Tigers 9 Yankees 6 (11 Innings): No Heroes at the End of the Night

The Yankees suffered an absolutely heartbreaking loss early this morning to the Detroit Tigers. Detroit won the game, which did not finish until around 3:30 A.M. by a 9-6 score in 11 innings. The end of the contest came almost 8.5 hours after the regular start. The Yankees endured a marathon game after a marathon rain delay only to go home losers.

The first pitch of the game came at 11:05 P.M. Eastern Time. This was due to a 4 hour rain delay. The umpires deserve a lot of credit for getting in this game. It would have been so easy to call the game before skies cleared. That would have likely forced a doubleheader today, which would have created a major issue for the Yankees. The team would then either would have had to send Roger Clemens or Chien-Ming Wang to the mound on Wednesday against Boston on short rest or found a spot starter. The umpiring crew did everything possible to maintain the integrity of the pennant race. It had to be a brutal experience for fans who sat through all that rain and had to stay through the wee hours of the night to watch baseball. I certainly can empathize. I sat in Yankee Stadium last year for 7 hours on Old Timers Day and saw half an inning of baseball. However, the most important thing was to not put the Yankees at a disadvantage if it could be avoided. The integrity of the race is more important than even the fan experience.

While the crew deserves credit for getting in the game, the men in blue also earned themselves some heat through the uneven way they called the game. They made a conscious decision to play this game well into the night by not postponing it. That did not give them the right to try and expedite the game by going outside the rulebook. Both teams were hurt by bad calls, none bigger than a called strike 3 on Jorge Posada that was roughly a foot outside the zone. Posada was ejected for arguing the call. These umpires wanted to get home, but this game was too important to manipulate the rules. The umps protected the race’s integrity by playing the game and did everything to undermine it in the way they called it.

Roger Clemens was miserable. The righty gave up 6 runs in 5 innings. Curtis Granderson in particular was a thorn in his side with a pair of run-scoring triples. Roger has no excuses. A pitcher with two decades of experience should know how to handle a rain delay. He did not seem comfortable on the damp mound, but again he has been around enough to pitch through the adversity. Clemens had nothing. Even Detroit’s outs were loud.

Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada were the biggest offensive stars. A-Rod hit his 43rd homer of the year in the 3rd, a statement 2 run shot to answer Magglio Ordonez’s 2 run 1st inning blast. It was as if Ordonez tried to stake his claim to the MVP award, but Alex was there to answer and show who the real MVP is. Posada had a 2 run double in the 5th before his ejection and scored a run to wipe out a 6-3 deficit. This pair again carried the load for the Yanks, again underscoring the need for the team to get deals done with both prospective free agents. It is frightening to imagine where this club would be without either.

The bullpen did a brilliant job in holding the Tigers down. Edwar Ramirez, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, and Luis Vizcaino all pitched scoreless innings. The Yanks got a good outing from all of their reliable relievers. Kyle Farnsworth also pitched a shutout frame. The game ended on a 3 run walkoff homer by Carlos Guillen off Sean Henn. It was Henn’s second loss this week in extra innings. His ERA is now 6.10. Sean has some nice stuff, but it is clear that the team cannot keep relying on him in such critical games. Chris Britton, a guy with a proven track record in the division, has dominated AAA all season. Henn needs to go back to Scranton, and Britton should be a Yankee as soon as possible. Ron Villone went on the DL yesterday, making Henn the lone lefty reliever on the roster. However, keeping a bad lefty on the roster over a quality righty just to have a left-handed bullpen option is self-defeating logic. Britton brings more to the table. He can make this rebuilt relief corps even deeper while taking an increasingly useless guy out of the equation.

There is no silver lining. There are no positives in losing games at this time of the year after spending so much time in the ballpark. The Yankees are starting to fade. This team needs to get its act together in a hurry or it will fall hopelessly out of the race. That is easier said than done in the wake of such a deflating loss. The Yanks could really use a big effort by Chien-Ming Wang tonight to pick up their spirits.