The House That Mo Closed officially belongs to the history books.
In the only acceptable conclusion for the ghosts of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle, the Yankees said farewell to the Stadium last night with one last memorable performance.
Adhering to the script, that meant a couple home runs, favorite son Andy Pettitte getting the win and Mariano Rivera on the mound to record the final out of a 7-3 victory over the Orioles.
“It’s important that this building goes out the way it’s viewed upon, as a winning building,” manager Joe Girardi said before the Yankees won for the eighth time in nine games to keep their playoff hopes tethered to dental floss.
With Boston’s victory over Toronto earlier in the day, the Yanks’ Tragic Number for elimination from the playoff race was reduced to 1. In other words, the next Yankees’ loss or Red Sox victory officially will end the Yanks’ run of 13 straight postseason appearances.
Girardi compared last night to the seventh game of the World Series on multiple levels.
“It is the seventh game for us, because we have to win every game and the Red Sox have to lose every game,” he said.
Jose Molina became the answer to a trivia question by drilling a two-run homer into the netting behind the left-field fence in the fourth inning that gave the Yanks a 5-3 lead. Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the Stadium’s history on April 18, 1923 and Molina the last on Sept. 21, 2008.
Johnny Damon’s three-run homer in the third gave the Yankees their first lead. Damon slapped a Chris Waters fastball into the lower deck in right for his 16th home run of the season, and the penultimate in the Stadium’s history.
Pettitte, in what might have been his last appearance in pinstripes, pitched five-plus innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts. The left-hander, who is unsigned beyond this season, has battled recent arm soreness and isn’t a lock to make his final scheduled start on Saturday in Boston.
Adam Jones singled leading off the sixth, prompting Girardi to summon Jose Veras. Pettitte departed to a huge standing ovation and was clearly wiping away tears as he walked to the dugout, from which he made a curtain call.
The Orioles got a run against Pettitte in the second on Jay Payton’s RBI fielder’s choice after a Jones triple and extended that lead to 2-0 on Melvin Mora’s RBI single in the third. Payton’s RBI single in the fourth tied the game after Damon’s homer had put the Yankees ahead.