As I said that night, Kimbrel started a fire and then threw gasoline on it. He was lucky 1) That Severino's ball didn't make it to the wall (we're talking about millimeters on the bat) and he was lucky Nunez and Pearce had the ability to make very nice plays to put out the fire. Not all infielders make those plays.
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
Come on. You know better than that. The Yankees did set the MLB record for dingers, but for any given at bat the odds still greatly favor the pitcher not giving up one. Sanchez had 2 dingers in 18 at bats in the ALDS. Terrific. But even he had 9 to 1 odds. Plus the fact that the Yankees got zero dingers in the Bronx. And the fieldable grounder by Torres was what Kombrel wanted. It just turned out to be so weak it was a tough but by no means impossible play. Nunez did not have to barehand it. Had Torres been safe, the score would still have been 4-3.
You want lucky? How about Vazquez opposite field dinger in the 4th? Sabathia would tell you the Sox got really lucky with that home plate umpire. Oh, don’t forget the Yankees hitting no dingers the final two games. Given how Sale struggled in September, he was incredibly lucky to go 5.2 innings in game 1.
But Kimbrel getting a save with a 3 run lead? The odds had to be very much in his favor. It’s a sad truth we are all going to have to live with—Cora was not an idiot for leaving Kinsler in there.
Ok Max - so how about this - the Yankees got so so lucky to get within one run of the Sox and it is a good thing that Nunez and Pearce did what they did.
Vazquez little fly ball to right does not mean much to me with respect to how much game time he should get moving forward. I'm happy that he hit the ball and am particularly happy that he was in Yankee stadium when he hit it.
One big reason the Yanks broke the team HR record is their short RF. The fact that Vaz hit one there is just payback.... not luck.
The only thing I know about Kimbrel's inning is that it was a failure. And, given the context of this specific game, plus that from the 5th inning on we were supposed to hold our breath till the Savior arrived in the 9th, this was not only an absolutely nerve-racking failure, but a very major disappointment.
To me this huge win felt a hell of a lot like a loss. I'm sorry, throwing wild balls when you have a 3 run (max for a save) lead in your biggest save opportunity of this season, is downright infuriating.