THREE THE HARD WAY: Jayson Nix (center) celebrates with CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano after the Yankees turned a 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 triple play during the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 5-2 win. Nix recorded the first out at second forcing out Nick Markakis. Nix caught Alexi Casilla in a run down between second and third, which led to Kevin Youkilis tagging Casilla. The final out came when Cano tagged Machado at second. (
)
Kevin Youkilis tagged out Alexi Casilla at third, looked up and saw Manny Machado stranded hopelessly between first and second and one thought entered his mind.
“I knew right away, we’ve got a triple play,” Youkilis said after the Yankees beat the Orioles, 5-2, last night.
And it came in as unlikely a fashion as anyone could draw up, much like the early part of this Yankees season.
After a 1-4 start, the Yankees have reeled off four straight wins to get over .500 (5-4) and move into a first-place tie in the AL East with the Red Sox. The wins have come in all sorts of ways: a pounding of Justin Verlander in Detroit before two straight blowouts of the Indians in Cleveland.
Then, a pair of rainouts on consecutive days at Progressive Field.
“It seems like we were in a clubhouse for two straight days,” manager Joe Girardi said prior to last night’s win. “I think our guys are anxious to get going again.”
They weren’t as dominant as they’d ben against the Indians, but that hardly mattered.
At a frigid Yankee Stadium, where it was just 42 degrees at game time, the Yankees found a way in front of an announced crowd of 35,033 that wasn’t nearly that large.
Those that were in attendance got to see another excellent start from CC Sabathia (2-1), who gave up two runs in eight innings — and whose final pitch resulted in the wacky triple play, which was the Yankees’ first at home since 1968.
REPORT: A-ROD TRIED TO BUY, DESTROY PED DOCUMENTS
Sabathia got in a jam in the eighth by surrendering back-to-back singles to start the inning before the Orioles managed to run themselves out of the inning in incredible fashion.
Robinson Cano fielded Manny Machado’s grounder and flipped to Jayson Nix for the first out at second. Nix alertly turned and threw to third, where Youkilis tagged out Casilla.
Youkilis then fired to first baseman Lyle Overbay when he saw Machado caught between first and second. Overbay got the ball to Cano, who was covering second and finished the play.
“That was the craziest, coolest [play],” said Youkilis, who had three more hits and now has a hit in his first nine games as a Yankee. “Any adjective you want to throw in there that’s positive.”
Nix, in fact, was only in the game because Eduardo Nunez was forced to leave after being hit by a pitch in the second inning. Even the Yankees were stunned after it was done.
Mariano Rivera came in to pitch a scoreless ninth for the save.
The Orioles didn’t just help the Yankees on the base paths, they cost themselves three runs with a huge mistake in the field, as well.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the seventh, Vernon Wells came up with the bases loaded and two outs.
He lifted a fly ball to deep center field, where Jones had it tracked easily. But as he blew his trademark bubble before making the catch, Jones took his eye off the ball and dropped it, allowing all three runners to score.
“The way the ball was carrying tonight. … I thought he was going to be able to run it down,” Girardi said of Jones. “The chances of that happening are slim, slim, slim. But we caught a break.”
And in this young season, with the Yankees battling injuries throughout their lineup, they will take any break they can get.