The Promise that once was Joba Chamberlain continues to be a dead end for the Yankees.
These days, even when Chamberlain appears to strike out a batter, he doesn’t get the benefit of the call.
Baseball remains a game all about overcoming obstacles, though, and Chamberlain can’t manage to win for losing anymore and for manager Joe Girardi to continue to run Chamberlain out there in big games is a losing proposition.
Joba was not alone Thursday night in the mistake department as the Yankees found so many ways to lose to the Red Sox, 9-8 in 10 innings at Yankee Stadium in a game that lasted 4 hours and 32 minutes.
What could have been a tremendous 8-7 win for the Yankees disintegrated into the ugliest of defeats, and it was Chamberlain who was the losing pitcher.
With one in the 10th of an 8-8 game, Jacoby Ellsbury singled to right off Chamberlain. He stole second on a terrible throw from Austin Romine. Ellsbury came around to score the go-ahead run on Shane Victorino’s single to right off a high fastball from Chamberlain, but not before a Chamberlain slider appeared to strike out Victorino on a not-so checked swing.
First base umpire Joe West would have none of it and signaled Victorino did not go around. In Chamberlain’s pitching world, there are no happy endings anymore, and Victorino got the big hit of the night in a game that featured 26 hits.
“You’ve got to compose yourself and get it going and get it back and make a pitch and we didn’t make the pitch,’’ said Chamberlain, who was ejected by West after he was taken out of the game by Girardi.
Chamberlain, Romine and Girardi all said they thought Victorino was struck out, but the call did not go the Yankees’ way.
“You all saw the replay,’’ Chamberlain said. “That kind of speaks for itself.’’
Chamberlain was in the game because Shawn Kelley was unavailable with a “triceps issue,’’ Girardi said. The manager elected not to use lefty Boone Logan because the Red Sox had “three out of four right-handers.’’ He also elected not to use Phil Hughes in that spot.
“It’s frustrating,’’ Girardi said of the call. “But you have to be able to overcome.’’
Chamberlain tried but could not overcome. He tried to get Victorino on a high fastball and Victorino pounced on the pitch, driving it to right.
Asked what he said to West, Chamberlain said, “Enough to get me ejected.’’
On the throw home from Ichiro Suzuki, Romine could not catch the short hop and apply the tag as Ellsbury scored, adding just a little more salt to the wound for the Yankees. Catching has been an issue for most of the season for the Yankees as they have never really recovered from losing free agent Russell Martin to the Pirates.
Along the way to this loss, Alfonso Soriano managed to get caught in a rundown after taking off at second base, a caught-stealing that sabotaged the Yankees’ chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, the Red Sox tied it with two outs against Mariano Rivera when pinch-runner Quintin Berry — hello, Dave Roberts — stole second and advanced to third on Romine’s bad throw. He came home on Stephen Drew’s single to right, giving Rivera the blown save.
It was that kind of night as the Yankees dropped a full nine games behind the Red Sox. The Yankees scored six runs in the seventh to take the lead.
“We battled back, we did everything we needed to do to get it,’’ Chamberlain said. “We’ve got to come out [Friday], we’ve got three games left and continue from Pitch 1 to get after it.’’
On this long night, Chamberlain was given another chance where he so badly wanted to succeed.
“Of course, huge,’’ he said. “You execute the way you want it and it doesn’t go your way so it’s extremely frustrating.’’
In many ways with Joba Chamberlain, the promise is broken.