Game 1, and what a game it was...

The Yankees showed a lot of grit tonight and reminded the world and especially the Texas Rangers, "uh...we're still here. We're still the defending champs". For the second straight series opener CC Sabathia didn't have it and the opposing team jumped on him early and often. And for the second straight series opener the Yankees found a way to comeback and claw away and win the game.

Tonight the Yankees were completely baffled by the starting pitching of CJ Wilson and it looked like it was gonna be a LOOOOOONG game. He was absolutely dominant in the first 6 innings, not allowing but 1 hit to a right handed batter, keeping the 1-4 hitters 0-12, and shutting the Yankees down with 0 runs through 6. With a 5-0 lead he took the mound in the 7th and Cano hit a solo shot. Not really making a huge dent in the scoreboard but psychologically it was huge for the Yankees. In the 8th, the Yankees went wild. Gardner let off with an infield hit, a tremendous effort to beat out a groundball and turning an out into an inning starter. He dove and just beat it out, despite getting his hand stepped on, which provided the spark for the Yankee O. Jeter followed with an RBI double, knocking out CJ. Swish and Tex followed with walks off Oliver. Bases loaded for Arod and finally the Centaur delivered, a clutch rocket single that ate Michael Young up and scored 2. Cano singled and Thames singled and before you knew it, the Yankees were up 6-5.

In the bottom of the 8th Kerry Wood came in and walked Kinsler on 4 pitches. An absolutely mammoth mistake by Kinsler to get picked off by Wood which changed the entire inning. Wood had thrown 6 balls in 7 pitches and had no command. Kinsler delivered him an out on a silver plate and allowed Wood to settle in and finish the inning without trouble. In the 9th, Mariano was Mariano and despite a leadoff single, navigated the Yankees to a game 1 victory and his 42 career postseason save.

When a team wins 6-5 and comes back from a 5-0 nothing defecit, there are always some huge plays to the game. My list of game changing plays:

• Nelson Cruz gets gunned down at home with 2 outs in the first inning. With the bases loaded and CC struggling mightily, a wild pitch took place and Cruz tried to score but got gunned out as CC applied a swipe tag. CC had thrown 37 pitches and 22 of them were balls. He allowed 6 base runners and 3 runs and had only recorded 2 outs, a pop out and a DEEP fly ball. His command was terrible and he literally could have lost the game at that moment. That play allowed him to get off the mound and somewhat settle down in order to give the Yankees 4 innings. Although CC didn't have a good game at all, it could have been far worse if Cruz was safe.
• Cano's solo HR. I know I mentioned it earlier, but it was a huge boost for the Yankees to know that a comeback was possible. Someone has to start the momentum train and Cano was the guy.
• Gardner's infield hit. Again, down 5-1 someone needed to give the Yankees that spark to comeback. Gardner showed some serious hustle and gave the Yankees the feeling of comeback. Aside from the grit, it was also just a tremendously skilled play, I've never seen a slide to first I thought was beneficial, this was absolutely a good thing. Also man does that dude have wheels.
• The entire 8th inning string of hits. Of course the Yankees don't win without Jeter, Swish, Tex, Arod, Cano, and Thames all getting on in the 8th, so kudos to those guys for being warriors.
• Wood picking off Kinsler. A huge play in allowing Wood to mentally get through that inning and once the 8th was over, a huge sigh from Yankee fans and a huge grunt from Ranger fans knowing Mariano was coming in for the 9th. The real question is, how do you allow yourself to get picked off there. A huge mistake for Ian and something that separates the good teams from the bad.
• Swish failing to bunt. I know the Yankees won and this will be forgotten, but not for me. 6-5 in the top of the 9th and you know Mariano is coming in, you don't need a 10 run inning, just one insurance run. After Jeter doubles the Yankees wanted to get that run in with a little small ball. I like the move but Swish you gotta get that ball down. All the same, Girardi should have gone to Golson anyways since he was going to pull Swish defensively anyways. Golson is used to bunting and adds the element of speed. Could have been very costly.

I think this game is one that will hurt the Rangers in the rest of this series. Their bull pen cannot match the Yankee hitters and if their starters cannot go complete then they will face a struggle deep in games. The Yankees have exerted that same dominance both physically and mentally against the Rangers as they did vs the Twins. No matter what the score or the situation, the Yankees will be there. The Rangers hit Sabathia and extremely well and still couldn't find a way to win, up 5!, at home! No excuse for a team that's trying to be the best. You don't squander games like this and I think this will loom large.


The last Yankee 5 run comeback in the 7th or later?

You guess it, Texas 2 months ago. This game also looked eerily reminiscent of the August 11th Yankees vs Rangers game. Texas was up 6-1 with Lee looking dominant on the hill. another 5 run deficit with a great lefty pitching. Yankees hit the starter late and then hit the bullpen and got a 7-6 lead. In comes Mo and down goes Texas. The Yankees always find ways to win games and the playoffs are no exception. They have dealt with the pressure of October and Texas has not. The series should be rough for the Rangers, especially if they cannot finish games like this one.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, it's game 1 of the ALCS and it's not the final game of the World Series. More baseball to come and more vs Texas. But the Yankees had games like this vs the Angels and they will showed some serious grit this year and last. Hopefully they maintain their high level of postseason play and get a win tomorrow and go home up 2-0.

For tonight, let's celebrate! Go Yankees!!