For Hot Yanks, Blown Save Is No Problem

Yankees 7, Orioles 6

For months, the Yankees’ bench might have been the most anemic in the major leagues. Now, on many nights, it includes Jason Giambi, a slugger earning more than $20 million who is fine with pinch-hitting for the hottest team in baseball.

anemic a. 貧血的

“It's not a big deal,” Giambi said. “Just work your way in, and when you get your licks, take advantage of them.”

big deal n. 影響重大的事
lick n. 嘗試

Giambi did that last night with pivotal pinch-hit single in the Yankees' winning rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. Giambi's bouncer moved Melky Cabrera from first to third, and Derek Jeter followed with chopper off the pitcher’s glove that drove in the winning run in the Yankees' 7-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

That erased the sting of Mariano Rivera’s first blown save since April 20 and lifted the Yankees to their ninth victory in 10 games. Rivera had converted 19 consecutive save opportunities, the longest streak in the majors.

sting n. 刺痛
convert v. 【運動】成功地完成

Chien-Ming Wang had stood to win, despite allowing five runs and eight hits in six innings, throwing his sinkers too hard and leaving some changeups too high. But home runs by Bobby Abreu and Wilson Betemit helped give the Yankees the lead until the Orioles peppered three singles off Rivera in the ninth.

pepper v. 嚴懲

“You're always surprised when somebody gets a hit off Mo, but like usual, I don't think many of them were hit hard,” Jeter said. “Those things happen. It feels good to pick him up once in a while.”

pick up 改善

After the Orioles' Chad Bradford retired Andy Phillips on a groundout to start the ninth, Cabrera was hit in the back with an off-speed pitch.

Shelley Duncan was due up next, in the designated hitter's slot, having batted for Johnny Damon in the sixth inning. Torre said he made that move partly because he knew he could always substitute Giambi for Duncan later.

The chance came in the ninth, with a right-hander pitching and the Orioles having already used two left-handed relievers.

“Early in the year, I couldn’t do that,” Torre said. “We really didn't have anybody on the bench to go to.”

Giambi, who had homered twice in a weekend sweep of Cleveland, yanked a sinker from Bradford off the end of the bat, bouncing it through the hole on the right side of the infield as Cabrera charged to third.

charge v. 向前衝

The Orioles brought the infield in, and Jeter tapped a fielder's choice off Bradford’s glove. Second baseman Brian Roberts made an off-balance throw to the plate, much too late to catch Cabrera, who raced in to score the winning run standing up.

The game featured the home debut of the heralded reliever Joba Chamberlain, 21, who struck out two of three hitters and reached 99 miles an hour with his fastball. He faced the 4-5-6 batters but did not know who they would be.

herald v. 預告

“To be honest, I didn't know who I was facing,” Chamberlain said. “I knew I had right-right-left. Sometimes, I like it better that way.”

Chamberlain fell behind Miguel Tejada with three balls after a first-pitch strike. But Tejada fouled off the 3-1 pitch, then swung helplessly at a slider.

After Kevin Millar grounded out on an 0-2 curveball — perhaps the first curveball Chamberlain has thrown in three outings — Aubrey Huff struck out on a slider that hit 91 m.p.h., harder than many pitchers' fastball.

The crowd chanted Chamberlain's first name, and although the Yankees still project him as a starter, he is quickly taking to the bullpen role.

“It's an adrenaline rush that you don't get too many times,” he said. “As it goes, it tends to grow on me a little bit.”

adrenaline n. 一陣興奮

Rivera followed Chamberlain to start the ninth. After Rivera needed 30 pitches to secure a four-out save Sunday, Torre was not sure he would use him. But Rivera wanted to pitch.

“He was ready to go today,” Torre said in his clubhouse office after the game. “He was up here for two innings stretching. We looked up in the ninth inning and he was standing on top of the mound, and we hadn’t even called down yet. He really hasn't been working a lot.”

Rivera surely wanted a quick ending, but Melvin Mora led off with a single and went to second when catcher Jorge Posada had no play there after fielding a chopper by Ramón Hernández.

Posada threw to first for the out, and when Tike Redman singled to shallow center, the Orioles' third-base coach, Juan Samuel, sent Mora to the plate. Cabrera has a strong arm and Posada corralled his throw, tagging out Mora in plenty of time as Redman scurried to second.

corral v. 【美】補捉
scurry v. 急跑

“He takes a lot of hits away and he keeps guys from taking the extra base,” Posada said of Cabrera. “It's really a big difference.”

Down to their last out, the Orioles came back with a single to right by Roberts. Samuel sent the runner again, and this time, Redman beat a high throw from Abreu to tie the score. Rivera recovered to get a flyout, ending the inning, and soon, he would be the winning pitcher.

beat v. 搶在...之前