Game 159 / 87-72 / 2nd / -5 GB : The Yankees 10,000th franchise victory clinched a spot in 2015 postseason tournament, with hopes to further embellish pinstripe lore. Behind a solid start from CC Sabathia, stellar middle relief from Adam Warren, and Dellin Betances locking it down, New York finally solved the pesky Boston Red Sox for a 4-1 win. The victory secured the elusive clinch to live another day, and allows the club to not only rest some regulars, but confirm Masahiro Tanaka as the starter in the October 6th play-in game.
Here’s the box score, full recap, and video highlights.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 1
Warren Holds Serve
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- Warren Delivers Again With the contest in the balance in the middle innings, starter/reliever Adam Warren came up huge tonight with 3 scoreless innings in support of Sabathia.
- Kids Are Alright Greg Bird clubbed yet another long ball tonight in a big moment, extending New York’s lead to 3-1.
- Refsynder Rakin’ Even without the health concerns of Stephen Drew, no bench player is making a greater case to make the initial postseason roster than Rob Refsynder. The second-baseman has been tearing the cover off the ball of late, and is proving a solid right-handed bat in the lineup. His insurance home in the bottom of the 8th was huge — given everything else going on.
- Wild Card History Starting in 1995, MLB initiated the concept of the ‘Wild Card Playoff’ — a marketing gimmick to ensure ticket sales and continued fan interest in teams that would fail to win their division for as long as possible. The sheer moral, un-American fail of that very concept is beyond the scope of this writing, and an article for another day. But of course, who goes in the record books as the first American League Wild Card team? Yes, your New York Yankees. The Seattle Mariners would emerge the victors in a thrilling conclusion to the historic series. The Don Baylor-managed Colorado Rockies made history as the first National League Wild Card team — losing to the eventual World Series champion Atlanta Braves in four games. It was the third season of existence for the franchise.
- Against All Odds Before the regular season started, the wise guys in Las Vegas layed book on an 81-win Yankee season — which projected to zero games played beyond the required 162. A total of 88 got postseason play done, and 90 wins is both a nice round number and real possibility. It seems like it was a long, long time ago, but as recently as 2011 the Yankees have come close to winning 100 games, finishing 97-65.
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“He’s seemed to improve from a mechanical standpoint as we’ve watched him turn double plays. In his work, his feet have quickened up. He seems more comfortable at the position. He has an idea about how to play the position on a daily basis better than maybe when we first saw him in spring training just because he’s gotten the reps.” ‐ Joe Girardi on Rob Refsynder (h/t: Chad Jennings/LoHud)
MEMORY LANE : On today’s date in 1961, in a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Roger Maris hit his 61st home run against Tracy Stallard, surpassing Babe Ruth‘s 34-year-old single-season home run record of 60 …
Today in 2013, the Yankees’ Alberto ‘The Attorney General’ Gonzalez, Brent Lillibridge, and Jim Miller were granted free agency …
On October 1, 1980, the Yankees acquired Gaylord Perry from the Texas Rangers for one time top prospect Ken Clay and minor leaguer Marv Thompson. Clay was selected in the second round of the 1972 MLB Draft by New York, and once considered a top prospect but never lived up to expectations. He was called up in 1977 and was reliable in relief down the stretch for the Billy Martin-managed World Series championship club that year, pitching well in Game 2 of World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ensuing seasons proved below organization expectations, hence the October 1980 trade…
(h/t: NationalPastime.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Today in Baseball History)
