It's been three long years since the Yankees have faced an elimination playoff game. Three years is long enough for the team to build a new stadium, destroy its old one, lose its owner and its voice and turn over the majority of its roster. It's certainly long enough to forget what it's like to have your whole season resting on one game, but over the last two nights at the Stadium, we got a taste.
As the Rangers went to work on the Yankees bullpen, destorying what little hopes there were of mounting a comeback, fans poured out of the exits like the Stadium was on fire. That sign of resignation is something you don't see very often in postseason baseball, much less two nights in a row in the damn Bronx. For a fanbase who isn't afraid to tout themselves as the best and most dedicated in the world to turn their backs on the team like that speaks volumes.
But today is a new day, and the Yankees are trotting out their best pitcher. No bullets will be left in the chamber. The best the Bombers can do is to avoid the indignity of losing the fourth straight game of this series in front of their home crowd and jump a plane bound for DFW later tonight. It ain't much, but it's all we got.
Down but not out.
Then I began to fall so low, Lost all my good friends, I did not have nowhere to go. I get my hands on a dollar again, I'm gonna hang on to it till that eagle grins.
'Cause no, no, nobody knows you When you're down and out. In your pocket, not one penny, And as for friends, you don't have any.
When you finally get back up on your feet again, Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend. Said it's mighty strange, without a doubt, Nobody knows you when you're down and out.
-Lineups-
Yankees: The Big Puma will replace Mark Teixeira at first base while Marcus Thames will DH against the lefty Wilson.
Derek Jeter SS Nick Swisher RF Robinson Cano 2B Alex Rodriguez 3B Marcus Thames DH Lance Berkman 1B Jorge Posada C Curtis Granderson CF Brett Gardner LF
CC Sabathia LHP
Rangers:
Elvis Andrus, SS Michael Young, 3B Josh Hamilton, CF Vladimir Guerrero, DH Nelson Cruz, LF Ian Kinsler, 2B Jeff Francoeur, RF Matt Treanor, C Mitch Moreland 1B
Being a Yankee fan this week has been a lot like being a football fan. After dispensing with the Twins by completing a three game ALDS sweep last Saturday night, we've been left with an interminable wait for tonight's ALCS Game One. In the interim, the mainstream media - both local and national - and the blogosphere have filled the football-like week long gap between games with football-like coverage. That is, there hasn't been nearly enough legitimate news to cover six news cycles, so every little tidbit of information has been overly dissected.
As the Yankees return to the field tonight after five days off, perhaps the football connections are appropriate. Fall is upon us. And when C.J. Wilson's first pitch kicks off the 2010 American League Championship Series, it'll be on a Friday night, under the lights, in Texas, where Friday night high school football is akin to religion.
Back here in the tri-state area though, baseball is the predominant sports obsession, and we'll get our fix tonight as the Yanks and Rangers play Game One of the ALCS, featuring a pitching rematch from game one of their regular season series. CC got the better of C.J. in that match-up of initialed southpaws, but Mother Nature got the best of them both, as rain stopped the game after six innings, with the Yankees taking home a 5-1 win. Sabathia wouldn't face the Rangers again during the regular season; Wilson would face the Yanks twice more and fail to record a decision in the two Texas victories.
As Moshe pointed out at TYU last night, there's some irrational pessimism plaguing many Yankee fans currently, as many are assuming that Cliff Lee's two starts and A.J. Burnett's one start essentially guarantee three Texas victories. In that line of thinking, it becomes critical that the Yankees win all four remaining games to ensure a series victory. I certainly don't subscribe to those theories, but with their ace on the mound tonight, it is important for the Yankees to get off to a good start.
(By the way, while Lee does appear to be some sort of post-season savant in the way guys like Mo and Pettitte are, it doesn't mean he's untouchable. He went through quite a rough patch following his trade to Texas. The Yankee offense is good enough to put runs on the board against anyone. And Lee is matched up against certified Big Game Pitcher Andy Pettitte. It may be an uphill battle, but it's certainly not insurmountable. As for Burnett, however unlikely, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility that he might actually pitch well. Even if he doesn't, he's matched up against Tommy Hunter, who the Yankees might easily knock around the yard. But what do I know, I'm the same guy who foolishly suggested that the Rangers should part ways with Ron Washington last spring).
So the waiting is nearly over. No more talk of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira (and Marcus Thames for that matter) returning to Texas as if they've never been back since being traded away. No more talk of the largest payroll disparity in post-season history (funny how people forget that the Yankees and the rest of MLB subsidized the bankrupt Rangers mid-season acquisitions of Bengie Molina, Lee, Jorge Cantu, Christian Guzman, and Jeff Francoeur). No more worrying about Burnett and Lee in later games. Tonight it's just about Game One, and Sabathia and Wilson under the Friday night lights of Texas.
I'll leave you with one final thought: The Minnesota Twins began life as the Washington Senators in 1901. They entered the 2010 ALDS with a nine game post-season losing streak against the Yankees. The Yankees swept them to keep the streak alive. The Texas Rangers began life as the Washington Senators in 1961. They enter the 2010 ALCS with a nine game post-season losing streak against the Yankees. I don't think that means anything, but I hope history repeats itself.
So, in honor of this Friday night in Texas, here is quite possibly the lamest song choice in Fack Youk preview history. It's the theme song from the TV show that stars Derek Jeter's special lady friend:
-Lineups-
Yankees: It's the standard lineup vs LHP, with Marcus Thames as the DH, Swisher in the two spot and Granderson batting eighth. There was some speculation that Austin Kearns, who has hit Wilson well, might get the nod over Granderson or Gardner, both of whom have not hit Wilson well. But both lefties have been productive of late and Kearns, who was not played in nearly two weeks now, has not.
Derek Jeter SS Nick Swisher RF Mark Teixeira 1B Alex Rodriguez 3B Robinson Cano 2B Marcus Thames DH Jorge Posada C Curtis Granderson CF Brett Gardner LF
Rangers: With C.J. Wilson on the mound for Texas, his usual catcher Matt Treanor gets the nod over Bengie Molina. With CC Sabathia on the mound for the Yanks, righty bats Jorge Cantu and Jeff Francoeur play over lefty swingers Mitch Moreland and David Murphy/Julio Borbon.
Elvis Andrus SS Michael Young 3B Josh Hamilton CF Vladimir Guerrero DH Nelson Cruz LF Ian Kinsler 2B Jeff Francoeur RF Jorge Cantu 1B Matt Treanor C
1. The only trouble CC Sabathia had came in the first inning, and even then, the Rangers were lucky to get a run across. Michael Young bounced one up the middle that Derek Jeter, ranging to his left, knocked down but couldn't quite get a hold of. Up next, Josh Hamilton looped a wind-aided double into the left field corner that Marcus Thames pulled up short of, putting runners on the corners for Vlad Guerrero. Vlad lifted an 0-2 pitch off the end of the bat to center field and Curtis Granderson made a strong throw to the plate, but Michael Young was safe by a couple of seconds. 1-0 Rangers.
2. The Yankees got to C.J. Wilson in the first inning as well. True to their respective natures, Derek Jeter led off the game with an opposite field single and Nick Johnson worked a walk. Johnson was erased on a double play by Mark Teixeira but Jeter moved to third and scored on a pased ball off of Talyor Teagarden's glove with A-Rod at the plate, tying the game at 1.
3. As the rain began to pick up in the 4th inning, the Yanks loaded the bases on a HBP, single and a walk with no one out for Marcus Thames, but he struck out looking on a slider over the inside corner. Next up, Curtis Granderson slapped one sharply to first that was fielded by Chris Davis, who attempted to get Nick Swisher at second base, but his throw hit Swish in the back, ricocheted into the outfield and allowed an additional run to score. Francisco Cervelli then hit a bloop single to shallow left to put the Yanks ahead 4-1.
4. The mound started to get sloppy in the 6th inning. CC Sabathia lost his footing while delivering a pitch and then plunked Julio Borbon but then retired the side in order.
In the bottom half of the inning, Marcus Thames singled and was replaced by Brett Gardner, who stole second. With two outs, Cervelli beat out a ground ball to shortstop, passing the baton to Jeter. The Captain bounced an RBI infield single just out of the reach of Wilson to put the Yanks up 5-1.
The ball that Marcus Thames couldn't get to in the first fell within 5 or 10 feet of him and he looked lead-footed in pursuit of it. Mike from RAB thought it wouldn't have mattered if Brett Garnder was in there but watching the replay makes me think that Brett would have at least had a chance.
Thames continues to hit, though, going 2-3 last night and bringing him up to 5-10 on the season.
Brett Gardner's pinch running appearance was highly amusing. Curtis Granderson and C.J. Wilson engaged in an 11 pitch at bat and Gardner running on four of those pitches, only to have Granderson foul them back. The Rangers pitched out twice in a row to begin Cervelli's AB, and guessed right on the second one as Gardner was going, but still couldn't catch him.
Sabathia was on another level last night. He struck out nine, walked none and allowed only three hits. As detailed above, the Rangers were lucky to patch together a run in the first and CC responded by striking out the next 6 batters he faced. Only 15 of the 73 pitches (20%) he threw were balls, he tossed 20 first pitch strikes, got to 0-2 twelve times and never had a 3 ball count. If anything, he got sort of gypped out of a chance at a more dominant start considering his pitch count and the way he was throwing through the 6 inning, but I'm sure he'll take the guaranteed rain-shortened win.
We should probably reevaluate the notion that Sabathia can't pitch in cold weather after his performance last night. It was in the 40's and rainy and he looked a good as he ever has - probably even better than his last time out.
Nick Johnson got caught stealing to end the third (probably on a missed hit and run) but replays showed he was safe. The throw beat him but he did some sort of a twisting scissor slide and touched the bag with his left leg before the tag was applied to his right.
Mark Teixiera's futility was not diminished by the abbreviated game as he managed to make 4 outs in 3 at bats thanks to the double play in the first inning. Seriously, he should like, starting hitting pretty soon.
Game 2 of the series starts at 1:05 today, weather permitting and all that. We'll be back with the preview sometime before then.
The Yankees welcome the Rangers to the Bronx tonight for the first of a three game set. The weather isn't looking too promising, but if/when action gets under way tonight, the pitching match up will feature a duo of of double initialed left handers.
CC Sabathia is fresh off an excellent start against against the Rays in which he flirted with a no hitter but had to settle for it's still attractive younger sister, 7 2/3 shutout, one-hit innings. Joe Girardi is looking to keep the magic alive from that last outing as Francisco Cervelli is scheduled to be back behind the plate. It's too early to tell if Girardi is planning on making this a "personal catcher" situation but Jorge Posada is going to need days off and Cervelli and Sabathia have had considerable success together. Now that Burnett and Posada are working together, it might make sense to ride the CC-Frankie wave as long as it will take them.
Wilson has been a reliever for the majority of his Big Leauge career, and a pretty decent one at that. He's thrown 259 innings to a 3.65 ERA out of the 'pen, which is pretty good but certainly not jaw-dropping. Wilson saw his strikeout rates jump over one per inning last year, his ERA and FIP drop to around 2.90 and the Rangers decided to give him a chance to start this spring.
The move was justifiably met with some scrutiny but Wilson shined in his first outing of the year, throwing seven shutout innings against the Blue Jays, allowing just five hits and two walks while striking out nine. Wilson saw a notable decrease in velocity during the start but some of that could be attributable to the fact that the season has barely begun and he obviously found a way to make his diminished stuff work for him. Will he enjoy the same success against much better offense tonight?
You got me back thinkin', that you're the worst one, I must inquire Wilson... Can you still have fun?
Marcus Thames is in the lineup again after going 2 for 3 last night against Scott Kazmir but he will be playing left field instead of DHing. Nick Johnson gets the start after drawing a walk in his pinch hit appearance last night. Cervelli gets the 9 slot, pushing Granderson up to 8th.
Jeter SS Johnson DH Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Swisher RF Thames LF Granderson CF Cervelli C
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