August 3rd - Yankees -Angels
Mike and Dad met Trish and Colin at the Stadium for a big game with the Angels. It was one of the most exciting games a see-saw battle with the Yanks winning in the end. The excitement of the game was carried over when the crew met Freddy, the frying pan man. See pictures below.
NEW YORK -- Reporting to Yankee Stadium in the middle of a pennant race, Xavier Nady admits that he wasn't sure what to expect. By the end of the afternoon on Sunday, he had plenty of company in that regard.
Nady homered and drove in a career-high six runs as the Yankees rallied to claim a wild 14-9 victory over the Angels in the Bronx, earning a split of a crucial four-game series as they prepare to embark on a lengthy road trip.
Mark Teixiera crushed a grand slam for his first homer as an Angel, but the Yankees wiped it away with thunder, scoring six unearned runs in the decisive eighth to complete New York's largest comeback of the season.
"This is a great city to play in," Nady said. "There's nowhere else I'd rather play. It's a lot of fun. Hopefully, I can keep going out there and do my part. The most important part is playing well and winning some games."
Ivan Rodriguez, also acquired near the Trade Deadline, hit his first homer for the Yankees, who overcame a rocky start from Darrell Rasner and took advantage of uncharacteristically shaky defense from the Angels. The Yankees will play 16 of their next 19 on the road, including meeting the Angels in Anaheim next week.
"This is a big game for us," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We're playing a very good team -- the best team in the American League. We needed a win today, and we went out and got it."
Facing John Lackey, the Yankees were down by five runs early as Rasner struggled with his command, possibly pitching himself out of New York's rotation. Poor baserunning by Bobby Abreu also cost the Bombers a fourth-inning run, as the normally fundamentally-sound outfielder was thrown out at third base attempting to tag on a potential sacrifice fly.
Leaning on Dan Giese for three scoreless innings that kept the game close, the Yankees still trailed after Lackey held the lineup to four runs through the first six innings. New York busted out with a four-run rally in the seventh against Jose Arredondo, opening as center fielder Gary Matthews lost Derek Jeter's fly ball for a two-base error.
Abreu tied the game with a single to left-center, and Alex Rodriguez followed with a hit under Chone Figgins' glove at third base. After an out, Nady belted the home run to give Yankees their first lead of the afternoon, with the crowd of 54,204 calling him from the dugout to wave his helmet.
"He understands what it's like to play here," Girardi said of Nady. "It took him a couple of days to get used to his surroundings, but he had a great week for us. That's why we went and got him."
"He's a big-time player," Johnny Damon said. "I might have been one of the happiest ones here when we got the trade, because I've seen him over the years just being a pain in the butt for all the teams that he hits against. He's a good player who's just quietly going out there and doing his job."
It was, Nady believed, the first curtain call he had received in his career.
"Not a bad place to get it," he said.
As nice a snapshot as the moment might have been, Nady's homer was washed out when Teixiera tagged Edwar Ramirez for a grand slam into the right-field seats. With closer Mariano Rivera unavailable due to back spasms that surfaced pregame, Girardi watched Teixiera's shot sail out and muttered some derivative of "Oops."
"This would have been a tough one to lose, especially after we had just come back," Jeter said.
All of the chagrin would be short-lived. With Scot Shields on to protect what was a one-run Angels lead, Ivan Rodriguez opened the bottom of the eighth with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Justin Christian, who moved to second when shortstop Erick Aybar booted a ground ball.
Christian took off on a double steal, and Jeff Mathis' throw went down the left-field line, allowing Christian to score the tying run as his helmet fell off.
"Any time you get in the game, especially someone in my position, I just try to create opportunities with my speed," Christian said. "I was able to take third and create an opportunity there, and it definitely worked out for us."
"Christian did an unbelievable job in that inning," Girardi said. "He created runs all by himself. That's why we like having him."
Damon and Abreu walked before Alex Rodriguez hit a sharp ground ball to third base that Figgins couldn't handle, allowing Melky Cabrera to score the go-ahead run on the error.
Darren Oliver saw four more runs cross the plate before ending the frame, including Nady's fourth hit on a RBI single. The Yankees could finally exhale when Jose Veras got Mathis to fly out to center field in the ninth, ending an unpredictable afternoon that may have raised a few more questions than it answered, as far as the pennant race is concerned.
"We're a great team," Rodriguez said. "Xavier had a great game and he can hit. All the guys in our lineup can hit. Our pitchers can do the job. It was a rough couple of innings today, but other than that, we've got a solid team."
| NY Yankees 14, LA Angels 9 |
 NY Yankees (61-50) Won 2 |
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| Standings thru 8/3/08 | Recap: LAA | NYY | Gameday | Angels stats | Yankees stats |
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