Yankees clinch 17th American League East title; beat Rays 4-2

By On September 22, 2011 · 5 Comments · In Game Recaps

It never gets old. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Approximately seven hours after earning their 2011 postseason berth, the Yankees clinched their 17th American League East title, beating the Rays 4-2, sweeping the doubleheader, securing the series victory and ensuring a stress-free final week of the season as the team prepares to kick off the American League Division Series next Friday, September 30.

and were locked in a pitchers’ duel in this one, with the former going 7 1/3 and giving up two runs — both on solo home runs, to and , natch — and the latter going seven and also giving up two runs and limiting the Yankees to only two hits.

Sabathia threw 127 pitches but couldn’t get through the 8th, and after loading the bases summoned to do what he’s done all season — get out of a bases-loaded jam, this time on only one pitch. Why swung at the first pitch he saw we’ll never know, but thank you, Zorilla.

An inning after the Rays tied things up at two apiece on Rodriguez’s homer, the Yankees took care of business. pinch-hit an RBI double to left field, while walks to and brought Jesus Montero to the plate with two outs and the righty on the mound. Girardi elected to pinch-hit for Montero with — a move I admittedly wasn’t in love with — but in hindsight it was probably the right call, given Jorge’s success against righties, not to mention the fact that be blasted a grand slam off Gomes last month. Posada made Girardi look great (and several of us on Twitter look foolish) two pitches later, ripping the go-ahead two-run single to right field, and putting the Yankees ahead 4-2. closed things out without incident in the ninth, and with Boston losing yet again to the Orioles about an hour earlier, the Yankees were able to clinch the division.

On a personal note, this is one of the Yankees’ more memorable division crowns. Between the fact that, as I noted in the recap of the first game of the doubleheader, almost no one thought this year’s Yankee team could do this, as well as this being their first AL East title in the (admittedly brief) two-plus years I’ve spent voluntarily writing about the team every day, it feels pretty great. While they did win the AL East in 2009 shortly after I launched Yankeeist, that feeling doesn’t quite compare to having chronicled and obsessed over nearly every single game of the last two years, and watching what has truly been a remarkably resilient team putting together an improbably successful season.

Yankee fans are often ripped on for being spoiled, and while no one can deny the success the team has experienced, when you really take a step back and look at everything they dealt with this year — the injuries, the questions about the rotation (although for what it’s worth, in spite of all the hand-wringing regarding the Yankee rotation, this quick-and-dirty analysis I did just before the first game of the season actually wound up being somewhat prescient) — it really reminds you just how hard it is to actually do what the franchise has managed to accomplish on such a consistent basis over the better part of the last two decades.

Tagged with: • • • •
 
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Delicious Digg

5 Responses to Yankees clinch 17th American League East title; beat Rays 4-2

  1. Eric Schultz says:
    September 22, 2011 at 12:57 am

    Excellent recap as always, and a great win. With the division in hand, it will be very interesting to see how Girardi will play things going forward. I am sure he will be resting starters more than he would during if the division were still in play, but he will have to balance the benefits of extra rest against keeping the regulars sharp.

    Reply
  2. Yankees clinch 17th American League East title; beat Rays 4-2 … | Yankees News Source says:
    September 22, 2011 at 4:16 am

    [...] this article: Yankees clinch 17th American League East title; beat Rays 4-2 … AKPC_IDS += "34958,"; AKPC_IDS += [...]

    Reply
  3. Joe G says:
    September 22, 2011 at 8:47 am

    It was a nice moment for Jorge. I admit to being a bad yankee fan and hoping for a split today so that Tampa could wreck more havoc on Boston, but it was nice to get the division wrapped up there and then.

    Also, was I the only one who wanted to kick Michael Kay in the balls? Comparing Jorge’s hit to Mo’s 602nd save or Jeter’s 3,000 hit? All the pressure Posada had to deliver in that moment? Seriously? You’d think Posada just hit a walk off homerun in the world series. Sure it was a nice moment for him, but we didn’t need kay rambling on for 5 minutes about it. I thought for a second Cone & Flaherty had gotten up and left.

    Reply
  4. Mike Jaggers-Radolf says:
    September 22, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Nice recap Lar.

    One thing I’ve learned to appreciate in all sports, but particularly in baseball, is that no two seasons are as inter-related as they seem. Each season is its own entity with its own ups and downs. In 2010 the Yankees looked primed for a repeat, but the season didn’t play to the script. This year was meant to be all about Boston and they’ve struggled down the stretch. It is truly impressive to see what the Bombers have done, with key contributions coming from cast aways and rookies. I’m really excited for the playoffs.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Set your Twitter account name in your settings to use the TwitterBar Section.