Two Clutch Homers by Ibanez Lift Yankees Past Orioles

Yankees outfielder Raul Ibanez celebrates with his teammates after hitting his second homer of the game, a walk-off winner. (Alex Trautwig)

Playoff baseball has not disappointed this October. Tonight was no exception either. With the series tied at one game apiece, the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles had a crucial Game 3 to play tonight. With both team's pitching staffs playing well, one knew that runs would be at a premium.

On the mound for the Yankees was Hiroki Kuroda. He pitched very well, but Baltimore made him for his few mistakes. In the top of the third, second baseman Ryan Flaherty hit a solo home run to put the Orioles on the board first. With the score level again in the fifth inning, third baseman Manny Machado took Kuroda deep again for a solo shot. When all was said and done, those were the only two runs Kuroda gave up in 8 1/3 innings of work.

His counterpart, Miguel Gonzalez, had a quality start as well. The only trouble he ran into was in the bottom of the third. Yankees catcher Russell Martin doubled to deep left. The next batter, Eric Chavez, grounded out to first base, but the runner advanced to third. With a man on third base and two outs, legendary shortstop Derek Jeter stepped into the batter's box.

On a two ball, two strike count, Jeter tripled to deep center over the head of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones. This tied the score up 1-1 then. Gonzalez threw seven strong innings of one run ball. In the bottom of the eighth, Orioles reliever Darren O'Day successfully bridged the gap with a scoreless inning of work to protect their 2-1 lead.

This brought Orioles closer Jim Johnson into the game to try and record the final three outs. Yankees left fielder Ichiro Suzuki led off the frame with a liner to left field, but it was caught by Orioles left fielder Nate McLouth for the first out. Next up was supposed to be the scuffling and much maligned third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Instead, Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to pinch hit with outfielder Raul Ibanez. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Ibanez got a hold of the ball and deposited in the short porch in right field. That's all the scoring the Yankees got in the inning, but it was enough to send the game to extra innings tied 2-2.

The next time Ibanez came up to bat was to lead off the bottom of the 12 inning with the score still the same. The very first pitch he saw was crushed as the ball ended up in the right field bleachers once again. Ibanez had not only tied it in the ninth inning with a solo home run, but he won the game with one in the 12th.

The Yankees team couldn't be happier afterwards, including Rodriguez. Despite being the highest-paid player in baseball and one of the greatest power hitters of all-time, he was benched with the game on the line. However, there was no bitterness expressed by Rodriguez after the game. He told Girardi, "Joe, you gotta do exactly what you gotta do."

The Yankees gave it their all and played like a team tonight. They were rewarded with the win they deserved. Now, the Bronx Bombers are one win away from advancing to the ALCS. They will try and get the job done in Game 4, which is tomorrow night at 7:37 pm EST.