Historic day for Yankees staff
NEW YORK -- The next time you use the phrase "records are made to be broken," think back to Saturday's affair at Yankee Stadium. There are some that you might be better off not seeing shattered.
The Yankees set a franchise mark using 10 pitchers in Saturday's game, an afternoon matinee that was delayed for 92 minutes by rain before a marathon, 10-inning affair played out with the Blue Jays that lasted exactly five hours on the nose.
It created a memorable day at the ballpark, for certain, but nobody seemed to be too enamored with their unique date with the history books.
"It was no fun," Torre said. "That's the only thing I can tell you. It's no fun."
The nine relievers used behind New York starter Phil Hughes were just one shy of an American League record, set by the Mariners on Sept. 25, 1992, at Texas. For this weekend, though, it was the status quo: in the first two games of the series, the Yankees and Blue Jays have combined to use 33 pitchers, 18 by New York.
They're the kind of games that could have only taken place in September, with expanded rosters and a smorgasbord of relief options to whittle through. At times on Saturday, it appeared as though Torre was emptying his bullpen for open auditions, bringing out ghosts of Yankees relief past.
The afternoon came on a quick turnaround from a Friday night nailbiter, though that contest at least featured an ace-quality pitching matchup between Roy Halladay and Chien-Ming Wang before stretching into a 14-inning affair.
But with Toronto starter Shaun Marcum done after three innings with a sore right knee and New York's Phil Hughes exiting having allowed three runs in five innings, it was clear both teams would be in need of some relief. Neither got much.
"It's a tough day," catcher Jorge Posada said. "You wait for the game to start, then you start at [2:37 p.m. ET] and play five hours. It's tough but I'm just happy we got the win."
While Blue Jays manager John Gibbons had to call on seven relievers, including losing pitcher Josh Towers -- tagged with the defeat when Melky Cabrera came through with a 10th-inning single -- the Yankees were even quicker on the trigger, contributing 221 of the 423 total pitches thrown in the game. Of those, Hughes threw less than half (99).
Veteran Ron Villone and rookie Ross Ohlendorf combined to pitch a scoreless sixth inning before September callup Jose Veras, who had been making his case for the postseason roster, came undone in a five-run Toronto seventh that changed the course of the game, spoiling a 6-3 lead.
Veras had two outs with runners on second and third before uncorking a wild pitch, then throwing a passed ball charged to catcher Posada, before Aaron Hill came through with a run-scoring single.
"He almost came out of the inning," Torre said. "Then it turned ugly."
Edwar Ramirez, rescued from an independent league club in Edinburg, Texas, earlier this season, turned in his second shaky performance in two nights by serving up run-scoring hits to Russ Adams and Adam Lind, leaving Toronto with an 8-6 lead.
Though the Yankees fought back for three runs in the bottom half, regaining the lead, Kyle Farnsworth handily helped give it right back. Farnsworth, who was not expected to be available due to tightness in his right shoulder, faced five hitters and retired just one of them -- a hot Matt Stairs drive that looked as though it were headed for right field before first baseman Wilson Betemit snared it with a terrific diving catch.
"I left some balls up," Farnsworth said. "It's frustrating, but it's one of those things. I've just got to keep going. I felt fine, but I'm a little rusty, I guess. It [stinks]. I'm getting tired of that."
Farnsworth had entered to boos and the reception was even more vicious as he walked off, lifted for an out from Chris Britton and then the first Major League appearance by Japanese import Kei Igawa since July 26, beginning the "memory lane" portion of Torre's evening. Igawa surrendered a hit to Hector Luna, scoring one of the three runs charged to Farnsworth, before he too was just another name in the box score.
"It was so surreal," Torre said, "for me to watch this whole thing."
In the bullpen, seemingly spilling onto the field with regularity, players began to ponder what names might be summoned next.
"We were thinking about who's down, who's up," Karstens said. "You know Joba [Chamberlain] is down. We kind of figured [Luis] Vizcaino was down, because the phone rang a bunch of times and he wasn't in the game. I think we were just happy the way it turned out. We wanted to end it quick."
With the Yankees tying the game in the ninth, Mariano Rivera trotted in to "Enter Sandman" and helped get the game to extra innings, where Jeff Karstens -- who hadn't pitched in the big leagues since an ill-fated Aug. 14 start vs. the Orioles -- recorded three outs and became the winning pitcher when New York ended the arduous affair.
"It wasn't pretty, but we got the job done," Karstens said.
Cabrera's hit to center, plus his key outfield assist a half-inning earlier, clicked off the stopwatch on nine hours and 45 minutes of baseball played at Yankee Stadium over a 24-hour period. Informed that the 10 Yankees pitchers set a new club mark, Karstens laughed that he thought New York had just used "four or five," then smirked.
"It's nice to be part of a record," Karstens said.
