(
)
Game-saving catch, game-winning hit.
Season-salvaging acquisition?
Eh. Let’s not get too carried away from a very long day at Yankee Stadium. But we can say this: In the Yankees’ universe, where missing the playoffs is unfathomable and going down in a one-game, wild-card heap is virtually the same thing, Ichiro Suzuki validated his July 23 arrival just with what he did yesterday.
The Yankees swept past the lowly Blue Jays, 4-2 and 2-1, maintaining exclusive control of the American League East over pesky Baltimore, because prime Ichiro emerged at an optimal time. In Game 1, hitting leadoff as Derek Jeter rested, the 38-year-old tallied a double and two singles, scored two runs and, battling the legendary left field Stadium sun, corralled a Rajai Davis line drive with two outs and the bases loaded and Toronto trailing by just one.
That proved the mere appetizer. In the nightcap, Ichiro doubled once and singled three times, with his last hit the most important. The Yankees struggled greatly with runners in scoring position, getting just two hits in their first 12 at-bats, until the eighth, when Ichiro came up with two outs, Curtis Granderson at third base, the game tied at 1-1 and lefty Aaron Loup on the hill.
Ichiro, whom Joe Girardi has sparingly used against southpaws, drilled a single to left field, bringing home Granderson with the tiebreaker.
So for those of you scoring at home, Ichiro combined to go 7-for-8 with two runs scored, an RBI and four stolen bases (all in Game 2).
“I was sad that the day ended,” a beaming Ichiro said through his interpreter, Allen Turner.
Said Girardi: “Just an unbelievable day. … He was huge for us today.”
Consider that Ichiro reported to work having been, at best, a modest success as a Yankee and, at worst, a mild disappointment. It depended on your expectations.
After yesterday’s display, though, he has a .337 on-base percentage and .439 slugging percentage in 53 games with the Yankees, a significant jump from the .288 OBP and .353 SLG he tallied in 95 games with the Mariners.
The Yankees hoped that importing Ichiro into a pennant race, after years of irrelevancy in Seattle, would stir his competitive genes. Perhaps it finally worked. Said Ichiro: “When you’re in a pennant race, the whole atmosphere makes you focus. It creates the atmosphere of making you focus more.”
So it went yesterday. With the Orioles hot on the Yankees’ tails and with the wild card such an unappetizing option with the new playoff format, Girardi stepped on the gas in Game 1. After Andy Pettitte threw five shutout innings in his encouraging return from his left ankle injury, the Yankees’ manager turned to his primary relievers. After Clay Rapada and Derek Lowe came Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano.
“I don’t think you can worry about Game 2,” Girardi said in between games. “You’re worried about Game 1. You don’t know what’s going to happen [in Game 2].”
That effort might have backfired if not for Ichiro’s catch on Davis to end the eighth.
“Ichiro tried to do the best that he could for the team, and he did [make the catch],” Soriano said. Ichiro, sitting in the locker next to Soriano, flashed an impish smile and said, in English, “Good comment” — prompting the normally mopey-faced Soriano to grin.
Little did we know what Ichiro had in store for Game 2. He got the start against Toronto’s lefty starter Ricky Romero because of solid career numbers against him (nine hits and a walk in 27 plate appearances) and also surely because Andruw Jones has shown little indication that he can do much of anything anymore.
Girardi stuck once again with Ichiro against Loup in the eighth. Why not, given how good he looked and how useless Jones has looked?
In that situation, Ichiro said, “I tried to stay my relaxed, normal self.” It worked, and Soriano threw a perfect ninth to complete a two-save day.
Ichiro figures to start a few more games against lefties, although Girardi also stressed he didn’t want to push his veteran too hard.
We can’t expect Ichiro to keep this going; no one could. Yet in this intense environment, we can expect him to keep him embracing the challenge. Which makes him a Yankees asset.
kdavidoff@nypost.com