The Futility Infielder

After a promising start, Thursday quickly turned into a tough night for the Yankees. Their new-look lineup threatened to break the game open in the top of the first, but came away with only one run. Then starter David Wells's bad back prevented him from pitching more than one inning, and reliever Jose Contreras hemorrhaged the ballgame away early. The Yankees clawed back from down 6-1, twice bringing Bernie Williams to the plate as the tying run. But it was too little, too late, and the Florida Marlins are now one victory away from winning the World Series. The Yanks need to sweep two ballgames in the Bronx in order to win.

Joe Torre adjusted Thursday's Yankee lineup to reflect two realities: Alfonso Soriano has been a mess this postseason, and Jason Giambi's aching knee has been exacerbated by playing the field in Florida. So Torre put two men who have combined for 84 homers on the bench, replacing them with light-hitting futilityman Enrique Wilson and Nick Johnson. The moves seemed reasonable enough, especially with the hotter Derek Jeter in the leadoff spot. Jeter singled on Brad Penny's second pitch of the ballgame, and on the next pitch Wilson (who's really not suited to the #2 spot in the lineup) reached on a bunt single which Penny misplayed and then first baseman Derek Lee threw away, with Jeter going to third. Things were looking good for the Yanks. Bernie Williams got ahead of Penny 2-0, then hit a lazy fly ball to rightfielder Miguel Cabera which scored a run. But from there the Yanks could do no more damage.

Wells got out of the first in a hurry, throwing only eight pitches and getting three groundouts. But while the big man's body language indicated discomfort, it nevertheless came as a surprise to viewers to see David Dellucci in the on-deck circle to pinch-hit for Wells in the top of the second. Though the prospect of Wells' back crapping out was not unfamiliar to Yankee fans -- live by the 40-year-old pitcher with the balky back and the "How To Not Exercise" philosophy, die by it, too -- Fox's announcers scrambled to explain the situation, and Jose Conteras hurriedly warmed up in the bullpen. Since this was an injury replacement, he had as much time as necessary, but Conteras nevertheless had a deer-in-the-headlights look as he came into the ballgame.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into the Cuban's body language and the subsequent results, but to me, this was inexcusable. According to everything I've read and heard, the Yankee brass was well aware of the situation, with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre warning Torre that Wells' back was cranky, and Torre cobbling together Plan B. Reports the New York Times:

David Wells's bullpen session just before Thursday's game went so poorly that the pitching coach, Mel Stottlemyre, had serious doubts about Wells's ability to make it past the first inning. But with Andy Pettitte on the way to New York to rest for Game 6, Joe Torre had few options to replace Wells.

Torre said the Game 3 starter, Mike Mussina, offered, and José Contreras and Chris Hammond were considered. Jeff Weaver, who lost Game 4 in relief, apparently was not.

"Right at game time, Mike Mussina came up to me, he asked me if I wanted him to pitch," Torre said. "I just said no to him. I know he had thrown earlier in the day. But we had no one else. If he didn't start, it was either going to be Hammond or Contreras."

Though he'd pitched two innings the night before, Contreras started off the inning solidly, getting Cabrera to line out and then Jeff Conine, the Marlins' toughest hitter in this Series, to fly out. But he walked Mike Lowell on four pitches and then went 3-0 on Lee, his splitters skipping in the dirt reminiscent of his ALCS Game Six meltdown. The Yanks did what they could to calm Conteras, but the bleeding got worse. Lee walked, then Alex Gonzalez hit a ground-rule double to tie the game. Next up was pitcher Penny, who slapped a two-run single on Conteras' first pitch, 3-1 Marlins.

"There goes the Series," I muttered -- not because I didn't have some faith the Yanks could mount a comeback, but because I saw this as the kind of bad break which could be decisive in a close game, especially when it looked as if the Yanks might need additional relief to get out of the inning. Conteras walked Pierre on four pitches, the fifth straight hitter to reach base, and then the Cuban finally struck out Castillo to end the nightmare.

After his shaky first, Penny settled into a groove. A leadoff walk by Jeter to start the third was erased in a double-play, and a Jorge Posada single in the fourth went unfortified. Meanwhile, the Marlins got another run off of Contreras before he departed. Lee led off with a single, and after Gonzalez struck out, Penny sacrificed the runner to second. Pierre doubled into the right-centerfield gap, and the Marlins now led 4-1.

Further disaster arrived in the fifth, when Chris Hammond, who hadn't pitched in nearly four weeks (shades of Jeff Weaver), came on. Ivan Rodriguez led off with a single, and alertly tagged to second on a deep fly ball to rightfield. Hammond fell behind Conine 3-0, but pulled to a full count before scorching a shot down the leftfield line. Third baseman Aaron Boone, a man who's had his share of tribulations in the field this Series, speared the ball and then threw to Wilson second as he saw Rodriguez retreating. Pudge reversed directions, but as he headed towards third, Wilson threw -- with nobody covering the bag! Boone had cleared the lane, while Jeter was still several feet away from the bag. The play ended with Pudge on third and Conine on second, and on the next pitch, Hammond yielded a single which scored both to widen the gap to 6-1.

The Yanks had a shot at getting back into the game in the seventh. Johnson led of with a single, and then Karim Garcia stroked a single which sent him to third. Boone, again with a chance to make a difference at the plate, failed to do so, his fly ball too short to score the run. Torre had bluffed with Giambi in the on-deck circle while Boone was at bat, but once the out was made, he called the slugger back and sent up Ruben Sierra instead. While the move at the time exasperated me -- "Let's get three goddamn runs!" I screamed at the televison, wanting Giambi in that spot -- Penny was still going strong, blowing high fastballs by Sierra which the Yankee slugger likely wouldn't have caught up to. Sierra struck out on a 99 MPH fastball. But the Yanks pressed on. Jeter singled in Johnson, and then Wilson walked to load the bases as Williams, the Yanks' hottest hitter in this Series, came to bat. But with a tie game in reach via one swing, Bernie popped the first pitch to shallow rightfield, ending the inning. Damn.

Penny left after seven, having allowed eight hits and two walks but only one earned run -- a gritty effort. Dontrelle Willis came on in relief, foretelling manager Jack McKeon's rotation choice of Josh Beckett for Game Six. Willis got two outs before Johnson singled, and Torre sent up Soriano to pinch-hit for Garcia. Unsurprisingly, Soriano struck out. But surprisingly, he remained in the game as the Yankee rightfielder, the first time he'd played the outfield for the Yanks in a game that counted and perhaps a glimpse into the team's offseason plans.

Braden Looper took over in the ninth for the Marlins, and after retiring Boone (what else is new?), Torre finally played his Giambi card. Big G fell behind 0-2, but fought back, and on the fifth pitch, he golfed a ball over the right-centerfield wall for a solo homer. Not dead yet. Jeter did as Jeter does, keeping things alive with a single, and then Wilson shocked the world with an RBI double down the rightfield line to make the score 6-4 and bring the tying run to the plate. McKeon summoned Ugueth Urbina to face Williams, and Bernie made every pulse in the ballpark skip a beat with a deep fly ball to rightfield. But it died at the warning track, bringing the Yanks to their final out. Hideki Matsui, silent all game after a big series thus far, grounded Urbina's first pitch to Lee, and the Marlins had their third victory of the series. The scrappy team in teal, a Wild Card in every sense of the term, is now on the brink of their second World Championship in the franchise's young history.

There's so much more to say; I'll be back with a look at tonight's game later this afteroon.