The Yankees whacked the ball all over the yard and out of it sometimes for two games. They had a few timely hits to win it in another. And, Rivera and company pitched when it mattered. Suddenly, they cannot quite do either. Rivera blows a save, Gordon a hold (and Rivera cannot save his bacon, surely not with no outs on the board), and the Yankees cannot buy a timely hit.
Pedro again did a tad mediocre for his ace role (four runs in six innings), but it didn't matter tonight. Nor did a pretty darn good relief outing by Loaiza, who was asked to do too much: he finally lost one in the fourteenth with one strike left to go in his fourth inning of relief. The Yankees couldn't score for eight straight innings, helped by a ground rule double in the ninth that kept the runner at third. The failure to score a runner from third with only one out in the eighth didn't help. The Red Sox are now only down 3-2 with Schilling available for the sixth game. It's a series again, and the Yanks are to blame: they couldn't close the deal two games in a row.
This annoying situation (did I mention that I don't much care for the Red Sox?) was deemed as likely as the Astros also going back to their opponent's ball park for a Game Six. Down 0-2, they did the Sox one better, and swept the series in their park. Tonight it was the pitching of Brandon Backe and Brad Lidge (it is a requirement that top stars in Houston have a "B" in their name), the rookie one hitting the Cards (who one hit them for most of the game too) for eight, and Lidge closed out the deal. Jeff Kent hit the three run homer in the ninth to win the game. 3-2, Astros.
I listened to the Cards/Astros game on Internet radio because the Yanks/Red Sox game went long, so FOX did not show the start of the game, even on their sports station. Apparently, poker was more important (they did show it in a similar situation a few games back) ... I don't know if they were playing Texas Hold'em. Thus, as I kept on checking to see if the Yanks FINALLY got a run, two games with lethal hitters all went on for around eight innings with no scoring. Baseball on the radio is a pretty fun way of experiencing the game. After the Houston announcer noted that the Red Sox won (this was the eighth inning), and I was properly pissed, the right result happened in the second game.
I like underdogs, gutsy rookies, and two former Yanks are on the Houston team. It just might go to seven games too, especially since the Astros might have a rookie or a tired ace on short rest out there in Game Six. I would not be crushed if they lost, since the Cards is a nice team, and was an underdog early on too. Just a bit concerned about NY though ... apparently, they thought another classic match-up was required, when an early KO would have been in their best interests.
Stupid idiots. Get a freaking run!