Yankees edged by A's, 6-5

What started off and went nearly eight innings as a blowout turned into one of the more exciting games of baseball we've seen this season. Unfortunately, for the Yankees, tonight resulted in a loss to the Oakland Athletics. Nick Swisher came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth down 6-5 and hit a long, long fly ball to deep right center field that didn't quite have enough juice on it. 

Bartolo Colon didn't have his best stuff tonight. Brandon Allen and Eric Sogard each homered in the top half of the second and third innings, respectively, to give the A's a 2-0 lead. Colon moved relatively well through the fourth and fifth innings, but trouble struck in the sixth and especially the seventh inning. Josh Willingham's sacrifice fly extended the lead to 3-0, and Colon allowed a single and double in the sixth before being removed from the game. Boone Logan allowed a line drive double to right field that easily scored Cliff Pennington and Kurt Suzuki to cushion the lead to 5-0. The last of Oakland's offensively output came in the eighth when Allen would hit yet another solo home run. 

Little did Oakland know that they needed every run they scored.

Derek Jeter's leadoff single and Curtis Granderson's walk in the eighth set the table for Swisher's two out, three run homer to center field that sliced the lead in half, 6-3. 

Jorge Posada led off the ninth with a home run of his own, the fifth of the night between the two teams, that energized the stadium and the team. Russell Martin would double, Brett Gardner would reach in a fielding error and Granderson would draw a walk to load the bases for the big bats. Mark Teixeira's pop out to third marked the second out of the inning, bringing Robinson Cano to the plate with a chance to be hero. Cano walked on a very, very close ball four call that drew plenty of criticism from Oakland's bench to bring the Yankees within one. Swisher's grand fly out to the warning track in front of the Yankees bullpen sealed the deal for the A's, getting only their sixth victory in 33 games against New York. 

I suppose it also should be said that New York stranded 27 runners on base and batted one for 13 with runners in scoring position. Amazing that two for 13 could have brought about victory. 

Comment of the game: pastor2b, hands down. 

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