Constant comebacks thwarted by men in blue: Jays 7, Yanks 6

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 4:55 PM EDT in Game Recap

You could tell that the Yankees had to do damage against Romero in the first or he would shut them down - and that's what happened. Despite two walks, a balk and a single in the first frame, Romero held the Yanks scoreless thanks to the first of three blown calls: Jeter stole third base, the throw beat him, he slid around the tag, and was called out. Jeter argued (something he never does), which was our first indication the call was missed. Nick Swisher followed with a single.

The second blown call came when Jeter threw from the hole to second-base on a force-out. I could tell even without the replay that the runner was out. The call was safe, so of course, two batters later, Alex Rios hit a three-run jack. (Though it was hardly a 'jack,' landing in the first row of the left-field seats - a Yankee Stadium Special.)

The third blown call occurred in the seventh, when Eric Hinske was called out running to second because Marco Scutaro ~~stepped on~~ came within the vicinity of the bag. This was the most egregious of the missed calls; Scutaro wasn't even close to touching the base. Instead of bases loaded, no one out, it was two runners on, one out.

What are the odds that all the blown calls in a game go against one team? Usually they even out, but not today. And I don't like blaming the umps, but when they screw up, they deserve it (just as we criticize players for screwing up). What happens if one of those calls goes the other way? Do the Yankees win? They lost by one run, so it's far from inconceivable.

If only umpires were given the same access to video review as everyone at home; but that's a discussion for another time.

Andy Pettitte and Brian Bruney were terrible: they combined to give up seven runs in 6.2 innings. What looked like meaningless runs when Bruney allowed Toronto's sixth and seventh runs turned out to be huge. Teixeira really killed the offense, going 0-5, and is now firmly in a slump. 2-11 w/ RISP and 20 left on base overall.

I know we should be happy to take three out of four, but I'm greedy - I wanted the sweep. And we probably should have had it.

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i don't like complaining about umps

but they really, reeeeally screwed us in this game
and yes it probably cost us the game

by holycowboy on Jul 6, 2009 5:11 PM EDT reply actions

Bastards.....

I’ll 3/4 against a tough Jays team any time, but it could have been 4/4.

Next up is the Twinkies. Always tough at home too. Should be an interesting series.

by FreeBradshaw on Jul 6, 2009 5:27 PM EDT reply actions

You can't win them all, but . . .

It is ridiculous when you lose due to bad calls that could have been the difference in the game. If they had lost by 3 or 4 runs I wouldn’t complain nearly as much, but they fought back to within 1.

Bruney: Something has to be done about him. It is getting on my nerves that he is not dependable with the ball any longer. I actually advocated him getting the 6th and 7th inning time to get his stuff back, but he is allow the opposing teams to get insurance runs now.

by syllk on Jul 6, 2009 5:32 PM EDT reply actions

I seem to recall another game this series where Texi slid into home and was called out on the tag when the catcher had clearly tagged him with an empty glove and the bal was in plain sight in the other hand no where near mark.. but hey whatever still won that game this one BS

by Yankz09 on Jul 6, 2009 7:02 PM EDT reply actions

Jeter might be onto something

with his post-game “tirade” on the umps changing the rules. I didn’t see that play with Tex, but I unfortunately watch a ton of Sux games and Dustin Pedrioa tagged out someone at second, but the ball was clearly in his hand and the glove tagged out the runner.

by FreeBradshaw on Jul 6, 2009 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions

his post game comments were awesome

and if indeed that idiot ump said “the throw beat you, doesn’t matter if he tags you” then he has no business being a major league ump

by holycowboy on Jul 6, 2009 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions

good point

i forgot about that play. Tex was clearly safe.

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

umpires

Somewhere about the end of Little League we learned to stop blaming the umpires, what happened was Pettite gave up 5 runs and Bruney gave up 2 for a total of 7. Then the Yanks only scored 6, that is why they lost.

by JDV on Jul 6, 2009 10:44 PM EDT reply actions

Thank you.

The Yankees had 26 outs left after Jeter was called out at 3rd. For the record, there’s no reason he should have been trying to steal anyway unless he could CLEARLY MAKE IT. The ump definitely blew the call, and his explanation was complete BS, but they didn’t lose because of that.

The blown call at 2nd base didn’t force Andy Pettitte to give up a 3-run homer to Alex Rios either.

And Bruney flat out sucks, so it doesn’t matter who’s umpiring.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 6, 2009 10:58 PM EDT up reply actions

actually it that 2nd base call did matter

since if he was out it would have been at most a 2 run hr. That one out and one runner was the difference in this game. Also with the 2nd base call with the ground out , which was obvious that heinske should have been safe, would have meant the base was loaded AND then damon was walked which would have drove in a run, not mention save an out. The jeter call was not big but the Calls after that easily influenced the outcome of the game. Those runs were the difference in us winning and a lose.

by lololol on Jul 6, 2009 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions

You're assuming...

…that everything would have played out exactly as it did after those calls. That’s not a reasonable assumption.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 6, 2009 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions

it's still the

most reasonable assumption to be made with the evidence we have.

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Ugh...

…fine. Everything would have happened in exactly the same way and the Yankees would have won.

Seriously though, how is it reasonable to assume that the remaining 26 outs after Jeter was called out would have happened in the same way? Every single at bat from that point forward was changed.

Same for the play at 2nd base. The umps made it more difficult for the Yankees to win, but to suggest that the Yankees would have won if the correct calls were made is still a big reach.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 7, 2009 12:03 AM EDT up reply actions

how do you know they didn't lose

bc of that?

doesn’t it reason that a runner on 3rd with no outs scores, and instead of losing by one, the game is tied at 7 (not to mention that with one less out, the Yanks maybe get another hit there and put up 8 runs).

outs are valuable, and having three of 27 taken from us is wrong. again, i almost never blame the umps. go to other team’s sites and they’ll be blaming the umps the entire game.

where do you draw the line? what if the HP ump calls every single pitch from the opponent a strike and every call from our pitcher a ball? can we still not blame the umps? you’re line of thinking that officials deserve no blame is way too simplistic.

how do you explain the college football game in which Colorado got FIVE downs at the end of the game, and only on the 5th down did they score a TD and ‘win’ the game!

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

If the ump...

…had blown a safe/out call at home plate with 2 outs in the 9th, then you can compare the two.

But let’s do a hypothetical … let’s say Jeter is called safe at first, can you say with any certainty they would have scored? No, you can’t, because you can’t assume Swisher would have singled or even made contact with Jeter on 3rd. Surely we’ve seen the yankees strand enough runners at 3rd with less than 2 outs to know Jeter scoring was far from a sure thing.

A lot of things happened in the game before Matsui came to the plate with 2 runners on in the 9th. Maybe he doesn’t get an at bat in that spot if the correct call is made.

And I never said the umpire gets no blame, but to say the Yankees lost “because” of the umps is just flat out wrong.

by New York Sports Jerk on Jul 6, 2009 11:29 PM EDT up reply actions

the 2009 Yankees

have had 140 AB with a runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs. they’ve gotten at least a run in that situation 115 times. i’ll take my chances.

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 11:46 PM EDT up reply actions

to add

it really doesn’t matter if the play happens in the first or the ninth. both runs are worth the same.

by Travis G on Jul 7, 2009 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions

sorry, but

this is just wrong. how can you not say officiating decides games? that’s ALL that decides games, but they usually get the calls right. today they didn’t.

try to say that to O’s fans re: Jeff Maier, or Boston fans re: Knoblauch’s phantom tag, or Angels fans re: the foul ball, or Cards fans re: the ‘85 WS, or Braves fans re: Livan’s 16 Ks. there are countless times when umpires – not players – have decided the outcome of games. not saying they do it on purpose. they’re fallible, and deserve help in the form of video review.

by Travis G on Jul 6, 2009 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions

So you really think an umpire cannot deliberately go out there and change the outcome of a game?Why are there rules against betting in baseball then?Of coarse they can,think before you speak you just sound dumb.

by cashman bashman on Jul 7, 2009 12:11 PM EDT reply actions