir Guerrero knocked in the final run charged to Hughes on a single to left field. Hughes was charged with five runs on seven hits, walking none and striking out two, but Colon helped keep the game close with three innings of scoreless, three-hit ball.


Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta faced the minimum into the fifth inning, when Rodriguez notched the first Yankees hit and then scored on a Robinson Cano double.


Teixeira hit an RBI double, and Rodriguez lifted a sacrifice fly against Arrieta in the sixth to draw the Yankees closer. Arrieta ended up allowing three runs on five hits in six innings.



New York whittled its deficit to a run in the seventh off Jason Berken, as Russell Martin's RBI groundout knocked in Swisher following Granderson's deep double to right-center that narrowly missed clearing the wall.


The Orioles threatened in the eighth, as Colon left two men on for Joba Chamberlain. But the rally was squelched in part when pinch-runner Felix Pie was cut down trying to score on a Chamberlain wild pitch, as the reliever successfully blocked Pie from touching the plate.



Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.