This is why they are the Yankees.
Knock them down and they always seem to bounce right back up. If they are going to go down, it won’t be without a fight. Nor is it going to be before October.
Four years ago, when the Seattle Mariners seemed poised to take control of the American League Championship Series, I wrote this about the Yankees: “They’re old, they’re tired, they’re yesterday’s news.”
That they have won one World Series and three pennants since then does not say much for my crystal ball. It helps that George Steinbrenner chases domination like his friend Donald Trump does opulent high rises and tricked-up golf courses, but the Yankees’ 14-4 victory Saturday had more to do with the character of guys like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Jon Lieber than it did the $190 million payroll.
On a cold, rainy Saturday, the Yankees erased the bitter taste of Boston’s comeback against Mariano Rivera at almost midnight Friday night. The two-run rally that produced a 3-2 victory moved the Red Sox within 2 1/2 games of first place in the American League East but only seemed to anger Joe Torre’s players.
“They were pretty determined today,” Torre said.
No kidding. The Yankees sent 19 men to the plate in the first two innings to take a 9-0 lead and chase Boston starter Derek Lowe into the trainer’s room. He was getting treatment on the bruised ankle courtesy of an Alex Rodriguez screamer to the mound.
“More than anything, [this] does a lot for this team, especially after last night,” said Lieber, the former Cub who won his 12th game. “It’s no secret Boston has been very hot. This is a boost of confidence.”
Although the only real reward for winning the East is home-field advantage if the Yankees and Red Sox meet in the AL Championship Series, the last thing Torre wants is to enter the playoffs after blowing a lead that stood at 10 1/2 games on Aug. 15. If the Yankees can beat Pedro Martinez in Sunday’s series finale, that would be a virtual death blow for Boston’s division hopes.
While the baseball season often seems an endless march, it always comes with turning points. Count on Torre to look back on whipping Lowe as a key moment if the Yankees, who have looked vulnerable since supposed ace Kevin Brown broke his left hand hitting a wall, regain their swagger in October.
The loss Friday night had been a New York nightmare. Cameras caught the unflappable Rivera screaming, “Catch the ball!” after Kenny Lofton pulled up on Johnny Damon’s game-winning single.
“It’s not easy coming back the day after a night game after you lose a game with Mariano,” Torre said. “I couldn’t be prouder for the way they played the first two innings. . . . [Friday] night we were all down. Any time Mariano gives up a run, let alone a save, that’s surprising for us.”
Torre had rested Williams in the series opener, starting Lofton in center while using the slumping Jason Giambi as his designated hitter. It might have been the biggest game the Yankees ever played with a healthy Williams on the bench.
Williams walked with the bases loaded in the first inning Saturday, forcing in Jeter, and then drove in another run with a single to center field in the second inning off reliever Terry Adams. He hit a homer off Adams in the fifth.
“Bernie was fired up right from the get-go, probably because he didn’t play, and the way we lost,” Torre said.
It seems that guys like Williams and Jeter have been hanging around Yankee Stadium forever. But for Lieber, the chance to pitch in these kinds of games, in front of crowds like the 55,153 in the stands Saturday, is a new experience.
It’s what he has been pointing toward since the winter of 2002, when he turned down an offer from the Cubs to sign a more lucrative, more secure two-year deal with New York.
“I’m trying not to get overwhelmed with what’s going on,” Lieber said. “I try not to think about it a whole lot.”
Lieber needed only 98 pitches to work 8 1/3 innings. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, losing it on David Ortiz’s home run.
Torre hopes Brown is back for the playoffs, which might leave Lieber in the bullpen. Orlando Hernandez, Mike Mussina and Javier Vazquez are ahead of him in the rotation, but Lieber has made himself a consideration by going 3-0 in his last four starts, during which he has struck out 23 and walked two in 27 1/3 innings.
Starting pitching has been a concern for the Yankees all season, but Torre says he feels as good about it now as he has all year. He knows his team will go as far as its starters allow.
“It really has been our signature,” he said of starting pitching. “I know we added some offense, but when and if you get to the postseason, that’s what does it for you. Look at Florida last year. Their pitching is what did it. You have to have some pitchers like we do who can grind through some pitchers like that.”
Toss dirt on the Yankees at your own risk.
