Yankees One Win Away After Whirlwind Ninth

I thought the top half of the ninth was over.  It looked like Johnny Damon had struck out, but he’d managed to get a piece of the ball.  My buddy told me that it would be a “series-altering foul ball.”  I chalked up his statement simply as wishful thinking, but he was right.  Damon proceeded to single, steal second and then take third with some heads-up base running with the shift on to face Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira would get plunked by Brad Lidge, setting the stage for Alex Rodriguez’s game-winning double.  It was a whirlwind series of events that took place with two outs, and now the New York Yankees are one win away from securing their 27th World Series title.

The Yankees were in control for most of the game, but the victory seemed to be escaping them when Joba Chamberlain gave up a game-tying home run to Pedro Feliz in the bottom of the eighth.  As they’ve done all season, though, the Yankees came back in dramatic fashion.  This was the kind of win that the Yankees would have let slip away in recent years, before guys like Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett reminded these guys how much fun it is to play baseball every day.  The Yanks will try to close out the series tonight, but will have to beat Cliff Lee to do so.

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