2010: Thames walks it off
In the bottom of the ninth, with the Yankees down 9-7 to the Red Sox, Alex Rodriguez hit a one-out, two-run homer off closer Jon Papelbon to tie the game. Robinson Cano then flew out and Papelbon hit Francisco Cervelli with a pitch. Marcus Thames then took Papelbon deep for the two-run blast to give the Yankees an 11-9 win and their first walk-off win of the season.
2009: Damon completes the walk-off hat trick vs. Twins
With one out in the bottom of the tenth and the score tied at two, Johnny Damon homered off Twins reliever Jesse Crain for the Yankees’ third straight walk-off win and fifth of the season.
2002: The Ultimate Grand Slam
With the Yankees trailing 12-9 in the bottom of the 14th inning against the Twins, Jason Giambi hit a one-out walk-off grand slam off reliever Mike Trombley to give the Yankee a one-run walk-off victory. Giambi was the 22nd player in history, and the second Yankee, to hit an “Ultimate Grand Slam” (a walk-off slam, down by three). Babe Ruth had done it in 1925.
1998: Baseball Immortality!
David Wells tossed the 15th perfect game in Major League history (and first by a Yankee since Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series) defeating the Twins 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Wells struck out 11 Twins and got Pat Meares to fly out to Paul O’Neill in right for the final out.
1996: Every journey begins with a single step
Mariano Rivera records his first career save. John Wetteland was unavailable after being hit in the right forearm in the outfield during batting practice. The Yankees had an 8-5 lead in the top of the ninth against the Angels. Rivera struck out Randy Velarde, allowed a single to pinch-hitter Mike Aldrete but got Garret Anderson to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game. He got the save and Andy Pettitte got the win, the first of their MLB record 72 win-save combinations.
1977: Looking for a Spark
Ron Guidry had a three-hit shutout going with a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth in Oakland. He gave up a lead-off homer to Manny Sanguillen then gave up another to Dick Allen two batters later. Guidry came out of the game after walking the next batter and Sparky Lyle induced a double play to get out of the inning. Then Lyle stayed in the game and threw five shutout innings until Chris Chambliss hit a bases loaded single and pinch hitter Carlos May added a run on a groundout. Then Lyle closed out the 5-2 win. His 6.2 innings pitched matched the longest outing of his career from 1974. Notably, Vida Blue threw 13 innings for the A’s.
