They can beat opponents in a variety of ways, which is why they have won 37 of their last 48 games against the Rangers. We try to think in an aggressive way. The Yankees put runners at second and third with one out in the seventh inning for cleanup hitter Bernie Williams. In a meeting on the mound, starter Rick Helling, catcher Bill Haselman and pitching coach Dick Bosman agreed Johnson was unlikely to run from second and risk taking away an RBI chance from Williams. Helling looked only once to hold Johnson before pitching to Williams.
Pitchers mix up how many times they look to second to keep the runner off-balance.
Johnson read Helling's pattern and stole third. He's going to score from second if Bernie gets a hit. The steal allowed Johnson to score from third on Williams' out. Williams stumbled out of the box, but the Rangers could not turn an inning-ending double play on his grounder. The Yankees took their aggressiveness to an extreme in the eighth, when catcher Jorge Posada stole third with two outs.