Bubba at the plateJune 21, 2006: N.Y. Yankees 5, Philadelphia 0
Sweet win tonight. And a great game. Wright only lasted 5 innings, as usual, but he was lights-out, twice striking out even the feared Ryan Howard.
Wright also got the first RBI of the game. Miguel Cairo hit a triple, then Wright got him home with a long sac fly. He thought it was a homer for a moment. (Yes, believe it or not, for awhile our only offense was provided by Miguel Cairo and Jaret Wright.)
The adrenaline rush seemed to take a lot out of him; he wasn't the same when he returned to the mound. But the bullpen was able to hold the lead, while the Yanks tacked on more runs.
With Cole Hamels on the mound, I wasn't expecting Bubba to start. Hamels eats lefties for breakfast. Torre sat Cano and started Cairo at 2B for this reason, and probably should have done something similar with Jason Giambi (ridiculous as that sounds). The Giambino was hopeless against Hamel, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
But with Hamels out and righty Geoff Geary in, Bubba got the call to pinch-hit for Scott Proctor.
Bubba on deckIt was a pretty high-stress situation to come into. Eighth inning, two outs, one on. Bubba watched the first two pitches go by as strikes. Things weren't looking good.
The next pitch he got a small piece of, staying alive. Then came two pitches that missed outside - balls 1 and 2. Bubba popped up the next pitch, just out of play. Finally, he smacked the seventh pitch of the at-bat to right - a goundball single.
Bubba ended up stranded on on 2B, but his hit helped get Cairo home. Yeah, Bubba! Great battle. It think that's the second time I've seen him fight back from 0-2 to get on base.
On another subject...Johnny Damon hijacked the Phillies mascot's ATV, then chased the mascot around with it. Pretty funny. He's such a character.
I have to say, I am getting to really like Damon. He's a class act. I've noticed that when they interview him after games, he always gives credit to his teammates rather than talking about himself. Last night, he had a great game. 3-for-3, with two walks. He was chosen POTG by the Phillies broadcasters. What did he talk about in the postgame interview? How great it was that Bubba Crosby got a clutch hit, and how hard it is to come in off the bench and do that.
Oh, and he and Bubba are a cute couple, too. ;-)