ALCS, Hmmm

Opponents are in trouble when the Big Man roars.

Due to extenuating circumstances I missed almost the entire game yesterday.  Caught a couple of innings on ESPN radio (so nice listening to Dave O'Brien and Orel Hershiser instead of Cornball and Screechy) and a 1/2 inning on TBS, but missed the last six innings. Just followed it up on my phone.

Some quick thoughts:

.Love how the same people who shred CC Sabathia, rip him about his weight, etc., when he has a bad outing, shower him with praise when he does well. CC's one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, a tic below the level of a pitcher like Verlander, but there aren't too many at either level.

He pitched a spectacular game and when the big man roars, as he did after getting out of an 8th inning jam, you know you are in good shape. It was a smart move by Joe Girardi to let him pitch the 9th.

.Curtis Granderson hit the baseball; that was no small feat the way he has been chasing pitches out of the strike zone and making no or weak contact. Hopefully he can go on a tear.

.It was one of the best series for Yankees pitching that I can remember. Perhaps it was a matter of two cold lineups running into each other, but the pitching was tremendous in the series and even more so for the Yankees since they blew no leads late.

.I wrote about it earlier today and I will say it again tonight. Nick Swisher needs to be benched, he brings nothing to the table, which in this case is the batter's box.

.Andy Pettitte pitching game one of a big series; seems like old times. Hopefully, Pettitte pitches like he did in the '09 post-season.

.Alex Rodriguez is hitting sixth in Game 1 against Tigers right-hander Doug Fister. Let's hope he finds some way to make contact, and decent contact. The Yankees need him.

That's it..let's go Yankees!

A-Rod Highest Paid Scrub in History

I'm not playing?

Joe Girardi has taken things one step further for today's ALDS Game 5 by benching Alex Rodriguez. If he were able to, Girardi might bench all but a couple of players for the decisive contest.

Rodriguez was fine with Girardi's choice to pinch Raul Ibanez for him in Game 3, but didn't feel the same way when Girardi again called on Ibanez to hit for his third baseman in extra innings. You can imagine how A-Rod must be feeling  now as he prepares to watch Eric Chavez start at third base and Ibanez at DH.

The Yankees, as a whole, are in a bad slump, but it's Rodriguez that has had a pair of goat ears firmly planted on him. Robinson Cano, who hit over .600 for the last week of the season is just 2-18 in the division series.  Curtis Granderson is 1-16 with 9 K's (apparently he has been inhabited by the ghost of the 2002-2003 Alfonso Soriano). Nick Swisher is 2-15 and has looked like a clown on a couple of plays in the outfield.  Ichiro Suzuki, in his first playoff series in 11 years, is 4-20.  Russell Martin has just three hits in 14 at-bats, but he did hit the go ahead home run in Game 1.

The only regulars worth their salt have been Derek Jeter (8-19) and Mark Teixeira (5-15), the latter of which came into this post-season with a poor track record as a Yankee.

The Yankees .216 team batting average is actually nearly 20 points higher than Baltimore's .197 mark. So while the Yankees pitchers have done their job, the Yankees offense has fallen well short of helping the effort.

The question that remains, besides who will win Game 5, is will Yankees blame A-Rod if the team loses, even he's riding the pines?

YCN: Girardi Must Discard Loyalty and Drop A-Rod in the Lineup: A Fan's Plea

After watching last night's 3-2 Yankees loss to the Orioles, I knew it was time to write up a piece on the need to drop Alex Rodriguez out of the 3 spot in the order.

I also had a good laugh this afternoon when WFAN's Mike Francesa said A-Rod has to bat third because no one is suited for it. Apparently he's never heard the name Robinson Cano.

But I have so click here to read what Joe Girardi should do for Game 3.

1 Inning Martin-izing Lifts Yankees

Photo courtesy of USA Today

There was the usual moaning, groaning, and grousing last night by Yankees' fans on Facebook, Twitter, and the more traditional bars and living rooms.

Why can't the Yankees get a hit with men on? Why are they bunting? Why are they..whatever?

When it came right down to it, the difference in the Yankees 7-2 ALDS Game 1 win over the Baltimore Orioles was the 2012 standby, the home run. It came off the bat of catcher Russell Martin, who hit a career high 21 home runs in the regular season, and ignited a five-run 9th inning that game the Yankees a 1-0 advantage in the best of five series.

It also made a winner of CC Sabathia, who pitched a stellar 8.2 innings to pick up his first post-season victory since Game 5 of the 2010 ALCS against Texas. Ironically, that game finished with a 7-2 score as well.

Sabathia had given up a pair of runs in the 3rd inning, but scattered eight hits and pitched out of any additional trouble he had on the night. He came within one out of a complete game, but his 120th pitch was a two-out double by Lew Ford in the 9th. That prompted Joe Girardi to call on David Robertson to close things out and the right-hander did just that when he blew a fastball past Ryan Flaherty for a third strike.

Both teams had shots to take the lead throughout the game, but the Yankees added to their woes with a couple of base running gaffes. Ichiro Suzuki followed Derek Jeter's game starting single with a gapper to left-center that scoring the Yankees captain for a quick 1-0 lead. With Alex Rodriguez at the plate, Ichiro felt he could steal off O's starter Jason Hammel, but didn't get a good jump and was easily gunned out by catcher Matt Wieters.

With two aboard in the 4th, Mark Teixeira ripped a line drive off the scoreboard in right to tie the game (2-2), but he then tried to stretch a single into a double. Presumably said attempt took place because Chris Davis, normally a corner infielder, was playing right field for the injured Nick Markakis. Teixeira would likely not have run on Markakis' arm, but was still easily thrown out at second base by Davis.

Buck Showalter elected to intentionally walk Curtis Granderson and it paid off when Hammel got Martin to fly out to end the inning.  The Orioles had a great chance to take the lead when they put runners on the corners against Sabathia in the 5th, but the lefty struck out Nate McLouth and got J.J. Hardy to bounce out. Sabathia also picked up his shortstop an inning later, after Jeter's error put two on with two outs, when he got Davis to fly out to center for the third out.

The Yankees finally took control in the 9th against Orioles closer Jim Johnson. After Martin's home run, Raul Ibanez singled through the right side and went to third on Jeter's hit-and-run single. Ichiro Suzuki then cued a ball that died in the grass near the first base line to score pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez for 4-2 advantage.

Alex Rodriguez continued to struggle and struck out for the third time on the night, but red-hot Robinson Cano delivered both base runners with a double to left. The Yankees added one more run on a Nick Swisher sacrifice fly against Tommy Hunter.

Notes

Game 2 will see Andy Pettitte on the mound in October for the first time since he allowed two runs over seven innings in a Game 3 loss to Texas in the ALCS two years ago. Cliff Lee and Neftali Feliz combined on  a shutout and the Yankees pen put the game out of reach when they allowed six  runs in the top of the 9th for an 8-0 final.  Overall, Pettitte is 19-10, 3.83 in 42 career post-season appearances, all starts. He'll be opposed by Wei-Yin Chen this evening.

Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira both know that for the Yankees to succeed they need to break out of the dual slump that has plagued them in post-season baseball in Pinstripes. Last night was a good start as both reached base three times (Swisher, 2 walks, 1 hit, Teixeira, 2 hits, 1 walk) and drove in a run each.

Many Yankees fans were not pleased that Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. was part of the TBS broadcast booth (along with Ernie Johnson and John Smoltz) last night and for the series. But the man who broke Lou Gehrig's iron man streak showed no bias, and it's absolutely ridiculous if anyone thinks his being part of the broadcast has an affect on the game.