Friday, July 31, 2009

Swisher Stars for Yankees, but Is Upstaged in the 9th

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31yankees.html?th&emc=th

Swisher Stars for Yankees, but Is Upstaged in the 9th



CHICAGO — In the finale of his brief and joyless cameo with the Chicago White Sox last season, Nick Swisher sat on the bench as DeWayne Wise started in left field in the playoffs. On Thursday, when Swisher returned to U.S. Cellular Field for the first time since his trade to the Yankees, Wise upstaged him again.

Swisher struck out three times before belting a game-tying homer with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. But in the bottom of the ninth, Wise slashed a single up the middle off Phil Coke, scoring the pinch-runner Scott Podsednik with the game-winning run in a 3-2 victory for the Chicago White Sox.

It was another big moment for Wise, who saved Mark Buehrle's perfect game with an over-the-wall catch last Thursday. The moment is captured on the fence with "The Catch" written in white where Wise leaped. This time, batting .185, he won the game with his bat.

Swisher hit .219 last season for the White Sox, who did not put him in the lineup for three of their four division series games against Tampa Bay. Revitalized with the Yankees, he pulled an 0-1 fastball from the left-hander Matt Thornton for his 17th homer, raising his arm as he rounded first base.

"Early in the game, I was wanting to do so much, it took me out of my game," Swisher said, adding later: "I was going to get a good fastball and try to swing, see what happens. I just calmed down, totally took everything out of the equation and tried to block everything out."

The Yankees' new life did not last long. Phil Hughes (4-3) had retired five hitters in a row to run his scoreless innings streak to 25, the longest by a Yankee since Mariano Rivera closed 1999 with 30 2/3 innings. But with one out in the ninth, Jim Thome bounced a single up the middle, and Paul Konerko singled to left.

Thome's hit would have been a routine groundout to second had the Yankees not shifted him so severely in the infield. Podsednik ran for him and scored after Wise's single nicked Coke's right index finger, which was sticking out of his glove, on its way to center field.

The Yankees, who had won 11 of their last 13, lost a game off their American League East lead. The Yankees are two and a half games up on the Boston Red Sox, who won at home, 8-5, against the Oakland A's.

It was the first home game for the White Sox since Buehrle's gem against Tampa Bay. He was honored before the game — Gov. Pat Quinn declared it "Mark Buehrle Day" in Illinois — but for all the good vibes, the team has struggled.

Coming off a 1-6 trip, the White Sox limped home with a 51-51 record, third place in the American League Central. Only three teams in the league had scored fewer runs — Kansas City, Oakland and Seattle — and the team was mostly punchless off Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte looked crisp for the third start in a row, pumping strikes after a 64-minute rain delay. He gave up one earned run in six and a third innings, striking out eight without a walk. But he still has not won since July 1.

"I'm just looking for wins," Pettitte said. "We've been playing so good, I want to keep it going. I feel like I'm the one now who's not keeping it rolling."

The White Sox' Gavin Floyd was stingy, taking advantage of the plate umpire Ted Barrett's wide strike zone. The Yankees could not adjust, taking a called third strike seven times and fanning 14 times in all.

Floyd matched a career-high with 10 strikeouts, allowing one run in seven and two-thirds innings, on a single by Johnny Damon that scored Jose Molina, who had doubled. It tied the score at 1-1 in the sixth inning, but an error by Pettitte helped the White Sox take the lead in the seventh.

Thome led off and checked his swing on a dribbler up the first base line, but Pettitte fell on the wet grass as he tried to field it. Thome reached first on the error.

"I should have got over there and got the ball Thome hit," Pettitte said. "My feet slipped out from underneath me when I went to plant and tag him, and that ended up being a huge play in the game."

With one out, A. J. Pierzynski slapped a ball just to the left of a diving Alex Rodriguez for a single. First charged an error, it was changed to a hit and ended Pettitte's night.

Hughes came in to get another ground ball to third. Rodriguez fired to Robinson Cano at second, but with Pierzynski almost on top of him, Cano bounced his throw to first, wide of Mark Teixeira, who scrambled after it as Thome rumbled home on the second error of the inning.

"If I had a good grip, I bet it would be right in his mouth, but I had four fingers on the ball," Cano said, referring to Pierzynski. "That's a clean play. But now I know for when he comes again. Anybody can slide the way they want. I've just got to protect myself."

Teixeira's frustration continued in the eighth. After Floyd struck out the first two hitters — looking, naturally — Derek Jeter singled to chase him from the game.

Damon served a single to left off Thornton, but Teixeira checked his swing on a third-strike slider, ending the inning with his third strikeout of the game. Swisher's homer gave the Yankees one more gasp, but that was all they had left.

rest at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31yankees.html?th&emc=th

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