ALDS Game 2 Thread: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians

Need something to do on your commute home on this beautiful Friday afternoon? Turn on the radio and follow along with Game 2 of the American League Division Series because it starts here in just a few minutes. That’s one thing I am not a huge fan of in the early rounds of the postseason, these weird and earlier than normal start times, but it’s the playoffs and the Yankees are in them so I guess I can’t complain too awful much. In the contest tonight the Yankees will send CC Sabathia who will look to slow down the Indians offense while Cleveland will counter with their ace and savior Corey Kluber. The game will be played at 5:00 pm ET inside Progressive Field and can be seen on MLB Network. You can also follow along on the radio by tuning into either the WFAN broadcast with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman or by tuning into ESPN Radio.

Follow us on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes and enjoy the game. Need a playoff and ALDS win, get a playoff and ALDS win before heading back home to the Bronx. Go Yankees!

Prediction: Yankees win 4-3

The Indians Offense Against CC Sabathia

The Cleveland Indians drafted CC Sabathia before trading him to the Milwaukee Brewers in the midst of a playoff run. CC finished his tenure with Milwaukee and promptly took the team off his back before heading back to the American League and to the New York Yankees via free agency where he has been since the 2009 season. That has given these Cleveland Indians hitters ample time and opportunity to see what the Yankees big left-hander has and here is that particular stat line. Shout out to ESPN for the stats and the picture below.

Can CC limit the damage and keep the Yankees close in the latter innings of the contest or will the Indians offense be too much for New York’s veteran southpaw? Over/under Sabathia giving up three runs tonight inside Progressive Field. Leave your thoughts and comments below in the comments section or mention us on twitter by tweeting @GreedyStripes. 

The Yankees Offense Against Corey Kluber

Boy this isn’t going to be pretty. What has the New York Yankees offense done against Corey Kluber throughout their careers? Without even looking at the stats I can tell you that it probably will not be pretty, but let’s take a look nonetheless. Shout out to ESPN.com for the stat lines and the photo below.

What do you think the over/under is for tonight’s contest as far as runs scored against Kluber is? Over/under two runs…. Leave your answers below in the comments section or mention us on twitter by following @Greedystripes. 

ALDS Game 2 Preview: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians

Two days in a row the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians will face off inside Progressive Field as a part of the American League Division Series. Last night we watched as Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray faced off head-to-head and later this evening we will watch as CC Sabathia takes the ball for the Yankees and Corey Kluber takes the ball for the Indians. Home field advantage, aces and veteran pitchers on the mound. Let’s get to it here in Cleveland.

Sabathia will face off against the team that drafted him into professional baseball tonight at the ripe old age of 37-years old. Sabathia will not blow these Cleveland Indians hitters away, he hasn’t blown anyone away all season long, and instead will have to rely on command and control of all his pitches in order to win tonight for the Yankees.

Kluber had yet another AL Cy Young Award caliber season here in 2017 leading the Major Leagues in ERA with a 2.25 ERA. Kluber has been especially good since June 1 posting a 15-2 record with a 1.62 ERA and 224 strikeouts in just 166.1 innings pitched. Pure dominance.

The game will be played at 5:00 pm ET inside Progressive Field in Cleveland and can be seen on MLB Network. You can also follow along in your cars and on the radio on your commute home from work by tuning into either WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman or ESPN Radio. Need a win, get an ALDS win. Go Yankees!

Befuddled in Cleveland...

Credit:  Jason Miller-Getty Images

American League Division Series, Game 1

Indians 4, Yankees 0...

Aaron Judge, four strikeouts. That pretty much sums up how it went in Cleveland on Thursday night as the Yankees dropped the first game of the ALDS to the Indians. Their inability to figure out Trevor Bauer does not bode well for tonight when they face likely AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber.

While Bauer was making mincemeat out of the Yankee bats, the Indians got to Sonny Gray early. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Jay Bruce got the party started for the Indians with a double off the left field wall against Yankees starter Sonny Gray. Carlos Santana followed with a single to center to put runners at the corners. Lonnie Chisenhall was hit by a pitch on his upper arm to load the bases. Gray was able to limit the damage when Roberto Perez hit into a double play at short, but Bruce came home on the play for Cleveland's first run.  Giovanny Urshela flied out to right so Gray escaped a huge jam with minimal damage. Unfortunately, the way Bauer was pitching, the one run deficit felt like the Grand Canyon.

The Indians struck again in the bottom of the 4th. Edwin Encarnacion started the inning with a walk. Jay Bruce, a rumored trade target for the Yankees prior to the trading deadline, came back to haunt his near-employer when he blasted a shot into the right field stands. The Indians had increased their lead to 3-0.

Credit:  Phil Masturzo-Akron Beacon Journal/TNS

Gray walked two of the next three batters to end his night. Adam Warren entered the game and gave up a single to center to load the bases with only one out, but he then struck out the dangerous Francisco Lindor and got Jason Kipnis to fly out to center to escape without any further damage.

Credit:  Jason Miller-Getty Images

Meanwhile, with Trevor Bauer still pitching a no-hitter against the Yankees, the Indians got another run in the next inning. Jose Ramirez started it for the Tribe with a single up the middle on a ball that just got by a diving Didi Gregorius. While Edwin Encarnacion was at bat, a wild pitch, a ball in the dirt that Gary Sanchez dropped in front of him, advanced Ramirez to second. Encarnacion flied out to left in foul territory for the first out, and Manager Joe Girardi made the call to the bullpen, bringing in Jaime Garcia to replace Warren. With Jay Bruce batting, another wild pitch, another ball in the dirt that hit Sanchez in the chest and bounced away, allowed Ramirez to take third. Bruce took advantage of the wild pitches to loft a fly to center, scoring Ramirez on the sacrifice. 4-0, Indians.

In the top of the 6th inning, Chase Headley struck out and the Yankees were still searching for their first hit. Aaron Hicks ended the potential no-no when he doubled to left off the wall. Bauer received a very nice ovation from the crowd. The Yankees couldn't do anything with Hicks at second but at least they had finally gotten their first hit on the board.

The Yankees added another hit in the 7th. After Bauer had retired the first two batters, Starlin Castro singled on a grounder to right field. The Indians dipped into their bullpen, bringing former Yankees reliever Andrew Miller into the game to face Greg Bird. The fear when you trade great players is that they'll one day come back to bite you. Miller was no different with his strikeout of Bird to end the inning.

Despite two strikeouts by Miller in the top of the 8th, the Yankees had two baserunners, courtesy of walks. With Aaron Judge coming to the plate representing an ability to make it a one-run game, Cleveland called on its closer, Cody Allen. Allen proceeded to strike out Judge in the huge spot to end the inning.

In perhaps the lone bright spot for the Yankees, Dellin Betances pitched the bottom of the 8th inning and struck out the side on eleven pitches. It's a good sign to see Dellin pitching so well even if the odds are against the Yankees in this series.

Credit:  Charles Wenzelberg-NY Post

The Yankees had no answer for Allen in the top of the 9th despite Starlin Castro's second hit of the night (and only the third Yankee hit of the game), a single to right with two outs. Allen struck out Greg Bird on three pitches to end the game and hand the overwhelming advantage in the series to the Tribe.

Credit:  Getty Images

It's hard to find positives in a loss but this could have been a blow out and the Yankees kept the Tribe from any big innings. I've been down on Jaime Garcia but he did a nice job with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. A few timely hits and the Yankees could have gotten back into this one. The team needs to regroup and hopefully find a way to get their hits tonight against Corey Kluber in Game 2. They have not fared well against Kluber but clearly the team has the potential to take advantage of mistakes. Everyone can have an off night (see Sonny Gray) and the Yankees need to exploit any opportunities they are given. I am sure that the Houston Astros didn't expect to get seven runs off Chris Sale yesterday, including two home runs (three overall) by Jose Altuve. CC Sabathia, pitching this evening in his original MLB city, has been the Yankees' stopper all season. He'll be asked to step into that role once again. It would be huge if the Yankees could earn a split at Progressive Field before heading back to the Bronx.

Odds & Ends...

The Houston Astros defeated the Boston Red Sox, 8-2, to take the first game of their series. As noted above, it was a night to forget for Chris Sale. When the Astros acquired Justin Verlander in August, it was clearly a move designed for October. He didn't disappoint, holding the Red Sox to two runs over six innings. No disrespect for Sonny Gray (or Yu Darvish of the Dodgers), but I thought Verlander was the most significant pitching acquisition of the summer.

Credit:  Karen Warren-Houston Chronicle

All of the playoff teams will be in action today with the first game (Red Sox-Astros) starting at 2:05 pm ET. I hate to go against the Yankees but I think today's winners will be the home teams (Indians, Astros, Dodgers and Nationals). I would love for the Yankees to prove me wrong.

Have a great Friday! Let's steal a win from Kluber. Go Yankees!

So it Seems… Work Got Busy

Good morning everyone and Happy Friday. Another late night of watching baseball last night but it’s all worth it, it’s the playoffs! This time next week for all we know the Yankees could be home for the long winter ahead so enjoy every second of it while we can is what I always say. My apologies in advance though if my enthusiasm isn’t shown on the blog over the next few days to a week, work got busy. As many of you know I do the vast majority of my writing at work and when work gets busy the blog seems to suffer for it. I apologize for that but things just are what they are sometimes unfortunately and there is very little that you can do to change it. Please stick with me.

I hope everyone has a great Friday and an even better weekend. Yankees are back on television tonight so prepare for another roller coaster of emotions from the boys in pinstripes.

AND HEY YOU. I love you Kari Ann Burch. To the moon and back. Always have, always will.

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/6: Midges Attack

The New York Yankees made the postseason once again in 2007 extending the team's consecutive streak of making the playoffs to 13 straight seasons as they drew the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. On this day in 2007 the Yankees and Indians played in Game 2 of the ALDS at Jacobs Field in a game that the Yankees had in hand before the eight inning. Joba Chamberlain came in to try and hold the lead and hand the ball to Mariano Rivera but a rare infestation of insects, or midges, appeared and took over the pitchers mound and the field. Joba threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score in Joba's first blown save of the season.

Also on this day in 2005 the Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi won the American League Comeback Player of the Year award. Ken Griffey Jr. won the award for the National League in the first time that the award was given out by the fans vote on MLB.com. Giambi finished the season with a .271 average with 32 home runs and 87 RBI.

Also on this day in 1995 Bernie Williams set one of his many records in postseason history as he became the first player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same postseason game. The Mariners fan who caught the eight inning blast was unaware of the milestone and foolishly threw the ball back onto the field.

Finally on this day in 1985 the Yankees Phil Niekro became the 18th and oldest player in major league history to win 300 games when he shut out the Toronto Blue Jays on the final game of the season. Niekro was 46 years old and 188 days and would ultimately finish with 318 victories.

ALDS Game 1 Thread: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians

Ladies and gentleman it is game time once again in the 2017 postseason as the New York Yankees have made the trip out to Cleveland and Progressive Field to take on baseball’s best team in the Cleveland Indians. The pleasantries are over and the Yankees are presumably done asking former teammates like Andrew Miller and Nick Goody how they’ve been and now it’s time for baseball. In the opener of this best-of-five American League Division Series the New York Yankees will send Sonny Gray to the mound to face off with Trevor Bauer for the Indians. The game will be played at 7:30 pm ET inside Progressive Field and can be seen on FOX Sports One. You can also follow along in your cars and on the radio by tuning into either WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman or you can also tune into ESPN Radio if you’re a glutton for punishment.

Follow us on Twitter to interact with us during the game, for the entire postseason, the offseason or whenever because we aren’t going anywhere and the rumors of our demise were a bit presumptuous and premature. We’re here as long as the Yankees are so need a win? Get a win! Then get two more. Go Yankees!!

Prediction: Yankees win 4-3

Article Revisit: Why I’m Not Afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the Postseason

With tonight’s start to the American League Division Series just a couple hours away I feel this urge to “put up or shut up” after posting this article we are about to revisit just three weeks ago. The article was titles “Why I’m not afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the postseason” and boy was it a popular one for us here on the blog. Whether the view count, tweet mentions and comments made the article “famous” or infamous remains to be seen but I felt compelled either way to post it again before the New York Yankees begin their quest to make me look like a wizard, a Messiah and a God by basically calling the upset here in the ALDS. I mean, I guess the team could make me look like a complete homer and a fool as well but since the Yankees are expected to lose and come in as huge underdogs I see this as a no-lose situation for me anyway…. So enjoy the article revisit and get pumped for the start of the ALDS tonight inside Cleveland’s Progressive Field.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Why I’m Not Afraid of the Cleveland Indians in the Postseason

The Cleveland Indians are one of, if not the best team in Major League Baseball here in 2017 but you know what? If the New York Yankees and the Indians meet in the playoffs here this season I am not at all worried and here is why.

They call the playoffs baseball’s second season for a reason, what you did in the regular season and $15 will get you a beer at Yankee Stadium. It means little to nothing and I personally, as a fan, refuse to be psyched out or taken off my game because the Indians won their division, won 21 games in a row, etc. etc. etc. I’m not scared. The playoffs are usually won by the hottest team at the time and aren’t always won by necessarily the best team. That’s the great thing about baseball, any team can beat any pitcher and any opposing team on any given night. You can’t predict baseball so you can’t necessarily predict that the Indians will be the hottest team when the calendar changes to October. Hell you can’t predict that the Indians will be the hottest team tonight or this weekend, they could go on a slide much like the Los Angeles Dodgers have of late. You just don’t know and I’m not that scared of them to be honest. None of this is to disrespect the Indians, their team or what they have done this season either. They are a great team and they are playing extremely well, much respect to all, but respect and fear are two entirely different things.

The New York Yankees are built for short series and the postseason. The team is young, energetic and overall healthy at this point in the season when most teams cannot say the same here in September. The pitching has been fantastic, the bullpen has the potential to be absolutely and completely dominant when on and used properly and the offense can hang a crooked number on the scoreboard at any given inning. Again, not to say that the Yankees are better than the Indians or that Cleveland cannot do the same because they can. I am merely saying that I have confidence in this group of Yankees players and the team. Again, I am not saying the Yankees will necessarily reach the ALDS or ALCS (more than likely the ALDS though if New York does not win their division) and meet Cleveland, I am just saying IF they do I am not worried. I think New York can stand and throw punches with the best of teams in baseball this season and at the end of the day, win lose or draw, whoever they are facing will know that they were in a fight for their lives.

How did the 2002 Oakland Athletics fare in the postseason, the last team to win 20 games in a row in a season, you ask? After winning 103 games and after having both the AL MVP (Miguel Tejada) and AL Cy Young Award Winner (Barry Zito) the team lost in five games to the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series. 

ALDS Schedule, Pitching Matchups and Television Schedule

The American League Division Series is set to kick off here in a few hours between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, be sure to check back with the blog for the game and game thread tonight. Also make sure to bookmark this post as this post will be constantly updated with the schedule of all five potential games, the pitching matchups and what channel each game can be seen on. Enjoy as the Yankees look to take down David, Goliath style.

Game 1, Thursday, Oct. 5

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians, 7:30 p.m. ET (Fox Sports 1)

Sonny Gray at Trevor Bauer (17-9)

Game 2, Friday, Oct. 6

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians, 5:00 p.m. ET (MLB Network)

CC Sabathia at Corey Kluber (18-4)

Game 3, Sunday, Oct. 8

Cleveland Indians @ New York Yankees, TBA (Fox Sports 1)

Carlos Carrasco (18-6) at TBA

Game 4, Monday, Oct. 9 (if necessary)

Cleveland Indians@ New York Yankees, TBA (Fox Sports 1)

Josh Tomlin (10-9) at TBA

Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 11 (if necessary)

New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians, TBA (Fox Sports 1)

TBA at Corey Kluber (18-4)