2011: Small ball on a large scale

Down 3-1 heading to the bottom of the 7th against the Mets in the Bronx, the Yankees put eight on the board with six hits, just one of which went for extra bases (a double), two walks and a scary HBP of Francisco Cervelli by Mike Pelfrey. The Mets needed four pitchers to stop the bleeding. The Yankees won 9-3.

1999: Rocket streaks to 18 straight wins

After a stint on the disabled list and a rain out, Roger Clemens finally breaks the American League record for consecutive victories with his 18th in a 10-2 drubbing of the White Sox in Chicago. Early in the season, Clemens had two rough starts against the Orioles on April 15th and the Rangers in Arlington on April 27th where he allowed five+ runs and was out of the game early, but the Yankee offense got him off the hook.

1976: Catfish turns the tables on Pole

After the first game of the series against the Red Sox was marred by a benches-clearing brawl, the Yankees posted back-to-back walk-off wins. The second of which was a scoreless tie for ten innings. Catfish Hunter and Red Sox starter Dick Pole traded zeroes for eight innings before Pole got into trouble in the 9th and was relieved by Tom House who got out of the jam. Hunter pitched three more scoreless innings allowing just three hits over 11 innings of work. The Yankees won on a two-out RBI single by Carlos May in just his second start with the Yankees after being acquired from the White Sox.

1963: Commerce Comet nearly puts one in orbit

Mickey Mantle barely missed becoming the first player to hit a home run out of Yankee Stadium. The titanic walk-off blast off Kansas City A’s reliever Bill Fischer to lead off the bottom of the 11th was analyzed by a physicist who studied long-ball trajectories and judged the ball would have travelled 620 feet had it not hit the façade.

1962: Yankee pitchers throw one-hitter, still need 12 innings to win

At Yankee Stadium, Whitey Ford threw seven no-hit innings (he did allow a run in the first inning on a sac fly) but had to leave the game because of back pains. The Yankee pen allowed just one hit over five innings and the Yankees won after Joe Pepitone tripled with one out in the 12th and scored on an Elston Howard sac fly. Roger Maris set a Major League record after he was intentionally walked four times during the game. (The record was broken in 1990 when Andre Dawson was intentionally walked five times in a 16-inning game between the Cubs and Reds).

1930: Run-fest in Philly

 In the second game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia, the Yankees and A’s combined for 33 runs in a 20-13 Yankees win, which included the third three-homer game by Lou Gehrig, who drove in eight of the 20 bomber runs. Jimmie Foxx hit two homers and drove in six for the Athletics. The combined runs remain tied for the Yankees’ franchise high, accomplished two other times (1912 & 1932). Of note, the Yankees scored 10 runs in the first game of the twin-bill so they combined for 30 runs on the day.

1923: Herb Penns a masterpiece

Herb Pennock threw a 15-inning complete-game four-hitter against the White Sox in Chicago. The game was tied at one after six innings and Pennock and Chisox starter Mike Cvengros threw up zeroes until the 15th inning when Babe Ruth connected for a two-run blast. Pennock tossed a scoreless bottom of the 15th for the 3-1 win.

1918: The first Thor

21-year old rookie southpaw Hank Thormahlen goes toe-to-toe against White Sox veteran Eddie Cicotte at the Polo Grounds. Both toss up goose eggs for 13 innings. Thormahlen worked out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the top of the 14th. Cicotte got the first out of the bottom of the frame then allowed three consecutive singles to Home Run Baker, Del Pratt and Wally Pipp who drove in Baker for the win. It was Thormahlen’s second consecutive 1-0 complete game shutout and he ran his scoreless inning streak to 33 (before the back-to-back 1-0 wins, he threw nine innings of scoreless relief coming in for an ineffective Allen Russell on May 9th). His streak would end at 37 in his next start against the Indians which he won 7-1.