My Thoughts After Game 2

Going into the ALDS my thought was that as long as the Yankees win one game in Baltimore, it's all good. Not that I didn't want to see the Yankees take both games, but the key was winning one of 'em. If that was the case I'd feel good about the rest of the series, which would take place at Yankee Stadium.

Well, the series is indeed knotted at one game a piece, and I do feel good about the Yanks chances of moving onto the ALCS. However, that doesn't mean I feel like it's in the bag.

The biggest issue is not a surprising one, as it led to the infamous #RISPFail hashtag on Twitter. The Yankees were 3-8 with RISP in game 1, and all three of those hits came in the 5-run 9th inning. And last night the Yankees were 2-8 with RISP, giving them a batting average of .154 for the series (outside of that 9th inning). Not that I think it's okay to toss out extraordinary circumstances just to make a point, but it's not as if this is a new concern.

The good news is that this is a team that can hit the ball. The Yankee offense had the 2nd highest WAR in the American League, behind the Angels... who didn't even make the playoffs. They were also tied with the Angels for the highest wRC+, and had the highest wOBA. So neither I nor anybody else should really be concerned about the Yankee bats.

Nor should we be concerned about the pitching. Yankee pitchers finished 4th in the AL in WAR (behind the Tigers, Rangers, and Rays), 5th in ERA (behind the Rays, Athletics, Mariners, and Tigers), and 5th in FIP (behind the Rays, Tigers, Athletics, and Rangers). I'm not saying it's a lockdown pitching staff, but going along with the top offense we shouldn't have to worry about them.

And I wish I could figure out where the Orioles got this magic potion that turned them into one of the luckiest teams of all time (if not the luckiest). I remember at least three ground balls last night that just missed the gloves of Yankee infielders, and that doesn't count the errors by Jeter and Teixeira... two sure-handed defenders (assuming Jeter gets to the ball, that is).

I see no reason why the Yankees should not move on to the next round, but I'm not going to start thinking about who I'd rather face... the Tigers or Athletics (not that it's a hard choice).

Division Series Schedule

MLB has announced the remainder of the schedule for the Division series so I will pass those along to you guys who are interested. A lot of the start times depend on the A's/Tigers and Reds/Giants series ending prematurely so keep that in mind. You have to fill those prime time TV slots I guess is what it is, always come down to money. Anyway here is the schedule and as always, Go Yankees!!

Game 3 : Wednesday 10/10/12 7:37 pm ET on TBS

UNLESS both the Tigers and Reds sweep tonight then the game gets pushed back to 8:37 pm ET on TBS

Game 4 : Thursday 10/11/12 7:37 pm ET on TBS

UNLESS the Tigers have clinched then the game is moved to 8:37 pm ET on TBS

Game 5 : Friday 10/12/12 5:07 pm ET on TBS

UNLESS the Yankees and Orioles are the only two teams still left then the game will be played at 7:07 pm ET on TBS

Everyone confused now? Good. 

Yankees Designate Cory Wade For Assignment

The Yankees needed to activate Dellin Betances from the 60 day DL in order to send him down to the Arizona Fall League so the Yankees had to make a roster move. That roster move was parting ways with Cory Wade after they designated him for assignment this afternoon. I fully expect him to clear waivers at this point in the season so it will be up to him whether he wants to stay with us and be outrighted or test free agency. After a less then stellar season I would not bet he tests the free agent market, just a hunch.

ALDS Game 2: Yankees @ Orioles

Yankees lose 3-2

The Yankees pulled off a huge win last night with a big 9th inning and 8.2 IP by CC Sabathia to take a 1-0 series lead over the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead tonight when the Yankees once again invade Camden Yards. The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte to the mound and he will be facing off against Wei Yin Chen. The game will be televised at 8:00 pm ET on TBS.

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Russell Martin C
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez DH

Go Yankees!!

#27andCounting

World Series Magic Number

10 more wins for the ultimate goal in baseball!!

Pettitte Returning in 2013?

Andy Pettitte only threw 129 innings in 2010, and didn't throw a single pitch in 2011. So there was no way I would have bet he'd return to the team in 2013, even after a batted ball broke his leg back in June. I'm not saying I would have been surprised to see him return in 2013, but he's already sat out a year and is 40 years old, so I couldn't have expected him to be a Yankee once again next season. But what he said recently makes me think otherwise...

“I know one thing: I know the competition and the desire to compete is still there, and I don’t feel like I kind of got that itch out from the 70 innings or so that I threw this year.”

Of course, we have to take into account that it's the postseason, and everybody's blood is flowing a bit more than normal. So you can't take what they say as gospel, since a little rest at the end of the season can make one think, "yeah, I've had about enough, time to settle down". Especially if the Yankees are able to win the World Series this year, and Andy is a big part of that. But it's nice to know that Andy still has that passion and drive

My Thoughts on Game 1

"Maybe I'm nuts, but if CC gets out of this I say the Yankees win."

I sent out that tweet (the quoted part, not the picture... I'm not that funny) when there were two outs in the bottom of the 8th. JJ Hardy had led off the inning with a double down the right field line, followed up by Adam Jones striking out and Matt Wieters popping out to Mark Teixeira in foul territory. The crowd at Camden Yards was going nuts, and I felt that not scoring at that time would not only deflate the fans, but would deflate the team. 

I hadn't thought about when the Yankees would win it, but looking back at what Jim Johnson had done this year, I would have said it would happen in extra innings. During the 2012 season Johnson had pitched against the Yankees in 7 games, totaling 7 innings, only giving up 1 run. Jimmy had a 2.49 ERA and 1.019 WHIP against everybody in 2012, so looking back I wouldn't have thought the Yankees could score off of him. 

Why? Well... the Yankees had a chance to take the lead in the 4th inning, but squandered it in part thanks to Teixeira getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double (I still haven't seen the replay, so I don't know if Tex was lollygagging it out of the box on his hit, but I would think he could have gotten to 2B standing up if he'd been running hard right away). Russell Martin, after an intentional walk to Curtis Granderson, flew out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Later, Granderson couldn't get a hit in the 6th inning, leaving Swisher and Tex at 2nd and 3rd. After back-to-back walks to open up 7th inning, Jeter was out on a sac bunt, Ichiro hit a ground ball to 2B in which Martin was thrown out at home trying to score on a "run on contact" play, and finally ARod struck out (which he did again in the 8th inning, for a total of 3 whiffs in the game). The Yankees could have had this game wrapped up long before they exploded in the 9th inning, but they had to test the strength of my heart once again.

As for the run prevention part of the game, Sabathia wasn't at his best. His slider wasn't as sharp as we've seen it in the past, and his fastball didn't have the same velocity we'd seen in his last couple of starts of the regular season. But CC is CC, and he was able to battle for 8.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 8 hits, and walking only 1 against 7 strikeouts. That is the making of an "ace", folks... pitching really well even without your best stuff. Heck, anybody can pitch a good game when they're dealing, it's when they reach back and don't quite have it that shows their true colors.

Russell Martin also came up really big late in the game with some huge blocks. I can't find his tweet, but one beat writer for the Yankees said that if Jesus Montero was catching for the Yankees in that game then the Orioles would have scored at least 1 run in the 8th inning. Yeah, but then again maybe Montero would have been able to come up with a hit earlier in the game so the team already had the lead. But why get into that whole ordeal again?

Oh, and Russ had that home run that went from huge to not meaning much in the 9th inning.

In all, I'm psyched that the Yankees will go into Yankee Stadium on Wednesday with at least one win. But how about we win tonight anyway?

ALDS Game 1: Yankees @ Orioles

Update:

Game time in Baltimore!! 2 hr 40 min rain delay.

Ichiro RBI double in the 1st and its 1-0 Yankees early

Mark Teixeira RBI single ties it up 2-2

Russell Martin go ahead home run in the 9th makes it 3-2 Yankees

Ichiro single makes it 4-2 Yankees

Robinson Cano 2 run double makes it 6-2 Yankees

Yankees win 7-2

The Yankees and the Orioles will meet in the playoffs for the first time since the Jeffrey Maier game way way back in 1996. A lot has changed since that game in 1996 including 5 Yankees World Series, that rookie kid named Derek Jeter who hit the home run flourished into a major league ball player chasing Pete Rose to be the all time hits king, the Yankees have spent more money then the Obama administration (but actually has more to show for it believe it or not), etc etc etc. Throw out all your stats, your matchups, everything because the Orioles have defied them all the entire season. The Yankees will send their ace and work horse CC Sabathia to the mound to try and take the all important game 1 and will be facing off against Jason Hammell. The game will be televised at 6:00 pm ET on TBS.

Lineups

Yankees
Derek Jeter - 6
Ichiro Suzuki - 7
Alex Rodriguez - 6
Robinson Cano - 5
Nick Swisher - 9
Mark Teixeira - 3
Curtis Granderson - 8
Russell Martin - 2
Raul Ibanez - DH

Orioles
Nate McLouth -7
JJ Hardy - 6
Adam Jones - 8
Matt Wieters - 2
Mark Reynolds -3
Manny Machado - 5
Chris Davis - 9
Lew Ford - DH
Robert Andino - 4

Go Yankees!!

#27andCounting

Brett Gardner NOT Starting Over Ichiro

EDIT: Apparently somebody read the lineup card incorrectly, as Ichiro is batting 2nd and playing LF.

------------

What?!?!

Brett Gardner is starting in LF over Ichiro tonight, and will bat 9th. Not that it's a large sample size, but Ichiro is 7-12 against Hammel, so it's believed that Suzuki may be hurting. Clearly it's not enough to have kept him off the ALDS roster, so maybe we shouldn't worry.

ALDS Roster

Although it wasn't a surprise, as there weren't a ton of other options, the ALDS roster is exactly what I thought it would be. Well, after I learned that Jayson Nix would be healthy.

ROTATION
CC Sabathia
Andy Pettitte
Hiroki Kuroda
Phil Hughes

BULLPEN
Rafael Soriano
Dave Robertson
Boone Logan
Joba Chamberlain
Clay Rapada
David Phelps
Derek Lowe

CATCHERS
Russell Martin
Chris Stewart

INFIELDERS
Mark Teixeira
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Eric Chavez
Eduardo Nunez
Jayson Nix

OUTFIELDERS
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Ichiro Suzuki
Raul Ibanez
Brett Gardner