BomberBanter.com

I can’t talk about game 3 until I get game 2 out of my system. The idea that Joe Girardi started Phil Hughes in game 2 of the ALCS becaues he has a 15 1-3 scoreless innings in Arlington streak is ridiculous – he started him there because he decided he’d rather have Andy Pettitte go head to head with Cliff Lee instead of Hughes, and that makes sense – relying on a 15 1-3 scoreless innings streak in an away ballpark that dates back to way back in… uhm what year was that? 2007? – is insane. (Joe Torre was managing the team when Hughes was pitching a perfect game in Texas before he heard a pop in his hamstring that pretty much derailed the rest of his season.) So to all you folks who were pushing that angle as the storyline to this game, you’re idiots. Isn’t a playoff game enough of a storyline for you knuckleheads?

The Yankees lost game 2 because Hughes straight up stunk; he just didn’t give his team a chance to win by virtue of his nonexistent fastball command. And if somebody knows the reason why Jorge Posada would throw through to second base with a runner on third, I’d love to hear it.

Tonight, Andy Pettitte and Cliff Lee will square off. I know everybody has written this game in the books already as a Rangers win (including me), but that’s a bit premature. Andy Pettitte is nearly unbeatable after Yankees loses and the game is at home, after all – and the Yankees have hit Cliff Lee before. But, if they do lose this game, I think the whole world expects CC Sabathia to start game 4 on short rest.

In fact, I feel good about this game tonight and I’m going to reverse myself – I say the Yankees take this one!

CC Sabathia was not sharp at the beginning of the game, then he retired a zillion batters, and then in the 6th inning, things came unglued a bit. As the home team with a lead and your ace on the hill, Twins fans must have went to bed taring at their pillows, trying to figure out how Ron Gardenhire let victory slip away.

I think any Yankees fan could readily admit that Sabathia was showing some rust after getting extra rest at the end of the season. He hit a batter and struggled to locate all of his pitches, especially the fastball. Can you remember the last time you saw CC walk a runner with the bases loaded? I was surprised Joe Girardi stayed with him after that. Gardenhire had a similar situation and he let Francisco Liriano stay in as well – and it probably cost the Twins the game. Then again, as good as Liriano is, he’s not Sabathia, but then, few are.

Liriano had kind of a Pedro Martinez inning in the 6th: he was dominant the first five innings and he suddenly tired and gave it up. The first time through the order was about perfect besides that walk to Gardner, but the Yankees did better with each look they got off him, until they went boom for four runs in the 6th.

The Yankees bullpen was stellar. Boone Logan almost got out of the 7th, but that trickler just couldn’t be played. David Robertson played fireman and got out of the big situation after a walk (he seemed to be overthrowing a bit and lighting up the radar gun higher than usual), just like he always does. They ought to call that guy Fire Marshall Bill. Kerry Wood pitched pretty well, but with the hit and the walk on base, Girardi had to go to Mo. Even though all six umps convened in the bottom of the 9th about whether or not Greg Golson made the catch on the fly, they still got it wrong and Rivera had to contend with getting 5 outs instead of 4. Why they can’t put an umpire upstairs who can just call the crew chief on his cell phone and tell him they blew the call, I don’t know. It seems like the fastest solution. But Mo was up to the task, and that’s all for that game, folks.

Bad form by A-Rod for not covering 3rd base when Orlando Hudson advanced after Teixeira had to dive to tag fist base on the trickling hit he fielded. Maybe Hudson still would have been safe, but at least there would have been a play. With Rodriguez twiddling him thumbs, there was no chance at all.

I wore my Curtis Granderson t-shirt to work yesterday (the only thing awesome about my office is that there is no dress code), and I’m glad I did. He just missed a homer, but that triple off the wall was the hit of the game – although Mark Teixeira‘s home run was a close second.

What time did the game finally start, 8:45? By the ninth inning, I was totally exhausted. I know that MLB doesn’t want to compete with college and NFL football, but for cryin’ out loud! If there are going to be three games in one day, they’re going to have to do it on a weekend. I would have watched the Rays vs Rangers game, but I couldn’t – because it started at 130 in the damn afternoon! Who the hell got to watch that game, anyway? Richies, retiries, college kids, the unemployed… It’s also a shame that the only playoff series that’s going to be on broadcast television is the NLCS and the World Series. How did MLB let this happen? Oh well – at least I won’t have to endure game recaps intercut with whatever movie FOX has coming out this winter.

Congrats to Roy Halladay on his no hitter. That guy deserves a big win like that after suffering with the Blue Jays for all those years, even if it was against the Reds. ‘Doctober,’ however, is the worst thing I’ve ever heard – well, maybe ‘Roctober’ is just as bad. The Rays might get away with losing the first game of a short series at home, but against a team as good as the Yankees, the Twins won’t be so lucky.