Ah, you know what? I missed the whole damn thing so I don’t have much on what went down yesterday. I checked the box score, saw that each team had a bunch of hits, so I guess the Yanks had their chances just couldn’t get her done.

They lost, 5-3, and the modest but promising, four-game winning streak is over.

Phil Huges didn’t get bombed but he wasn’t good, either:

“I can’t remember the last time I was as bad as that,” Hughes said. “Just not being able to locate the fastball, or any offspeed pitch for that matter. Any time I did have to come in for a strike, it was out over the middle of the plate and just got hammered somewhere.”

Unless of course, a better assessment is this one…

“The fastball command wasn’t there,” Francisco Cervelli said. “We get behind all the time, and especially when you can’t throw strike one, that’s a problem. … When we miss location, this is the big leagues, you pay. Sometimes they hit a base hit, sometimes a homer. Today was three bombs.”
(Via Chad Jennings)

And here’s some more weirdness.

Hiroki Kuroda will get the start tonight as Andy Pettitte’s got some back pain and will skip a start. Yanks and O’s make like The Game of the Week tonightski on ESPN.

In the meantime, it’s sunny here in the Bronx. Hope everyone has a fine day. We’ll be back tonight with a game thread.

For now, dig the Andrew Wyeth picture above and listen to this:

“Stray Cat Blues” (Live) The Rolling Stones

A cold, rainy night in April does not equal much baseball fun, for the players or the fans in the seats. Such was the scene tonight in the Bronx but any discomfort was eased by a quick pace. The game zipped along, lots of strikeouts, and the Yanks held a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning. With a man on first, CC Sabathia was called for a balk by the first base ump. It was hard to detect, even after looking at a couple of replays. The pitcher certainly didn’t think it was a good call and when Sabathia gave up a single that tied the game, his frustration grew. He had a chance to turn a double play soon after–after already starting two earlier–and botched the throw to second. He got out of the inning without giving up another run and as he walked off the field the camera showed him saying that most fragrant of baseball words: “Horseshit.”

That was just the start of the real horseshit but the Yanks were on the good side of the stink. In the bottom of the seventh, they scored three runs on no hits–three walks and an error by Adam Jones. With two outs, the O’s center fielder went back on a well hit ball by Vernon Wells, tracked it down, and began to blow a bubble as the ball arrived and clanged off the heel of his glove.

The cycle of horseshit was complete in the eighth when the O’s put the first two men on base and then hit into a triple play. Cano fielded a ball on a short hop–it looked at first as if he’d caught it on a line–flipped to Nix at short for the first out. Nix and Youkilis ran down the lead runner for the second out and then the trail runner was caught between first and second. Youk threw to Overbay who then threw the ball to second for the triple play. The infielders jumped in the air and smiled as they ran back to the dugout. Rich men overcome with spontaneous, childlike joy.

A few hours after learning that Jonathan Winters is dead, the was appropriately knutty.

Mariano got the save as the Yanks steal one from the Boids. A fine way to beat the cold.

Final Score: Yanks 5, O’s 2.

No double-header tomorrow. Phil Hughes will go; Nova, skipped.

[Photo Via: R2-D2]

On the way to lunch this afternoon I spotted a shiny new Frito Lay delivery truck, adorned with navy blue pinstripes and a giant interlocking NY on the back door. I tried to maneuver to get a picture for tonight, but a baked potato cart was blocking the good stuff. Ah well, I thought, the Yanks probably won’t hit enough to warrant a score truck picture anyway.

If you didn’t see the game and are reading this for the first time on Wednesday morning, the good news is you had two hits last night and one of them was a homer that went about 420 feet. The Yankees reached .500 with a 14-1 victory over the Indians with an offensive explosion that overshadowed a second fine performance from Andy Pettitte.

The hit parade featured every Yankee starter but Hafner. They pounded out five homers (Cano, Ichiro, Youkilis, Boesch and Overbay) and six doubles. Around those bases the Yankees shall roam.

Speaking of parades, this weekend was the opening ceremony for the Inwood Little League. It’s over-the-top in all the right ways and the kids felt 100 feet tall walking up Broadway.

Google maps tells me the parade route was 1.25 miles. If I asked my kids to walk a quarter mile to get an ice cream soda and meet Spiderman, they’d fall down on their knees in tears accusing me of child abuse. They did this walk without complaint with pants drooping down around their ankles, hats falling over their eyes and carrying a banner designed specifically to make them trip over like the Keystone Cops.

If there are further notable items from our family’s first foray into organized baseball, I’ll let you know.

The Yanks beat up the Indians today to the tune of 11-6, upsetting Cleveland’s home opener. There was lots of fun to be had for the visitors–Travis Hafner’s 4-RBI, Robbie Cano’s two solo homers, Vernon Wells had three more hits. Hiroki Kuroda gave up three in the first and then calmed himself.

Course I missed the whole damn thing. But was thrilled and delighted upon seeing what went downski.

[Photo Via: R2-D2]

We may have to take our pleasure in small doses this year, $200 million payroll be damned, and today offered plenty of things to make us happy. Like Francisco Cervelli and Jayson Nix touching Justin Verlander early, staking the Yanks to a 3-0 to lead that was never in peril. And Kevin Youkilis irritating Verlander in the first inning when Youk hit a double. He’d just missed a home run on the first pitch of the at bat (long foul ball), and then doubled to left center field. He yelled something as he ran to first and when he reached second, Verlander stepped to him and screamed, “What did you say?” I don’t know if Youk was talking trash or just yelling at himself but the man has a talent for pissing people off.

Or how about CC Sabathia, still only throwing his fastball around 90 mph, handling the Tigers’ impressive hitters and throwing seven scoreless innings? Yeah, that was best of all. Some late insurance runs  put the game out of reach. Hell, even watching the Great Mariano work out of a jam in the ninth, striking out Torii Hunter–man, that dude has never done well against Mo–to end the game was pleasing.

Final Score: Yanks 7, Tigers 0.

“I don’t care who they got missing, that’s the Yankees,” Verlander told The Associated Press. “They have a winning mentality about them, and they’re going to find a way to win this year. You don’t ever take anything for granted. As you saw, it was the bottom of the lineup that did the damage.”
(Via Lo-Hud)

We’ll take it.

Photo Credit: Carlos Osorio/AP]

It’s the one that goes, the Yanks are 1-4 to start the season just like they were in 1998.

That’s a gag, son: joke, that is.

Phil Hughes and the Yankee bullpen got knocked around again today (each pitcher gave up at least one run), the hitters ran into some bad luck–a few well-struck balls went for outs–and our boys lost again, this time by the tune of 8-4.

And tomorrow gives Verlander.

Got any good jokes about that?

[Photo Credit: Mr. Freakz]

Another injured Yankee–Nunie (though it’s apparently not as bad as it first looked)–more mediocre pitching and a pair of blasts by Prince Fielder.

Watching Fielder hit a home run is All-American Funski. For a big guy his bat moves quickly but there is so much force in the whole thing, the swing and follow-through, the twist of his massive body, seeing him unload is both awesome and funny at the same time.

Hasaaaan-Chop!

The Yanks had a brief lead on a homer by Kevin Youkilis but then Boone Logan relieved Ivan Nova, gave up the first of Fielder’s home runs and it was all downhill from there.

Final Score: Tigers 8, Yanks 3.

The Yankees won their first game of the 2013 season like they have won so many others – with Andy Pettitte throwing the first pitch and Mariano Rivera throwing the last. As contemplating the starting lineup remains a daily dose of disappointment, Andy and Mo served much-needed notice to all us sad-sack fans – there is still something very special about rooting for the Yankees.

After CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda issued the Red Sox seven free bases in 6.3 innings, Andy Pettitte reminded us of the benefits of staying in and around the strike zone. He walked only one in eight strong innings and avoided  trouble almost all night long. Three ground balls with men on base turned into three double plays. On the third double play, the key play to getting Andy through the eighth, an audible “hoot” leapt from my couch. I was surprised to learn it came from my throat.

Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli hit solo homers to give the Yankees a little breathing room in the ninth and set the stage for Mariano’s return to the mound for the first time since his knee injury last May. Mariano’s cutter broke sharply throughout his outing and, as David Cone noted, looks more and more like a suped-up slider every year.

He battled Dustin Pedroia but lost him to a walk when the umpire didn’t bite on a 2-2 pitch just off the corner. It was a ball, but it’s a call Mariano gets nearly every time. Jonny Gomes yoinked a double just over the third base bag which set up Pedroia to score on the second out of the inning. Even though the tying run was up in the form of very impressive rookie Jackie Bradley, there was no need to fret. Mariano gave the lefty-hitting rook a time-capsule experience.

The first pitch was the show-me cutter, hard and low but over the plate for a called strike. The second pitch started on the inner half and rode so far in on Bradley’s hands he could do nothing but foul it off his own chest. And on the third pitch Mariano pegged a blue dart at the outside corner which might as well been a mile away to poor Bradley. It was a ball, but the umpire finally caught on to what was happening and rung him up. Yanks 4, Sox 2.

It was the 69th time Mo saved one of Andy’s wins. But as familiar as it was, it’s also the new blueprint they’re going to have to follow to win while the lineup features the understudies. Starting pitcher keeps it close. A few timely hits and good defense. Bullpen holds the line.

There ‘s no shame about not being geeked up for this season given the injuries and the looming payroll decisions. I’ve haven’t been less personally invested in the Yankees since 1982, but I’m sure glad I watched this one.

You know that weird feeling you get when you watch a movie and there’s a bunch of actors playing the big bad New York Yankees? That’s sort of what I experienced last night watching these new faces in the home pinstripes. And–get this–for all my talk of how I wouldn’t miss Nick Swisher, I found myself missing Nick Swisher. Certainly Derek Jeter. I mean:  Who are these guys?

Welp, these guys, this team, are a work in progress, and that’s being nice about it. Hiroki Kuroda was hit in the hand trying to field a ball, left the game early, and the Sox cruised to a 7-4 win. Travis Hafner hit a solo home run and in the eighth inning, Vernon Wells hit a line drive into the seats in left field, good for a three-run homer. It sounded great, a clear, sharp crack. The only other memorable part of the game came when the Yankee catcher Chris Stewart caught a pop up next to the Red Sox dugout. After he made the catch, he began to fall into the dugout and three players, including Dustin Pedroia instinctively moved to catch him. Stewart didn’t acknowledge their gesture but didn’t need to. I’m sure he appreciated the professional courtesy.

Otherwise, it was a lousy night for the Bombers. But ol’ reliable Andy Pettitte goes tonight so there’s always that.

[Photo Credit: Mark Steinmetz]

Here’s the thingt: Nobody is going to remember this one. Oh, Red Sox fans will for a day or maybe a week (and they’ve got Jackie Bradley, Jr.! to keep them smiling), but for Yankee fans, this one’s already forgotten.

It was a turd of a game to start the year as CC Sabathia was less than wonderful, the offense was offensive, and the bullpen–Joba!–didn’t help matters much.

It ended like: Red Sox 8, Yanks 2.

Ah, fug it. There’s another game tomorrow.

It was already 1-0 when I got on the train to come home this evening. It was 2-0 when I went out of cell service deep beneath Harlem. I held my breath as the train climbed up from 191st St to Dyckman, 6-0 and the season was over before I even got to my stop.

The Yankees completed their crash out of the ALCS with a loss to the Tigers, 8-1. Swept for the first time since 1980. They had only two hits to finish the series batting .157 as a team. If justice prevails, this will not be remembered as Arod’s Waterloo but rather as lineup-wide systemic failure.

The roots of this sweep are buried in Game 4 of the ALDS when the Yankees failed to finish the Orioles. They could have started CC Sabathia in Game 1 of the ALCS and then who knows? Some will say it doesn’t matter, that the Yankees didn’t hit enough this series to bother entertaining “What If” scenarios, but for three games out of four, they were one hit, or one call from an umpire, away from winning.

CC Sabathia pitched a whale of a game in Game 5 of the ALDS, but he didn’t have anything left for this one. For the first time in nine games, the Yankee starter didn’t give the lineup a chance to win. CC came up small, no way to sugarcoat that. I think his two games against the Orioles probably speak louder than this stinkifesto, but we’ll see how the fans react.

I know Alex Rodriguez was bad in this postseason. He looked incapable of hitting a right handed pitcher and I don’t fault Joe Girardi for seeking other options. Eric Chavez pinch hit for Alex Rodriguez in Game 4 of the ALDS. He replaced Alex for 12 at bats in total in the Postseason and went 0 for 12 with six strikeouts.

As disappointing as this series was, from Jeter’s injury to the Alex-drama to today’s drubbing, I refuse to be crushed about this outcome. The Yankees played a very gutsy series with Orioles, and won even while hitting like shit. They played three tough games with the Tigers and lost, while hitting even worse. They have been playing playoff-tension-level baseball since early September and have answered every must-win game with a win until the ALCS. They have earned a lot of respect.

I refuse to be crushed because I am part of a household that is just learning about baseball and if you can’t take losing, you can’t enjoy this game. I am part of a household, that for reasons that will never be entirely clear, cares as much about the Pittsburgh Pirates as the New York Yankees. In this environment, disappointment is allowed but rending of garments is exposed as self-centered silliness.

I rarely felt like I was watching a World Champion when the Yankees played this year, but they were the best team in the American League for 162 games and they own as much claim to the “best team in baseball” as anybody. Admittedly, 2012 didn’t feature a truly great team, but hey, maybe that means 2013 is wide open, too. The Yanks don’t have that much to do to be right back in it again next year.

Photo via Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

Tonight’s game will be played tomorrow afternoon.

Some brighter news, as I mentioned in the previous thread, The Banter was singled out in this week’s “Best of NYC” issue of The Village Voice:

Sportswriting, whether in print or online, has become awfully balkanized to name a single writer as above the rest. That said, Alex Belth is good both in his long free-association pieces on his website, Bronx Banter, and reviewing books for Sports Illustrated. But as a website host, he truly excels. Bronx Banter goes far beyond the Bronx and baseball with all kinds of terrific interviews (Pat Jordan, Pete Dexter, the late George Kimball) and a terrific array of great reprints from writers of the past like W.C. Heinz, Murray Kempton, Roger Kahn, etc. No one cares more about the history of New York sportswriting or does more to preserve it. In an age when past memories are fading without new ones coming along to replace them, Bronx Banter offers a wonderful mix of past and present with an eye on the future. It’s a New York treasure.

Happy to share this with all of you guys. Y’all keep the Banter fresh. I love doing this, man. We’re coming up on our 10th anniversary and I enjoy this joint as much now as I did when I started. Nah, scratch that, I like it even more.

Ya heard?

[Photo Via: Chillwalker]

The Yankees need another big game from CC Sabathia to avoid embarrassment of an ALCS sweep. (Photo: AP)

If the Yankees had brought tonight’s starting lineup on the road in Spring Training, the other team might have complained to the commissioner. It wasn’t March and the Tigers weren’t complaining.  With the season hanging in the balance, the Yankees were playing a pivotal postseason game against the best pitcher in baseball with a batting order no one could have imagined even one week ago.

It probably didn’t matter whom the Yankees sent to the plate against Justin Verlander, who, despite struggling with his command in the middle innings, limited the Bronx Bombers to two hits, both by Ichiro, over the first eight innings. Any other time, the potent Yankees offense would have made the Cy Young pay for falling behind in the count, but not this postseason.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Phil Hughes couldn’t match zeroes with Verlander. In fact, he didn’t even make it out of the fourth inning. After allowing a solo homer to Delmon Young in the top of the frame, Hughes pulled up lame with a sore lower back and then departed. Over the next six innings, the bullpen did its best to keep the game close, but a double by Miguel Cabrera in the fifth, which perhaps should have been caught by Curtis Granderson, increased the Tigers lead to 2-0. It might as well have been 20-0.

The ninth inning began with all the inspiration of a trip to the gallows. Then, Eduardo Nunez had what Verlander called one of the best at bats he had ever seen. After fouling off six pitches, including a slider, fastball, and change-up, Derek Jeter’s replacement did his best impression of the Captain, golfing a curveball over the left field fence. Maybe a reprieve was in the offing?

Brett Gardner followed Nunez’ battle with one of his own, but after eight pitches, the speedster grounded back to the mound. Although he didn’t reach base, Gardner’s at bat sent Verlander to the dugout and gave the Yankees two chances to tie the game off Phil Coke. They almost made the most of it.

Ichiro greeted Coke with a ground out, but then Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano singled, the latter breaking his nightmarish 0-29 slide in the postseason, setting the stage for Raul Ibanez. Could he do it again? Should he have even been given the chance?

In the regular season, Ibanez hit an abysmal .197/.246/.246 against southpaws, so, once again, under normal conditions, Girardi probably would have used a pinch hitter. However, nothing has been normal this October. Despite having Alex Rodriguez on the bench, Girardi eschewed the opportunity to use one of the league’s best hitters against lefties, something he had done in the ALDS as well. So, while the Tigers pitching coach went over Ibanez’ scouting report with Coke, Arod made no movement toward the bat rack. In fact, he didn’t even take off his sweatshirt. Undoubtedly, a soap opera to be continued, but at the moment, the Yankees had a bigger drama to attend.

Ibanez battled Coke to a full count, but what little life the Yankees had left was dashed by a curve ball down in the zone. The DH had a good swing, but came up empty, just like most of his teammates have for the entire postseason. A victory could have turned the series on its head, but instead, the Yankees find themselves on the precipice of a series sweep. Every Yankee fan knows only one baseball team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit in a best of seven series. Can the 2012 Bronx Bombers make it two? Before even beginning to consider that possibility, let’s see the Yankees score a run.

The Yankee offense continued its run of futility today and it cost them another game as they were shutout, 3-0. That’s the main story though there are a few subplots worth mentioning. First, Hiroki Kuroda was terrific, giving up three runs (should have been just one) in 7.2 innings, five hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. Working on three days rest for the first time in his major league career, he was a stud. Second, is that there were so many empty seats at the Stadium today you’d think this was Atlanta in the late ’90’s. It’s as if Yankee fans showed their displeasure by staying away or that since Derek Jeter wasn’t going to be there, neither were they.

The other, more enraging part of the game was a blown call buy Jeff Nelson in the eighth inning that would have kept the score 1-0. Omar Infante overran second base on a base hit to right field, Nick Swisher threw the ball to Robinson Cano who applied the tag.

Instead of ending the inning, the Tigers took advantage of the umpire’s gaffe and tacked on two runs. Joe Girardi got himself run arguing the call and spent most of his post-game press conference talking about instant replay (while Nick Swisher bellyached about the Bleacher Creatures). Nelson told reporters, “The hand did not get in before the tag.The call was incorrect…I had the tag late and the hand going into the bag before the tag on the chest.”

“I think the umpire got confused ’cause he saw my hand, something with my hand made him think I was safe,” Infante said.

When asked if he he out, Infante said, “Of course.”

Two critical calls go against the Yankees in the first two games and yet while they give us something to pin our anger on, it’s not what cost them either game. The Yankees didn’t win today because they couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a fucking boat. Four hits all game and none for Robinson Cano, their best player who is in a horrid drought-0-for-his-last 26. ‘

Shit, even if they could hit that doesn’t mean it’d result into runs crossing the plate.

“We’ve been through stretches like this all year,” Alex Rodriguez said. “It has been a very volatile stock market for us this year. You just hope you take a day off and come back with a lot of energy and turn it around…It may start with a change of scenery. I think getting a day of rest tomorrow, take a deep breath, everybody come out and not try to do too much, let the river flow a little bit. We’ve been used to this type of hostile environment and having our backs against the wall, but I’ll tell you what, our heads are not going to go down.”

The fair weather, front running dilettantes have already bailed on this team as evidenced by all the empty seats today.

As irritated as we may be, however, round these parts we stick with our team through it all. And yeah, Verlander vs. Hughes in Game Three seems like Doom on a Platter. But stranger things have happened. Like the 1996 Whirled Serious, as Matt B pointed out last night in a text last night.

Regardless of the slumps and the loss of Jeter and the overall mishegoss we love our boys. And if we don’t always love ’em, we won’t stop rooting them on. They aren’t done yet, no matter how poorly they are hitting, and they are still one of the the final four teams playing.

Could be worse. Could be raining.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America; Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports]

For the Yankees, Game One of the ALCS, went from regrettable, to unbelievable, to unforgettable in the worst way.

In the first inning the Yankees loaded the bases against Doug Fister and Alex Rodriguez hit a hard ground ball that was speared by Jhonny Peralta who threw to second just in time to get the force out to end the inning. For Rodriguez, it was more bad luck. Then in the second, Robinson Cano came to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. He hit a line drive up the middle that knocked off Fister’s hand and went high in the air. Peralta fielded it with one hand, threw to first and Cano was called out though the replays showed that he was safe. Right, bad luck.

The Tigers scored a couple of runs against Andy Pettitte in the top of the sixth and in the bottom of the inning Mark Teixeira reached on a single and moved to third on a double by Raul Ibanez. Rodriguez took a curve for a strike, fouled off a fastball that was his pitch to hit and then hacked at a curve ball out of the strike zone for the first out. Nick Swisher laid off a tough curve on a 2-2 pitch and eventually walked. But Curtis Granderson whiffed on three pitches and so did Russell Martin.

No bad luck this time, just the brand of offensive offense we’ve gotten used to around these parts. All three outs were made on undisciplined at bats.

And so we Yankee fans spent the next few innings cursing and muttering and what difference did it make when Delmon Young hit a seed for a line drive home run or when the Tigers added another one to make it 4-0?

Emily and I watched this misery in the living room of our friends’ apartment in midtown. They’ve got kids and were fading fast in the eighth so we excused ourselves and got in the car by the time the Yanks came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. As we made our way from the east side to the west side–no, taking the FDR uptown when there is a game on–I just hoped the game could continue for as long as possible.

So it was John Sterling that guided us west and I gave a solemn fist pump when he told us that Ichiro hit a two run home run. Cano was next and he worked the count full–please, get on base, Robbie–but struck out. One last out and Teixeira came up as we crossed over Sixth Avenue. He quickly fell behind 0-2 but worked the count full and then drew a walk.

Ibanez. Sterling asked if we could possibly demand more from him? “Sure, we can,” I said. And on the 0-1 pitch, I turned off 9th Ave onto 43rd Street when Sterling went into his “It is high…” call. We held our breath and waited to see if Ibanez hit a pop up to the right fielder or if he in fact hit one out. Sterling’s call was just apprehensive enough to make those few seconds feel like hours. But when it was done, and the home run was verified, I couldn’t even scream. I held my breath and clutched the wheel.

But he’d done it again. And the score was tied.

Rafael Soriano got the Tigers out in the tenth and we watched the rest from home.  Saw the Yankees fail to bring home a runner on second with one out in the bottom of the inning, Russell Martin swinging for Jupiter on a 2-0 pitch and every ensuing pitch after that before he flew out. Derek Jeter unable to do the job after him. Ichiro led off with a single one inning later but Cano–0-6–couldn’t do dick and neither could Teixeira or Ibanez.

The trouble here was that Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder loomed in the twelfth. Sure enough, Dave Phelps walked Cabrera who advanced to second on a ground out by Fielder. And then Young lined a ball to right and Nick Swisher, who has specialized in rolling around the ground like a stuck pig for two games–except maybe in the sixth on Young’s blooper–missed the ball. He rolled and tumbled but he whiffed on the ball, a play that must be made. Cabrera grinned all the way home and the Tigers had a lead that they would not relinquish. Maybe Swisher lost the ball in the lights or maybe he made a horrible mistake.

Then things got worse. A ground ball up the middle by Peralta and Derek Jeter stumbled after it. He gloved it but fell over and flipped the ball to Cano. Then Jeter yelled and then he didn’t get up. That doesn’t happen to Jeter. It was hard to see what happened on the replays but his left leg got caught underneath him and he appeared to roll his left ankle. Next thing you know, he’s being helped off the field by Joe Girardi and the trainer, applying no pressure to his left leg.

The Stadium was silent.

Didn’t matter that Phelps botched a ground ball that led to another run or that the Yanks went meekly in the bottom of the inning and lost the game. Here’s the news: Jeter’s ankle is fractured and he’s done for the series. The early word says he’ll recover in three months.

A frustrating night turned thrilling ended with a dispiriting conclusion.

Oy Veh.

Tigers 6, Yanks 4.

[Photo Credit: Touchn2btouched]

The Orioles are dead. The reason I know this is I saw them lose with my own eyes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have believed it.

They pursued the Yankees all summer long, took the ALDS to five games and in the eighth inning had the bases loaded with one out, down by a couple of runs. Right there biting at the Yankees’ heels because where else would they be? But tonight, CC Sabathia delivered arguably his finest performance as a Yankee. He not only got out of the jam in the eighth but he returned in the ninth and finished the game as the Yanks beat the Orioles 3-1 to advance to the ALCS.

The game began essentially where it left off last night and for the first four-and-a-half innings it was like watching Groundhog’s Day. No hits, no runs.

Then Mark Teixeira led off the bottom of the fifth with a single over the shift into right field. With first baseman Mark Reynolds playing behind him, Teixeira took a walking lead and then sprinted to second and made it safely. Raul Ibanez fouled off a few pitches and then singled Teixeira home. The next inning, Derek Jeter walked with one out and scored all the way from first on a double off the bottom of the right center field wall by Ichiro. And then in the seventh, Curtis Granderson finally got a pitch in the strike zone that he could handle, pounding it into the seats in right field for a home run.

That gave Sabathia a healthy 3-0 lead and he cruised through the Orioles lineup. The only bad moment–and it was a hold-your-breath-tight spot–came in the sixth when Nate McClouth launched a 3-2 pitch high into the right field seats. It went over the foul pole and was ruled foul. The Orioles protested, the umps huddled, and the replays showed that the ball was in fact foul. However, one replay, with an extreme close up of the pole, showed that the ball could have scraped the pole. You can see the ball slightly change directions as it passed the yellow stick. But it wasn’t clear enough to overturn the call and the umps upheld their original call. McClouth whiffed on the next pitch and before you knew it, Ichiro had given the Yanks a two-run cushion.

Sabathia worked easily through the seventh and then came his bend-but-don’t-break eighth. Matt Wieters singled to start the inning and Manny Machado followed with a walk. Mark Reynolds worked the count even, missed a fastball that got too much of the plate (fouling it off), and then whiffed on a breaking ball. Had a pitch, missed the pitch.

But Lew Ford hit a ground ball through the left side for a base hit–watching the replay it was as if someone yelled “Timber” as Jeter dove after it. I thought Brett Gardner, who’d just entered the game as a defensive replacement, had a play at the plate on the slow-footed Wieters but instead threw to third base in order to prevent the runners from advancing.

Robert Andino, another scrapper, hit a slow chopper toward third. Sabathia hopped after it, fielded and then hesitated for a moment, looking at third base. But Chavez had gone after the ball too and wasn’t near the bag. The play was to first, but Sabathia threw to second instead. Too late. His mistake loaded the bases.

He summoned up a mess of courage, struck out McClouth and then got JJ Hardy to hit a slow ground ball to short. Jeter charged in, fielded the ball, and then made an off balanced throw to first. It reached Teixeira in plenty of time for the third out. Jeter may not have much range but he didn’t botch the one right at him–and one he had to make a play on, it was no gimme–when the chips were down.

Sabathia came back out in the ninth, got Adam Jones to sky out to Gardner, struck out Chris Davis, and ended the game by getting Wieters to hit a harmless ground ball to the mound. Sabathia tossed the ball to Teixeira like he was tossing an egg at the county fair.

Final Score: Yanks 3, O’s 1.

CC is a Stud.

The Orioles were resilient and relentless. The Yankees, as fate had it, were a touch better, or luckier.

However you want to call it, the Bronx be happy.

Tomorrow gives the Tigers. Tonight gives relief, hugs, and love.

[Photo Credit: Alex Trautwig/Getty Images North America; Elsa/Getty Images North America]

When we talk about 1968 in baseball we think of Bob Gibson and all those low earned run averages and what is called “The Year of the Pitcher.” But when he wrote about it at the time, Roger Angell dubbed that season “the Year of the Infield Pop Up” which just goes to show how perception changes.

The Yankees and Orioles have been at each all year long, splitting the regular season series, 9-9. The O’s chased the Yanks down in the second half, tied them for first but couldn’t get passed them. They beat the Rangers in the Wildcard game and then split the first two games of the ALDS in Baltimore with the Yanks before getting hosed out of a win in Game 3. All the games have been close and apart from a mirage of scoring by the Yanks at the end of the first game, nobody has hit much.

So you could say that both offenses have been terrible—Alex Rodriguez has been hung in effigy in New York but he’s had company in futility, namely Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderon, and Nick Swisher. Baltimore has its own goats–Jones, Weiters, Thome. Or, you could say the pitching’s been sensational. Year of the pitcher or the infield pop-up? You decide.

More than anything we know the Yanks and O’s won’t let this thing go and so they played a game of reduction in Game 4, and brought horrible offense and stellar pitching into the 13th inning, tied at 1-1.

Despite some rocky moments from Phil Hughes and Joe Saunders, who looks like the barfly from Sex, Lies and Videotape…

…nobody scored. Oh, there were some horseshit pitches, and hard hit balls foul. Nick Swisher hit two balls off the end of his bat that otherwise would have been dingers, Jayson Nix hit a few balls well, and the Orioles left a ton of runners on base, but no, there were no runs.

Alex Rodriguez walked in his first at bat, singled in his second, and then continued to look like crap–old, slow, beaten. The most painful moment came when the Yankees had runners on first and second in the eighth and nobody out. Robinson Cano grounded out weakly to second moving the runners over. Rodriguez whiffed and Swisher popped out.

The bullpens were both terrific and score remained tied 1-1 until the O’s manufactured a run in the top of the 13th. J. J. Hardy drove in the go-ahead run with a double to left of Dave Phelps. This, after Joba Chamberlain left the game an inning early when he was hit in his pitching elbow with the a broken bat (x-rays were negative).

That brought on the closer Jim Johnson to face Mark Teixeira, Cano, and, of course, looming as the potential final out, Rodriguez. He quickly got ahead of Teixeira, then the count evened at 2-2, Teixeira fouled off an outside fastball, a high fastball, and looked at a curve ball for a called strike three. Shades of Carlos Beltran in 2006.

Cano lined the first pitch he saw to the left fielder and most Yankee fans were ready to throw in the towel. For a second straight night, Joe Girardi didn’t let Rodriguez hit against Johnson. This time, Eric Chavez took his place. Joe Girardi hoping–desperately–for some more magic. Chavez, looked a curve for strike, took a fastball high for a ball, fouled off a 95 mph heater, fouled off another fastball, took a curve outside, and lined a fastball to third base to end the game. No magic tonight.

What else could it have come down to for these two but Game 5? The season series is 11-11 and the winner will move on.

This is what it had to be.

Final Score: O’s 2, Yanks 1.

The Good News for Game 5? The Yanks have CC Sabathia on the hill. The bad news? Somebody in pinstripes is going to have to score some runs.

[Featured Image Via Stable]

With two swings of the bat, Raul Ibanez won Game 3 of the ALDS for the Yankees 3-2. Joe Girardi, in one of the ballsiest managerial moves in Yankee history, asked Ibanez to pinch hit for currently lost-in-the-woods Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning. The Yankees trailed 2-1 at the time, there was one out, and the needle on the season was edging towards “disaster.”

Ibanez took a curve ball low and inside from Jim Johnson to start the at bat. The Oriole closer came back with his trademark sinker aiming low and away. The ball hung over the middle and Ibanez leaped on it. It was a lot like his homer to tie game 161 against the Red Sox, but struck even better than that.

There was a whole a lot of tense nothing after that until Ibanez led off the bottom of the twelfth against lefty Brian Matusz. Matusz had handled lefties Eric Chavez and Ichiro Suzuki with ease in the eleventh, giving them one decent pitch to hit early in the count and then driving them out of the strike zone. He tried the same trick on Ibanez, but Raul had target lock engaged and destroyed the 91 MPH fastball for the game-winner and possible season-saver.

Enough cannot be said of Ibanez, Girardi, Kuroda and Robertson. Ibanez will get, and deserves, every headline and accolade, but he wouldn’t have had a chance in the ninth if it wasn’t for Kuroda. Ditto the twelfth if it wasn’t for Robertson. And of course Joe Girardi, who never gets any credit and often takes a ton criticism, especially on the internet, chose the perfect time to pull the plug on his support for Alex Rodriguez. With Ibanez he gained the platoon advantage and the confidence advantage as the lefty slugger had just come through in a similar spot against a right-handed closer. If Girardi has lost Rodriguez for the rest of the series, so be it. I’d rather be up 2-1 without Arod than down 1-2 with him.

Going back to the pre-Ibanez portion of the game, Hiroki Kuroda was tremendous. A likable stalwart in a season full of uncertainty, he delivered a solid performance into the ninth inning. Kuroda cruised through his night on only 105 pitches and only allowed six base runners. Two solo homers to the bottom of the order were the only marks on his record. Yankee fans gave him the ovation he deserved as he left the game.

As good as Hiroki Kuroda was, Miguel Gonzalez was better. He went through the Yankees for seven innings with ease. He rung up eight Yanks, allowed almost no hard hit balls (were there any other than double and triple that plated the Yanks’ lone run?) and crucially walked no one. He was too tough.

Or maybe he was just pretty good and the Yankees met him halfway to awesome. I openly wonder if the Yankees would have had a more productive night if they just never swung the bat. For three straight games now, they’ve missed almost every cookie they’ve been served with foul balls and pop ups. And they’re so eager to do some damage that they’re expanding the zone in very counterproductive ways. Of the eleven times the Yanks struck out in this game, all were swinging whiffs, and the vast majority were on balls out of the strike zone. The Yankees were over aggressive, undisciplined and rendered utterly ineffective.

Derek Jeter picked up two more hits, though his RBI triple was a gift from Adam Jones. He’s one of the few Yankees who might get a hit at some point tomorrow night, so it’s bad news that he had to come out of the game with a leg injury. He smashed a foul ball off his toe and never looked comfortable after that. When he struck out in the eighth, he was barely able to gain his balance after each swing. Still put on a better at bat than anything Arod, Cano, Granderson or Teixeira could muster. Unless that foot has to be sawed off, Jeter’s playing tomorrow. If they amputate, downgrade him to probable.

But back to Raul Ibanez. He just hit a couple of the most important home runs in Yankee Postseason history. He’s on the list. From the color TV days, there’s Chambliss ’76, Dent ’78 (not Postseason but still), Jeter/Bernie ’96, Leyritz ’96, Justice ’00,  Tino/Brosius/Jeter ’01, Boone ’03, Arod ’09. Probably missing some, but that’s a pretty good start (Reggie and Matsui of course, but maybe that’s a slightly different list, and heck, put Ibanez on that one too with his two bombs tonight).

The lack of hitting in the Postseason always confounds me. I always think, “Why can’t this be the year where they just get hot and blast their way to the Series?” But it never works that way and I need to stop being surprised that Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez turn into the 1963 Dodgers as soon as the calendar flips to October. The difference this time, hopefully, is that the Yankees have the starters to support the offensive outage.

All three Yankee starters have worked into the eighth and two of them were still on the hill in the ninth! A timely hit in Game 2 and the Yanks would have just swept this thing. Phil Hughes gets the baton and it doesn’t matter who he faces. It’s gonna be Koufax, Drysdale, Alexander, Gibson and Schilling all wrapped into some Oriole schlub and Hughes will need to be his best to keep them in the game. The Yankees probably won’t hit, but they just might win.

Top Photo by Bill Kostroun/AP via ESPN

Other Photos by Alex Trautwig and Al Bello / Getty Images via ESPN

Before we even get started, let me tell you one thing. I’m not going to complain about the Yankees’ lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, mainly because that’s like complaining that the sun is rising in the East. Even without that issue, there’s plenty to discuss here, and several issues to chew on, so let’s get at it…

Things couldn’t have started out better. Derek Jeter quieted the raucous Baltimore crowd with a line drive single to right center off rookie Wei-Yin Chen to lead off the game, and the suddenly dynamic Ichiro followed by reaching on a questionable error to set the Yankees up with two men on, no one out, and the heart of the lineup due.

The papers will be awash this morning with doomsday headlines about Alex Rodríguez and damning statistics on the ineptitude of the offense, but A-Rod came to bat in the first inning and laced an absolute seed just a few feet to the right of second base. The infield defense was pulled around to the left as it usually is for A-Rod, but even positioned close to the bag, second baseman Robert Andino only had time for a quick step and a dive. He snared the line drive, then flipped to second to double off Jeter. Had that ball been just two or three inches to the left, a run would’ve been in and a rally would’ve been rolling with the hottest hitter on the planet due up next.

As it was, there were suddenly two outs and a man on first, A-Rod was still a dog, and the Yankees still couldn’t hit when it counted. It’s a game of inches, you know. But then Robinson Canó dug in and ripped a laser of his own off the base of the wall in right field. Always one to push the edge of the envelope, third base coach Robby Thompson windmilled Ichiro around third, but the relay throw from Andino appeared to have him dead to rights. But as Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters took the throw and lunged to make the tag, Ichiro took a right turn. He avoided the tag, but missed the plate by several feet, skittered counter clockwise around the dish, then leapt in the air like a cat to avoid Wieters’s second attempt before finally tagging the first base side of home plate. It was so much work it probably should’ve been worth two runs, but the score was only 1-0. Even so, it was a start.

This was Game 2, so naturally Andy Pettitte was on the mound for the Yankees, and naturally he was dominant early on. How good was he? He retired the first eight batters like this: fly out, ground out, backwards K, pop out, ground out, strikeout, fly out, ground out. He made a tough pitch to the ninth hitter, but it was too tough, as Andino broke his bat and lofted a base hit over second base. Then things got sticky.

Nate McLouth knocked a clean single to center, then J.J. Hardy walked on four pitches to load the bases for Chris Davis, a left-hander who had struggled against Pettitte in his career. After taking ball one, Davis poked a single to right to score two, and the Orioles suddenly had a 2-1 lead, just as they did in the third inning of Game 1. (An interesting note here: Nick Swisher actually came up with a good throw to third, one that Jeter could’ve cut off but chose instead to let go. He couldn’t have known this, but Hardy had rounded second a bit too aggressively, and had Jeter cut off that throw where he stood atop second base and then looked for the tag, Hardy would’ve been out before McLouth would’ve been able to score with the second run. No shortstop in his right mind would’ve cut that ball off, but it’s the type of play we’ve come to expect from Jeter in October. Not this time.)

And so the inning continued. Adam Jones bounced a grounder deep into the hole at short, forcing Jeter to range far to his right. Jeter and A-Rod, as well as Hardy running from second, probably all realized the only play would be at third. As a result, Hardy was digging hard for the bag and didn’t notice when the ball rolled just under Jeter’s glove. A-Rod was giving his best decoy at third, waiting for a throw that would never come, so Hardy also didn’t notice his third base coach furiously waving him in. He pulled up at third, much to Jeter’s amusement. Wieters popped up the first pitch he saw, and Hardy never scored. The inning was over.

The Yankee hitters, meanwhile, weren’t scoring, but they were making Chen work hard. It looked like that strategy might pay dividends in the top of the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out after Mark Teixeira singled, Russell Martin walked, and Curtis Granderson singled.

(Speaking of Granderson, TBS showed a revealing statistic during his first at bat. (And speaking of TBS, their coverage is bordering on unwatchable. Cal Ripken and John Smoltz have fallen into the trap that awaits most postseason announcers: they make a point and then react as if they’ve discovered penicillin. I watched large chunks of Game 1 with the mute button engaged. During Game 2, Ripken even tried to tell me that switch hitters used to regularly bat left-handed against Pettitte to counteract his power cutter, even though I’m fairly certain this never happened. That was Mo.) But back to Granderson. Peep this: When he puts one of the first two pitches in play, his batting average is .405, slugging percentage .767. After that the numbers drop to .190/.425. Ouch.)

But we were discussing the fourth inning, and the bases loaded buffet awaiting Eduardo Nuñez. He came to the plate needing just a quality out to tie the game, but imagine what a simple base hit would do. With his pitch count mounting, every fan in the park on edge, his entire home nation of Taiwan having called in sick to watch their countryman’s first playoff appearance, this was clearly a critical moment for Chen. A base hit would likely give the Yankees the lead and fill Chen’s head with doubt as the lineup turned over and Jeter, Ichiro, and A-Rod readied for their turns at bat. The game would open up, and the series would close.

But that’s not how it happened. Nuñez popped out, Jeter grounded to third, and the inning was over. Late Monday night Curt Schilling and John Kruk gushed about Chen’s game plan and execution, but I kept wondering if they had watched the same game I did, and I think Jeter’s reaction might’ve been similar. When he was asked about Chen after the game, the Captain was clearly suppressing a grin as he generously allowed, “He was hitting his spots.” It reminded me of an interview Kobe Bryant gave after the Lakers lost a tough playoff game to the Phoenix Suns. When asked if Raja Bell had given him some trouble, Kobe simply laughed. “Raja Bell? Raja Bell?” More laughter. “No.” Jeter was more diplomatic, but the message was the same.

What can’t be denied, however, was that Chen made it into the seventh inning, which is probably more than the Orioles had hoped for. Now trailing 3-1, the Yankees mounted a rally as Nuñez poked a ball into short right center and hustled it into a double, then came home on a Jeter single to cut the lead back to one at 3-2. After Ichiro forced Jeter at second and Darren O’Day came in to strike out A-Rod for the second day in a row, Buck Showalter chose to bring in Brian Matusz to walk the HHOTP and face Swisher with two outs and the tying run on second. I’m guessing Showalter wasn’t worried. Swisher entered that at bat with a 1 for 33 career postseason mark with runners in scoring position, and a career 1 for 19 against Matusz. Predictably, he popped out to left.

And then came the eighth inning, perhaps the most frustrating frame of the night for me. Teixeira led off with a rocket that looked ticketed for the left field corner and a sure double. But McLouth hustled over to cut it off, and the hobbling Teixeira was forced to stay at first. Here’s how the rest of the inning should’ve played out: Brett Gardner pinch runs for Teixeira and remains in the game in left field; Ichiro moves to right field; Swisher comes in to play first. Gardner steals second (because if he doesn’t, why exactly is he on the post season roster?), then Martin can either bunt him over or take a shot to right field. Assuming this works, Granderson needs only produce a fly ball to tie the game.

But Joe Girardi wasn’t interested in any of that, so he let Teixeira sit at first base as Martin and Granderson struck out and Nuñez popped out. The game wasn’t over, but it certainly felt like it. Baltimore closer Jim Johnson worked the ninth inning and smartly set down Jeter, Ichiro, and A-Rod in order, leaving Canó in the on-deck circle.

You have to admit, it was a nice way for 2012’s final game at Camden Yards to end. Orioles 3, Yankees 2.

[Photo Credits: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images (1); Patrick Semansky/AP Photo (2&3); Nick Wass/AP Photo (4)]