Written by Mike Vaccaro at New York Post.com
The Sinatra sing-along had a little more juice this time around. The 27th out, a fastball that Tommy Kahnle whipped past Lonnie Chisenhall, was greeted with an extra dash of thunder. The walk back to the parking lot didn’t seem quite as melancholy; suddenly it seemed this might not be the last such walk of the season.
A funny thing happened these last two nights at Yankee Stadium. The Cleveland Indians, who had been virtually unbeatable, practically bulletproof, for more than a month, lost a layer or two of that confident veneer. The bats, among the noisiest in baseball, were quieted. The gloves sprang a few leaks.
The swagger that fueled them through all the winning? You had to squint to see any.
A funnier thing happened these last two nights at Yankee Stadium. Instead of feeling sorry for themselves after blowing a five-run lead in Game 2, the Yankees got after the Indians. Greg Bird clobbered the only ball that mattered Sunday. On Monday, they made Cleveland pay for every mistake — and there were plenty. And for a second straight night, they received a pitching performance to take your breath away.
Here’s the funniest thing that happened these last two nights at Yankee Stadium:
The Yankees, left for dead Saturday morning, are alive, and they are well, and they will take their chances at a win-or-be-gone Game 5 Wednesday night in Cleveland after this 7-3 victory that tied the American League Division Series at two games apiece.
“There’s a lot of confidence in that room right now,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “There’s a lot of guys who pick each other up and grind out at-bats, pitchers who make big pitches. It ought to be a lot of fun on Wednesday.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
