The Yankees kept their 2007 season alive last night with an 8-4 triumph over the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium. Cleveland now leads the best of 5 series by a 2-1 margin. After a disastrous start to the series, the Yanks showed signs of life in this one. Arizona, Colorado, and Boston might have had walkovers in their Division Series matchups, but the Yankees are going to make the Indians earn a trip to the ALCS.
Roger Clemens should not have started the game. His hamstring was clearly affecting him as he pitched a very ineffective 2.1 innings. Clemens put the Yankees into an early 3-0 hole by giving up 4 hits and 2 walks. After the second visit to the mound by the training staff, Clemens left the mound for perhaps the last time ever because of his bad hamstring. He has shown how brittle his body is this season, making it unlikely that he would ever put it through such a pounding again. It cannot hold up. If all the rest he has received has not healed his ailment by now, it is time to shut it down before there is any more significant damage. Roger should be commended for trying to give it a go with his team’s season on the line, but Father Time has finally caught up with the 45 year old.
Years from now, fans could very well look upon this game as a passing of the figurative torch. As arguably the greatest pitcher of one generation exited, the most talented young pitcher in baseball had a coming out party. Phil Hughes picked up the win with 3.2 innings of shutout relief. He entered the game with his team already trailing and the bats struggling. Cleveland was poised to deliver a knockout blow. The 21 year old was making his postseason debut and had his team’s season and his manager’s job hanging in the balance. Hughes dominated under this kind of pressure, registering 4 strikeouts. After a relatively disappointing regular season, some questioned whether Hughes was overrated. Those critics have been silenced. A star-studded team has another game this season because of the rookie. If Hughes gives an induction speech two decades from now in Cooperstown, people will remember Game 3 in 2007 as his coming of age.
The offense applied constant pressure on Jake Westbrook. Early on, the Yanks only scored once due primarily to 3 groundball double plays in the first 4 innings. Mainstays were killing the team. Jorge Posada grounded into one of the twin killings, while The Great Jeter hit into a pair. The floodgates opened in the 5th, though. Hideki Matsui singled with 1 out. Robinson Cano followed with a double. Melky Cabrera then came through with an RBI single. Johnny Damon was up next and hit a 3 run home to give the Yankees a 5-3 lead. An inning later, Robinson Cano singled with the bases loaded to score a run, and Trot Nixon failed to field the ball cleanly for an error, allowing 2 more to score. Nixon’s lousy defense essentially ended the game as the score became 8-3.
It was only a matter of time before the offense busted out. Damon had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s. Hideki Matsui finally rewarded Joe Torre for keeping him in the lineup by getting on base all 4 times he stepped up to the plate. Many were calling for Matsui’s benching (including me), but Joe’s steady handed approach paid dividends. Cano had his 2 big hits, and Jorge Posada got his first hit of the series. Alex Rodriguez started to straighten himself out with a pair of hits. This will help him relax and come to the plate with confidence from here on out. The monkey is off his back for now.
The only guy who did not get going was The Great Jeter. He went 0 for 4 and threw a ball away in the 1st that led to a run. He is due to make a big impact in the series. He should start coming through in Game 4. Teams can hold him down in postseason series, but he always seems to have at least one defining moment even when he is not hitting.
Joe Torre went to Joba Chamberlain for 2 innings and Mariano Rivera for 1. The game might have been a blowout, but Joe was right to take no chances in an elimination game. Putting anybody else into the game could have led to the dynamic duo entering a much tighter game. Joba strained in his second inning of work but got the job done. Mo had a very easy 9th. In Game 4, the roles should switch. It should be Joba for 1 and Mo for 2.
Because of this site’s cowriter, Jason, I was able to attend Game 3. I will forever be in debt to Jason for that. The crowd did a phenomenal job. People were on their feet and making noise from the start. The Yankees were reeling going into this game. Things were even worse after a rough start to the game. The crowd seemed to pick them up and give them energy. It also seemed to rattle Westbrook into throwing bad pitches at key points in the game. This is all speculative of course, but there was a palpable electricity in Yankee Stadium for this one. The emotion in that stadium had to have played a role.
This is now a series. The Yankees have the momentum and an advantage in the Game 4 pitching matchup. Chien-Ming Wang, who is so good at home, will go against Paul Byrd, who is so bad against the Yankees. The bats are now awake, and the hitters are not pressing. This should be a big offensive day for New York. This is no time for complacency, though. All that win did was extend the season and the Joe Torre era for another day. This team needs to take the field with the same fire with which it finished Game 4. The pressure is starting to shift to a young Cleveland team that has never been in this situation before. The Tribe could start getting nervous and pressing. This series is about to get interesting.
