Even as Robinson Canoe returned to the dugout in the bottom of the 13th inning, his 0-6 night in Game 4 of the Titanic Struggle between his Yankees and the insurgent Orioles now complete, his team mates facing the reality that the team they can't put away will be at them once more the following night, this time for all the marbles in their American League Divisional Series, it was plain that these Yankees are now wondering if the "baseball gods," as Buck Showalter calls them, are conjuring one of their most epic conclusions for two wonderful teams now locked in one of the great baseball series of all time. The issue on the table is whether - after splitting the first 22 games (imagine that, 22!) this season - the big bad Yankees are just not meant to put these tenacious and shockingly intense Orioles away. Game 23, today at 5 pm, will answer their question.
In Ray Kinsella's epic baseball novel, the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, two evenly matched teams play a game that will not end. The field in use was at the end of a railroad track that pushed into a green verdant Iowa farm field, into some cool mists and then off through time. It was quite cosmic and miraculously epic. Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin were in the stands as the game played on through thunderstorms, long nights and sunny wonderful days. A series like this one, played between two of baseball's storied franchises, already has a place amongst the greatest the ages have ever offered up. But after game three went 12 innings and game four went 13, one wonders if a regular old nine inning affair will seem appropriate for the epic conclusion.
The Orioles had come back to win Game Four after suffering, in Game Three, from the most devastating defeat baseball can dish up, a defeat that saw them lead into the bottom of the ninth before losing in twelve. It didn't faze them even a little bit. After such a defeat, Oriole manager Buck Showalter tapped cool Joe Saunders to start Game Four, a game only the Orioles had to win. All Saunders did was allow one measley run while pitching into the sixth, and even that run scored on a weak ground ball to second base. But it did manage to tie the score, offsetting Nate McClouth's fifth inning homerun. For the second straight game the teams played on past the ninth. Showalter got two superb innings from Pedro Strop, who had struggled down the stretch. Then in the 12th inning fate sprinkled down on the Orioles, though at the time it didn't seem to matter. Leading off the top of the 12th, catcher Matt Wieters hit a broken bat opposite field single to left. Joba Chamberlain, the flame-throwing Yank reliever, turned instantly to watch the flight of the dieing quail hit. As he did so the corner of his eye spotted the barrel end of the bat heading right for him, but by then it was too late to dodge the object, which was the entire bat save for the handle left in Wieter's hands. The impact was to the back of Chamberlain's elbow, and within two minutes it had swelled significantly. Girardi allowed his pitcher to throw three warm-up pitches, two of which were nowhere near the strike zone, and sent him to the dugout. Out of the bullpen came David Phelps, but it was clear that this was deeper into his bullpen than Girardi wanted to go. Phelps, to his credit, retired the first three Orioles he faced to get the game to the bottom of the 12th, but the Orioles again retired the Yankees without a run and the game moved into the fateful 13th. This time, the Orioles were ready. Manny Machado, whose solo home run in Game Three had given the Orioles the lead they held heading into the ninth, led off with a double into the left-centerfield gap and raced to third on McClouth's grounder to second base. Up stepped JJ Hardey, one of many Orioles still looking for their first post-season RBI. His wait was over. He drove a Phelps offering deep to left, so deep the Ichiro Suzuki only turned to play a one-hop carom off the wall. The bounce hit the top of the left field wall, allowing Machado to score easily and leaving Hardey at second with a double.
The Yankees did avoid further damage, and they did have the meat of their batting order coming up, but on this night the fates stayed with the Orioles. Jim Johnson, their outstanding closer, retired Mark Texeria, Robinson Canoe and Eric Chavez (pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriquez) in order to earn his second save of the series. Johnson has saved both Baltimore wins, but has given up key runs in both of their losses. At 5:07 pm this afternoon, CC Sabathia will challenge Jason Hammel in a reprise of their Game 1 matchup, in what will be the deciding game, whether either team is ready for it or not. And really, the issue isn't whether they are ready for the game, it's whether either can ever be ready for this fateful series to end.
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