Grant Balfour was angry. He had just given up a broken-bat single to Brett Gardner and thrown a wild pitch to Robinson Cano, moving the potential tying run to second base with two outs in the ninth inning. Oakland manager Bob Melvin called for an intentional walk. "I don't make the decisions. He felt that that was the decision to make. That's not really for me to answer on this stuff," the Athletics closer said. Up came Vernon Wells, 6 for 12 with two homers and two doubles against Balfour in his career. Balfour fell behind 2-1 in the count, got two foul balls, then got Wells to swing over a 92 mph fastball, saving Oakland's 5-4 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday.
