MLB.com Games of the Year: 6/5/08: Blue Jays at Yankees
June 5th, 2008: Blue Jays 8 at Yankees 9 F -- With his sore left foot, Jason Giambi wasn't in condition to run bases or play first base. But he was OK to hit, and he made his only at-bat against the Blue Jays on Thursday count. Giambi's pinch-hit, two-run homer off B.J. Ryan in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Yankees to a 9-8 victory over the Jays at Yankee Stadium. Giambi was looking for a fastball following two sliders that put the count at 0-2. But another slider, not as sharp as the others, came out of Ryan's hand. Giambi bashed his team-leading 12th homer into the upper deck in right field, mere feet away from the foul pole. Before Giambi approached the plate, Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked him if he wanted in, considering his foot pain and his 2-for-13 career mark against Ryan. Giambi accepted. "[Girardi] says, 'What do you think?'" said Giambi, whose homer evened the Yankees' record at 30-30 and dropped the Blue Jays to 32-30. "I said, 'Give me a shot. I'll go.' Luckily, it all worked out. Like I said, I got that one mistake, and with a guy like B.J., you might only get one mistake." With the Yankees down by two runs heading to the ninth, Ryan recorded the first two outs before Alex Rodriguez kept the inning alive with a single. Hideki Matsui followed with a single to score Rodriguez and bring the Yankees to within one run before Giambi stepped in.
iTunes TV | April 3, 2012
