Last night the Twins got to CC Sabathia and although Sabathia's final line looks ok, he was not on all game. He battled and fought but when all was said and done the Twins had to be pleased with how they hit him. However, they did not do enough. The Yankees couldn't hit Liriano for the first 5 innings until the 6th when they erupted, capped off by a Granderson 2-run triple, knocking Liriano out. The game was 4-4 going to the 7th inning, both starters struggling but still keeping their team's in it, until Tex stepped to the plate. With Swish on first, Teixeira hit a mammoth blast, that just stayed fair, that gave the Yankees the lead 6-4, a lead they would not relinquish. a little bull pen mixing and matching and 4 outs from Mariano Rivera and the Yankees had won the game.
Tonight they repeated that performance with Andy Eugene Pettitte on the hill. Pettite was lights out. He looked the willy vet the Yankees expected him to be. He shrugged off the rust and gave the Yankees 7 quality innings of 2 run ball. The Yankees were struggling early to hit Pavano, but just as they did last night, they got to him late. Berkman hit a towering opposite field home run in the 5th and then in the 6th the Yankees had a 4 hit rally, again powered by Berkman, and Pavano was no more. A 4-2 lead for the Yankees after 6 (an insurance run in the 9th) and another Mariano save (should we stop counting his postseason saves already) and the Yankees leave Minnesota with a 2-0 lead in the series.
So what does this mean? Here are a few things I've learned from this series thus far:
- Minnesota was destined to lose this series from the beginning. The whole time they have been playing while looking in the rear view mirror. They are counting on the Yankees to comeback and look scared and anxious instead of trying to be the aggressor and capitalize on a chance to advance on a weak and struggling Yankee team. You cannot give a NYY team any confidence or any chance to get hot or you are done. Minnesota is playing scared and it has been that way the entire decade.
- Homefield advantage is meaningless. I don't know if it's just the Yankees or it's all of baseball, but I feel like a good team won't be stopped when it plays well. Minnesota had the lead in both games and the crowd was wild and they Yankees had no problem maintaining their poise and climbed right back. When they did, the crowd was silent. even a 4-2 lead and the Minn faithful were nowhere to be found. Maybe Minnesota fans were as scared as the team, maybe they aren't good fans, maybe the Yankees are too ready for the playoffs and the road is no different. I dunno, but what I do know is the Yankees would have no problem winning in Minnesota if somehow this thing goes 5.
- Baseball needs instant replay, early and often. Plain and simple. The game can be decided by a few plays here and there and it's ludicrous that the naked eye is determining the result of a game. It's one thing when it's the 5th inning of the 3rd regular season game, but the last out of a playoff game, come on. Greg Golson clearly caught the final out of the first game when Delmon Young hit a liner off Mariano. Golson reached out and made a shoestring catch that would have ended the game, but the Umps conferred and said, no catch. The replay clearly shows it was a catch, and had Thome hit a HR on the next pitch the entire series would have changed. It takes two seconds Bud, put an umpire in the press box with a walkie talkie and he calls the crew chief after a controversial call and clears it up in 1 minute flat. I'm sick of a game being determined by people who aren't playing. Armando lost a perfect game, the Yankees may lose a game. Let's fix this please?
- The new Yankees. Curtis Granderson, Lance Berkman, and Kerry Wood are new to don the pinstripes, but are not finding it hard to fit in during the postseason. Granderson has 4 hits already, 2 extra base hits, and Berkman hit a HR and a 2B tonight. Wood on the other had, was untouchable tonight in his 1-2-3 8th inning that made Yankee nation take a collective deep breath. We finally have a reliable 8th inning guy to hand it off to Mo.
- The bullpen. I already mentioned Wood, obviously we know about Mariano, and yesterday we saw good outings from Robertson and Logan. That doesn't even include Joba who has come on strong lately. Altogether the Yankee pen has thrown 5 innings without allowing a run. That's how you make sure you win two road playoff games.
- Andy Pettitte in the postseason. The question marks around this guy coming into this postseason were staggering. He missed 2 months and only returned for three games down the stretch. He allowed 10 runs in 13 innings in those 3 games, not instilling a lot of confidence in Yankee fans for the October run. However Andy did what he's done 18 times before, pick up the baseball in October and win the game. He now has 19 playoff wins (the most ever) and continues to dominate on the World's biggest stage. He never ceases to impress me and I feel very confident knowing we have a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation for the next series.
- The Yankee hitters are 7-21 with RISP, the Twins....0-10. You aren't gonna lose many games when the differential looks like that.
- Mariano Rivera now has 41 postseason saves and 32 of them have required him to pitch more than 1 inning. He is unbelievable. I have run out of superlatives for this guy. He has been around for 15 years throwing the same pitch and has been the best at it the game has ever seen. I would argue he is in the top 5 athletes of all time, think about it. How many people have dominated at their respective position for this long. Jordan? Woods? Federrer? Just something to mull over.
- That's the second straight game for the Yankees that everyone in the lineup reached base. Thames and Gardner had no hits the first night but did walk. Tonight only Posada did not get a hit, but he had the game's only walk. Good to see the Yankee lineup remains very cyclical with everyone able to contribute at all times.
No comments:
Post a Comment