NEW YORK _ The Cardinals did everything but wrap the game ball in a bright red bow. Tyler Clippard tried to give it right back Saturday afternoon.
The Yankees were happy beneficiaries of the Cardinals' misery, cashing in on wild pitching and flimsy fielding en route to a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium, despite a sloppy ninth-inning performance by Clippard that almost cost them the game.
Stephen Piscotty homered off Clippard with one out in the ninth to draw the Cardinals to within one. Matt Adam singled with two outs and Jhonny Peralta walked, but Clippard struck out Randal Grichuk to end the game.
CC Sabathia _ dominant, but something of an afterthought thanks to Carlos Martinez's crazy ride on the other side _ didn't allow a run until the eighth inning, while the Yankees managed the somewhat singular feat of scoring before ever having to put a ball in play.
The Cardinals' ace was mercurial at best, downright puzzling at worst. Martinez threw 58 pitches in the first inning, either dominating the strike zone or losing it altogether. He walked six in that span, and struck out three. After giving out free passes to Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks to start the game, he struck out the next two, only to walk Starlin Castro and Chase Headley to gift the Yankees their first run. He also had a wild pitch in that inning, and Yadier Molina was charged with a passed ball.
You'd think the Yankees would be piling it on with all that wildness, but not so. In the first five innings, they left 10 on base, and only cashed in after a sixth-inning misplay, then an error. Ronald Torreyes led off the inning with a blooper to left that looked eminently catchable, but instead fell between Randal Grichuk and Dexter Fowler, landing Torreyes on second. One batter later, Hicks hit a comebacker that was barehanded by Martinez, whose wild throw home sailed over Molina's head. Torreyes scored, Hicks landed on second, and Chris Carter gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead with a sharp single to left, ending Martinez's 118-pitch day. He threw 71 for balls but still managed to strike out 11.
He was the first pitcher in 14 years to walk at least eight hitters and strike out at least 11 in a game, according to ESPN. The last one was Randy Johnson.
Meanwhile, Sabathia breezed through the Cardinals' lineup, saving an overly-taxed Yankees bullpen that was working without an especially taxed Aroldis Chapman. He allowed one earned run on three hits over 71/3 innings, with a walk and six strikeouts. He was lifted for Adam Warren after losing the shutout on a solo home run by Jedd Gyorko.
