The Yankees had blown a 4-0 lead as the Red Sox scored three times in the eighth and then tied the game on a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the ninth. Bobby Valentine had Clayton Mortensen warmed up for the top of the 10th when Joe Girardi suddenly asked the umpires to call the game.
Yankees - 000 220 000 - 4 9 0
Red Sox - 000 000 031 - 4 8 0
Bobby Valentine was
annoyed:
The umpire came over and said we couldn't play. ... [W]hy do I have to warm up my pitcher who's trying to make a team come in in a tie game against the Yankees and maybe help him make a team and instead he has to walk off the mound and take a shower? That's just not very courteous.
Joe Girardi:
I used all our pitching, so I just said, "That's it. ... We don't have any more."
Valentine:
They had plenty of pitching. Probably too long of a [bus] ride [back to Tampa].
Girardi
listed 12 pitchers on his travel roster and had used only five in the game (a sixth had thrown a side session). The Daily News pointed out that "lefty Mike O'Connor and five additional minor-leaguers were with the team — including Pat Venditte, who throws from both sides."
Trampoline!
ReplyDeleteWe won!
ReplyDeleteAnd now Mortensen is optioned to Pawtucket.
ReplyDeleteJenks, DUI
ReplyDelete"too many muscle relaxers"
Mortensen:
ReplyDeleteI was pretty pissed, actually. I finally get my chance to get into an inning, something that I believe my role would kind of be — late innings, tie ballgame, come in against the Yankees — I was all fired up, ready to go. I was talking with [catcher Ryan Lavarnway on the mound], ‘Let’s do this sign with a runner on second,’ and all of a sudden it was, ‘Game’s over, dude.’ I was like, ‘What?!’ I wasn’t happy. I thought it was funny that they said they were out of pitching. Well, you’re not pitching. You don’t want to hit? It’s just funny that it just happens to be the Yankees. It starts up the whole thing already. Whatever. I just wanted to get in and pitch. Sitting in the bullpen, we tied it up and I said, ‘Sweet – I get to go in there and throw an inning,’ and then the game’s over before I know it. What just happened?