Okay, sports fans. Let’s not get too excited about this one.
Max Scherzer finally gives up a hit, Yankees finally score a run
Yes, it's been a long time since the New York Yankees have been swept in a postseason series.
Yes, the New York Yankees are about to get swept in the postseason series.
But no, Max Scherzer isn't going to throw a no-hitter. Eduardo Nuñez, who came up with a huge home run in Game 3, broke Scherzer's spell on the first pitch of the sixth inning:
In truth, Scherzer wasn’t going to throw a no-hitter in Game 4 anyway. No pitcher has thrown a no-hitter against the Yankees since 1958, and it wasn’t going to happen today because Scherzer entered the sixth inning having already thrown 84 pitches.
That’s one thing about Scherzer: even at his best, he throws lots of pitches.
With Nuñez on third, Scherzer struck out Ichiro Suzuki for this 10th K in the game. But Nick Swisher, who's been so ineffective in so many postseason games for so long, picked on a 2-and-0 fastball and lashed a double to the wall in right-center field.
Scherzer got Robinson Canó on a grounder -- everybody these days gets Robinson Canó on grounders -- but when he walked Mark Teixeira on five pitches, that was it: after 5⅔ innings and 96 pitches, Scherzer walked to the dugout while the sellout crowd stood and applauded.
With Raúl Ibañez due up, Jim Leyland called upon left-hander Drew Smyly ... and Joe Girardi did what he didn't do in Game 2: replace Ibañez with Alex Rodriguez.
This was One of Those Moments. An out, and nobody would remember. But if Alex Rodriguez could hit a three-run homer and get the Yankees back into the game with one swing. Well, that--
Well, that didn’t happen. He fell behind 0-and-2, then lifted an easy fly to center field.
So the Yankees got Max Scherzer out of the game, but they’ll need a lot more than one run. If they don’t score at least five more runs, their season will end after three more innings.
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