Good to the Last Pop: Francisco Cervelli Leads N.Y. Yankees to 14th Walkoff Win
September 17, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
It’s becoming a theme in the new Yankee Stadium for opposing teams.
If you don’t win the game before the ninth inning, you’re in deep trouble, because the Yankees will find a way to come back and beat you.
On Wednesday night, it was no different.
The Yankees were trailing the Blue Jays 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning and looked a little flat against the Blue Jays pitching.
Alex Rodriguez got on with a base hit against Scott Downs. Up came Hideki Matsui, who is very tough against left-handed pitching.
Matsui takes a Downs breaking pitch and drills it into the right field seats for a game-tying, two-run home run to make the score 4-4. All of a sudden, the momentum shifted in favor of the Yankees.
Mariano Rivera breezed through the top of the ninth, which would put Toronto on their heels because they knew from the ninth inning on, the Yankees are deadly.
In the bottom of the ninth, Toronto sent in closer Jason Frasor to attempt to stop the Yankees.
Brett Gardner hit a single into center field to get on. Yankee Stadium was charged up. They could smell the win coming. Gardner took off for second and was safe, so Gardner was in scoring position with no outs.
Derek Jeter hit a slow ground ball to short for the first out, but it also moved over Gardner to third base and gave the Yankee hitters two chances to drive in Gardner for the winning hit.
Up to bat was Francisco Cervelli, who was put in as a late replacement for defense. The Toronto infield was moved in, as was the outfield in case a shallow fly ball was hit.
Cervelli takes a Frasor pitch and lines it into left field. Travis Snider took one look at home, but Gardner had crossed home plate and the Yankees came from behind again to win 5-4.
In the post-game interview, Cervelli knew A.J. Burnett was coming with the whipped-cream pie, and he delivered it and Cervelli pumped his fists into the air and the remaining crowd at Yankee Stadium cheered on.
The Yankees reduce their magic number to clinch the American League East to 11 and keep a 6 1/2 game lead on the Red Sox.
It has been a season of walk-off wins for the Yankees, their 14th of the season. In case you are wondering about who has hit all these walk-off hits and home runs for the Yankees, here’s how they have gotten to that number:
Walk-Off Win No. 1: April 22 vs Oakland A’s: Melky Cabrera hits a two-run home run off Dan Giese in the bottom of the 14th inning for a 9-7 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 2: May 1 vs Los Angeles Angels: Jorge Posada hits a two-run single off Brian Fuentes in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 10-9 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 3: May 15 vs Minnesota Twins: Melky Cabrera hits a two-run single off Joe Nathan in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 5-4 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 4: May 16 vs Minnesota Twins: Alex Rodriguez hits a two-run home run off Craig Breslow in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 6-4 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 5: May 17 vs Minnesota Twins: Johnny Damon hits a solo home run off Jesse Crain in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 3-2 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 6: May 23 vs Philadelphia Phillies: Melky Cabrera hits an RBI single off Brad Lidge in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 5-4 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 7: June 12 vs New York Mets: Alex Rodriguez hits a fly ball to shallow right off Francisco Rodriguez and Luis Castillo drops the ball, allowing two runs to score in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 9-8 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 8: July 4 vs Toronto Blue Jays: Jorge Posada hits an RBI single off Shawn Camp in the bottom of the bottom of the 12th inning for a 6-5 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 9: July 20 vs Baltimore Orioles: Hideki Matsui hits a solo home run off Jim Johnson in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 2-1 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 10: August 7 vs Boston Red Sox: Alex Rodriguez hits a two-run home run off Junichi Tazawa in the bottom of the 15th inning for a 2-0 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 11: August 12 vs Toronto Blue Jays: Robinson Cano hits an RBI single off Shawn Camp in the bottom of the 11th inning for a 4-3 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 12: August 28 vs Chicago White Sox: Robinson Cano hits a three-run home run off Randy Williams in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 5-2 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 13: September 8 vs Tampa Bay Rays: Nick Swisher hits a solo home run off Dan Wheeler in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 3-2 Yankees win.
Walk-Off Win No. 14: September 16 vs Toronto Blue Jays: Francisco Cervelli hits an RBI single off Jason Frasor in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 5-4 Yankees win.
It’s been a lot of walk-off wins, a ton of whipped-cream pies to the face courtesy of A.J. Burnett and a lot of magic in the Bronx during 2009.
Cervelli’s walk-off win just added to that magical story of 2009 for the Yankees.
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