2007 ALDS Game 4 Indians 6 Yankees 4: End of an Era

The Yankees saw their season end tonight with a 6-4 loss to the Indians in the Bronx. Cleveland moves on to the ALCS. The Yankees enter another bitter winter. There will be plenty of time to discuss potential offseason moves, the big free agents on the team, and a likely managerial change (which is an absolute travesty). For tonight, we will focus solely on the game.

Chien-Ming Wang could not have been worse in the most important start of his career. Wang went only 1+ innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits. All of the momentum of Game 3 went out the window on a Grady Sizemore leadoff homer. A Jhonny Peralta 2 out single further put Cleveland in the driver’s seat later in the season. Even though he was on short rest, his ball was not sinking. He was overthrowing, perhaps too antsy about the magnitude of the start. Either way, the 19 game winner spit the bit. Wang was supposed to be the ace of the staff. He lost two of the three necessary to eliminate this team on his own. There are no excuses. The past few years, Alex Rodriguez has taken the brunt of the blame. Wang deserves the same heat for this early winter.

Wang’s velocity had nothing to do with his rough start, despite what the TBS announcers suggested. Chien-Ming always throws hard. It is what makes him unique as a sinkerballer. Him throwing at 95 was not the same sign of trouble that it would be for another pitcher relying on the sinker. One would think the network’s alleged A-Team would have done some research before the game.

Wang was knocked out in the 2nd on a horrible call by Fieldin Culbreth. Culbreth ruled that Kelly Shoppach was hit by a pitch on a bunt attempt, while replays clearly showed the pitch hitting the bat. The way Wang was pitching, this game probably would not have been much different, but that call certainly did not help a team that was having a bad night. Shoppach got away with catcher’s interference on Hideki Matsui in the bottom of the inning.  Theformer Red Sox prospect must have pictures on the umpire.

Mike Mussina relieved Wang. He was not terrible, but he needed the same kind of superhuman effort that Phil Hughes delivered in Game 3 or that he delivered back in 2003 in Game 7 against the Red Sox to keep the club in the game. Moose let 2 inherited runners score and gave up 2 of his own in 4.2 innings. Mike was not a primary reason the team lost, but his performance essentially ended all hope.

The offense had chance after chance to bail out Wang but could never deliver the big hit. The Yanks had first and second with 1 out in the 1st and did not score. They had the bases loaded and 1 out in the 2nd and scored once.  Paul Byrd gave these guys plenty to hit. Everybody pressed in big spots, swinging too hard and expanding their respective strike zones too far. A lineup of this caliber should never be held to 2 runs against a guy with stuff as hittable as Byrd’s. This game should have been much closer.

New York’s last real chance to make a run came in the bottom of the 6th. The Yanks had men on the corners with 1 out. The Great Jeter ended the rally by grounding into a double play. He did have a pair of hits, including an RBI single to put the team on the board in the 2nd, but that at bat was a killer. The Great Jeter ended the series with a .176 batting average. Considering how many great Octobers he has had for this team, he was due to have a bad postseason somewhere. Anybody who says that Jeter deserves the same criticism that A-Rod got last year is full of baloney. The Great Jeter has done more for this franchise than Rodriguez ever will. That is why he gets more of a pass.

A-Rod had a decent game in what might have been his Yankees finale. Alex had a pair of hits, including a solo homer. He had a pair of awful at bats early, including a strikeout with a pair on in the 1st. Rodriguez could have had more of an impact, but his performance was not the deciding factor. He failed to carry the team on his back as he did all year, but there were guys who played much worse. A-Rod deserves no excessive praise, but he also deserves to escape scathing criticism this winter.

Another season ends with a whimper. Fans should be bitterly disappointed. However, reactions to this loss likely will show just how spoiled many Yankees fans are. There is a lot of joy to take from this season. The Yankees made a marvelous comeback to even qualify for the postseason. None of the other seven participants in the 2006 postseason made it back. The Yanks have been in for twelve years under Joe Torre. This team not only won, it developed young talent that will form the nucleus of a contender for years to come in the process. This was a bad year, and the team still made it to October. Was this the ideal ending? Of course it was not, but if winning the World Series was so easy, there would have been a repeat champion this decade. This is horrible, but too many times we miss the big picture. I have been as guilty as anybody in the past. This season was not an unqualified success, but it also was not a complete failure, despite what some might think.

I would like to thank everybody who took the time to read this blog in the 2007 season. I would also like to thank Jason for coming aboard as a cowriter. He did a fantastic job keeping this place active during much of the summer. I will not be going into my normal hibernation this offseason. There will be too much activity to do that so keep on checking TheYankeesBlog.com. Good night and God bless to all.

Inspirational Video

The YouTube link I posted prior to Game 3 clearly got the Yankees fired up. It is time for a new one before Game 4. This song might be a cliche at this point for not giving up, but it still applies well to this situation.

2007 ALDS Game 3 Yankees 8 Indians 4: Staying Alive

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.

Inspirational Video

The Yankees’ might face long odds, but they can take heart. There are plenty of people who have faced longer odds and overcome them by never quitting.

This Is NOT Over

An 0-2 hole is daunting. Last night’s loss was devastating. People need to remember, though, that it takes 3 wins to end a series. If people are down, they should look to 3 numbers for hope.

*52-29

That was the Yankees’ home record this year. New York returns home for Games 3 and 4. Cleveland is off to a great start, but those games were at Jacobs Field. That crowd took them to another place. Most of those players have never faced a crowd like they will see on Sunday night. It is one thing for a young team to play well in front of a raucous crowd cheering for it. It is quite another for the same young team to not get rattled by a hostile environment. Cleveland also had a pair of Cy Young candidates take the hill for those games. Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd are not C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona. They are very hittable, and the Yanks have a great track record of success against both.

*21-29

That was the Yankees’ record at one point this season. This team was written off and left for dead by a number of pundits. This club thrived on that adversity and played its best ball when it had to. The Yankees have had their backs against the wall before, and they could not have responded better. Why would they play any differently in the same situation once again?

*7-2

That was the score in the 8th inning on September 14 in Fenway Park. The Yankees scored 6 before making an out in that inning to register an 8-7 win. If anybody doubted this team’s mettle after their comeback during this season, that game should have erased it. I wrote after that game, ”This was more than just a win. It was a sign that this team can realistically win a championship this season. The Yankees can carry this with them for the rest of the year. They can call on this experience when things look bleak in October. If they can overcome a 5 run deficit off a pair of the game’s best relievers without recording an out, they will have confidence in any situation.” Over the past few years, we have seen Yankees teams fold like an accordion when faced with tough spots in October. The 2007 version looks different.

People may say that this situation is different from the situation in 2001, when New York overcame an 0-2 hole in the ALDS against Oakland. The Yankees do not have the same championship core that they did back then, but the situation being different is not entirely a negative. This time the Yanks are going home, not across the country. The losses came on the road, not at home. Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd are not Barry Zito and Cory Lidle, at the time arguably the best 3 and 4 starters in the game. The Yankees need a single good performance. If they take the game on Sunday, the pressure shifts to Cleveland. This Indians team has never been in a situation like this before. They could easily start to doubt themselves in front of a hostile crowd. If the Yankees can ride their home crowd to Game 5, anything can happen. New York will likely have Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte on the mound for the final pair of games in this series. Those are the two most reliable starters on the roster. The point is that things may look bad now, but all is not lost.

2007 ALDS Game 2 Indians 2 Yankees 1 (11 Innings): Heartbreaker Pushes Season to Brink

The Yankees suffered the most devastating loss of their season last night. The Indians took Game 2 of the ALDS by a 2-1 score in 11 innings. Cleveland now leads the best of 5 series 2-0. They have 3 chances to advance to the ALCS. The Yankees’ season will end if they cannot put together a 3 game winning streak.

Andy Pettitte pitched his best game since Game 5 of the 1996 World Series. The lefty did not give up a run in 6.1 innings, despite 7 Cleveland hits and 2 walks. Pettitte’s $16 million salary might seem exorbitant to the casual observer because he does not have the best stuff or the best stats. What he does have is elite focus. On a night when his offense gave him next to nothing with which to work, Pettitte gave the Tribe absolutely nothing. No sequence displayed that better than the 6th inning. Grady Sizemore led off with a triple, one of the few balls hit hard against Andy. The lefty calmly set down Asdrubel Cabrera,  Travis Hafner, and Victor Martinez, the heart of Cleveland’s order, in order to strand Sizemore. None of those dangerous hitters even made solid contact. Andy was just a magician. He had escaped trouble in the previous inning by alertly nailing Kenny Lofton, who was trying to steal third. Cleveland’s offense was an exercize in futility against Pettitte. Even when men were on base, it was hopeless. Given how well Fausto Carmona pitched, the Yanks had to win that game 1-0. Pettitte did his part to make sure that happened.

Carmona pitched the game of his life. It is tough to blame anybody in New York’s lineup for not hitting. It does not matter how good a team hits normally. When a pitcher combines the velocity, location, and movement that Carmona’s pitches had last night, hits will be at a premium, let alone runs. A team just has to make sure it takes care of business when opportunities do present themselves, as Melky Cabrera did when he hit a homer off a hanging slider in the 4th inning to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Carmona showed perhaps the biggest reason that the Yankees have failed to win the World Series in recent years. Yes, there are other factors, but before they reacquired Pettitte, they had no shutdown starter to pitch must-wins like Carmona. Fausto deserves a tip of the cap. The young starter stepped up to the mound and fed off the crowd in the biggest game of his life. He stood tall against the best lineup in baseball. Get on A-Rod if you would like, but it would not be justified. A lineup with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and Lou Gehrig would have been hard-pressed to score against Carmona.

Joba Chamberlain picked a bad time to fail for the first time in the Majors to say the least. The righty took the mound in the 8th inning with a 1-0 lead. He started the inning by walking Grady Sizemore on 4 pitches. A sacrifice and 2 wild pitches later, the game was tied. Things would have been worse had Doug Mientkiewicz not made a nice play on a ball hit right on the screws by Travis Hafner. He walked another and hit yet another with a pitch. Joba seemed to lose his cool on the mound. He never had been this wild in the past. In a bizarre twist, a legion of bugs descended on Jacobs Field when he took the mound and seemed to leave after the inning. It literally looked like a scene from the Book of Exodus, when Moses put plagues on the Egyptians. That is still no excuse for Joba. This is the postseason. There is going to be adversity. He had been unflappable up to this point. He could have pitched through it. Instead the dominanting rookie pitched his team closer to its downfall.

After Joba left and Mariano Rivera preserved the tie for 2 innings, Joe Torre had to call on Luis Vizcaino to pitch the bottom of the 11th. Rafael Perez had pitched a pair of dominant innings for Cleveland. Viz walked Kenny Lofton on 4 pitches to start the frame, showing signs of rust after all the time he needed off for his tired arm. In certain situations, failure to execute a sacrifice bunt is a blessing in disguise. That was the case for Franklin Gutierrez, who fouled off a pair of bunts before singling on the ground to left. Casey Blake sacrificed men to second and third. Vizcaino walked Grady Sizemore intentionally. It was a necessary move to set up a force at every base and to bring up Asdrubal Cabrera, but it was risky for a guy with location problems like Vizcaino was having. Luis got Cabrera to pop a pitch up to the right side. The intentional walk did end up looming large against Travis Hafner, though. Vizcaino let the count get to 3-2, which forced him to groove a pitch, which Hafner lined to right for a game-winning single. It is worth noting that Vizcaino got squeezed on a pitch early in the count, but he sealed his own fate through his lack of command. In a game like this, the thinness of New York’s bullpen was its downfall. Cleveland had quality pitchers to send out for a long time. The Yanks were shot after Joba and Mo. It would have been nice to have Phil Hughes for the 11th instead of wasting him in the Game 1 blowout.

This is going to be a tough loss for the Yankees to overcome emotionally. A travel day to make some sense of it could not come at a better time.  The season comes down to the next 3 games. Roger Clemens will take the mound in what could be the final start of his career on Sunday. Sometimes a big outing can completely turn a series around. At this point, the Yanks just need a spark to shift momentum. Somebody needs to step up.

2007 ALDS Game 1 Indians 12 Yankees 3: Wang Crushed

The Yankees took a 12-3 beating at Jacobs Field tonight to open the ALDS. Cleveland leads the best of 5 Division Series 1-0. New York could not have opened the postseason in worse fashion. The Indians came out and steamrolled the Yankees.

Chien-Ming Wang was a no show. The righty gave up 8 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks in 4.2 innings. Cleveland had nobody on and 2 outs in the 1st, and Wang gave up 3 runs. Even had he shut the Tribe down the rest of the way, it would have been a bad outing. Wang took what should have been an easy inning handed a big lead and all the momentum to a potential Cy Young winner right out of the gate. Things got worse from there. Chien-Ming battled his way through the next few innings. The offense battled to get the score to 4-3 in the 5th. Then the wheels fell off. Wang gave up 4 runs and 3 hits to completely take the team out of the game. In case you are scoring at home, he dug his team a huge hole twice and never let his team sustain any kind of momentum. This loss was on Wang. Considering his struggles on the road and Andy Pettitte’s experience, Joe Torre chose the wrong pitcher. That does nothing to exonerate the actual starter. Wang won 19 games. He has matched up with aces in big games before. He brought nothing to the table and gave the Yanks no shot.

C.C. Sabathia was not very sharp. The lefty walked 6 men in 5 innings, giving up 3 runs. The Yankees worked him, driving up his pitch count aside frpm a stretch during the middle of his outing when he was dominant. That stretch showed why the Yankees have had problems in recent postseasons. They wait for a perfect pitch at the plate. The best pitchers on the best teams make quality pitches early in counts to get ahead, getting New York’s hitters just where they want them. What the Yanks did worked against Sabathia. Johnny Damon and Robinson Cano both hit homers, capitalizing on mistakes. The Yanks put together a rally down 4-2 in the 5th inning, but The Great Jeter flew out with 2 on, Jorge Posada struck out with the bases loaded, and Hideki Matsui popped out after Posada. It should have been an indication at that point that this was not New York’s night when these go to guys could not produce.

Shelley Duncan was one of the few bright spots. His terrific at bat leading off the 5th sparked the rally.  Shelley turned an 0-2 count into an 8 pitch at bat, taking and fouling off pitches, until he lofted a single into right. This at bat showed why Shelley should be able to stick in the Majors for years and not turn into the flash in the pan that Kevin Maas was. Shelley is not just a slugger with a big swing. He has a good eye, wastes pitches, and shortens his swing to go the other way when it is necessary. He is an intelligent hitter. Duncan will never be a star, but he did display why he is a valuable bench bat.

Johnny Damon’s homer to lead the game off shows the lunacy in arguments against instant replay in baseball. They argue it would bring unnecessary delay to the game. What about all the time wasted by Joe Torre coming out to argue and the delay in the umpire meeting? How would it be worse than using that time by just reviewing the play to make sure it was called absolutely correctly? There are already delays with bad calls. Bringing in instant replay in some form would just utilize this time more efficiently.

Even in the blowout, Eric Wedge inexplicably used both Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez. The duo combined to throw 53 pitches, putting their Game 2 status into some doubt.  The Yanks might owe Wedge on Friday for wasting bullets out of the arms of his top relievers.

Joe Torre returned the favor by pitching Phil Hughes 2 innings after the game had gotten out of hand. If Joe was going to use Hughes, he should have utilized him earlier when the game was still within reach and it was obvious that Wang was struggling.  Hughes will now likely be unavailable on Friday for Game 2 in case Andy Pettitte gets roughed up, gets hurt, or the game goes extra innings. Guys like Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth are on the roster to eat up meaningless innings. Hughes has an important role on the team. It was pointless to waste him in a blowout.

Ross Ohlendorf gave up 3 runs in 1 inning. This kid had no business being on the postseason roster over the likes of Chris Britton and Ron Villone. He has good stuff, but just over 6 innings of September baseball was not enough to get him ready for this series, given his struggles in the minors this year. The Yanks set Ross up to fail. Hopefully throwing him needlessly to the lions does not damage his confidence because this is a pitcher with promise.

There is a good omen from this loss. During the Joe Torre era, the Yankees have lost Game 1 of the Division Series 5 times. They won all 5 of those series. They have won Game 1 on 6 occasions prior to tonight and lost 4 of those series.  Joe seems to be able to motivate a team after dropping a game. That might be small consolation because the Yanks certainly wanted to play better, but it is all one can hold onto at this point.

Another halfway good point is that the loss was a blowout. Close defeats are tough to get over. Blowouts are easier to shake off. The Yankees just had a bad night. They did not burn Joba Chamerlain or Mariano Rivera in a losing cause. There are indeed ways to make the best of a bad situation.

The Yankees need a win in Game 2. Andy Pettitte has a load of experience in digging his team out of 0-1 holes. In his last postseason in New York, he did it on 3 occasions. Andy will be up against Fausto Carmona. On paper, Cleveland has the edge. Judging from history, there is no more trustworthy starter for the Yanks. The Division Series is not over even with a loss on Friday, but 1-1 heading home will be a heck of a lot more managable than 0-2.

ALDS Game 1 Thread: Yankees at Indians

I will leave this thread open for comments during the game.

Pitching Matchup: Chien-Ming Wang (19-7, 3.70 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (19-7, 3.21 ERA)

Weather at First Pitch: Sunny, 75 Degrees

Random Note: The Great Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Kenny Lofton all played in the 1998 ALCS, the last postseason meeting between these teams.

Lineups:

New York Yankees

1. Johnny Damon LF

2. The Great Jeter SS

3. Bobby Abreu RF

4. Alex Rodriguez 3B

5. Jorge Posada C

6. Hideki Matsui DH

7. Robinson Cano 2B

8. Melky Cabrera CF

9. Doug Mientkiewicz 1B

Cleveland Indians

1.Grady Sizemore CF

2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B

3. Travis Hafner DH

4. Victor Martinez C

5. Ryan Garko 1B

6. Jhonny Peralta SS

7 .Kenny Lofton LF

8. Franklin Gutierrez RF

9. Casey Blake 3B

ALDS Preview

The Yankees find themselves 11 wins from championship 27. The quest begins again tonight. The first step of the journey will be difficult. The Indians are a worthy foe. Can the Yankees advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2004?

The Yankees swept the 6 game season series against the Tribe. We have seen time and again how little the regular season means when it comes to October. The latest lesson was the way the Tigers manhandled the Yankees last October after New York had dominated the regular season series against the boys from MoTown. In this case, the wins might have been a tad deceiving because C.C. Sabathia did not pitch for Cleveland. The dominance of the regular year may not guarantee New York anything, but it does display that the Yanks match up very well with Cleveland.

Many point to the starting rotations as an area of advantage for Cleveland. There is no doubt that C.C. Sabathia should have the edge over Chien-Ming Wang in Game 1, especially considering the game is at Jacobs Field. Sabathia had a Cy Young season and has postseason experience from 2001, his rookie year. The timing of New York’s offense could be off from the 3 day wait between the last game of the regular season and Game 1. Wang was up and down on the road all year long. He is going to have a tough time holding down the Cleveland offense on 7 days of rest, not an optimal wait for a sinkerballer.

After that, though, the edge shifts to New York. Fausto Carmona had a breakout season, winning 19 games and posting a 3.06 ERA. There still is no telling how he will hold up under the pressure of October. This would be not alarming had he not fallen flat onto his face as Cleveland’s closer last year, unable to hold up under the pressure of pitching in the 9th inning. Fausto failed miserably when faced with scrutiny. The same cannot be said of Andy Pettitte, a man who has made a living winning big games in October through his career. Andy is back in his traditional Game 2 role for the Yankees. Andy has had some postseason hiccups in the past, but his 14 career wins in the playoffs show that he gets up for critical contests. Cleveland sends Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd to the mound in Games 3 and 4 in Yankee Stadium. New York owns both pitchers. Westbrook has an ERA over 8.00 against the Yankees since 2004. They scored 12 runs in 8.2 innings against him this season. Byrd has been just as bad and gave up 8 in 2 innings in his only 2007 meeting against the Yankees. He is a guy who tries to get his hitters to chase at bad pitches. New York’s offense is too disciplined for that and tees off on Byrd’s pedestrian stuff when he tries to challenge hitters. Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina are both wild cards at this point, but both have thrived when given long rest this season. Both enter the series on good notes.

Many portray the bullpen as Cleveland’s main strength. The two Rafael’s, Betencourt and Perez, comprised as dominant of a setup pair as there was in baseball in 2007. Aaron Fultz and Jensen Lewis give Eric Wedge two more reliable options out of the bullpen. The Indians’ achilles heel from the bullpen is their closer, Joe Borowski. Borowski’s entrance into a game will be New York’s golden opportunity to win it late. The Yankees have the two best relievers in the series, Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain, but Cleveland might have the next best four. Luis Vizcaino will be a major x-factor. He has had plenty of time off to rest a tired arm. If he can return to form, the Yanks will have a ‘pen that matches up well with Cleveland’s. The Yanks also would be helped if Kyle Farnsworth, Ross Ohlendorf, and/or Jose Veras can channel their great stuff into consistent results. Depending on the night, those three can be unhittable or lit up like a Christmas tree. If they can suddenly channel David Weathers and Graheme Lloyd in 1996, this team will be tough to beat.

There is really no doubt which team has the better offense. The Yankees hold significant hitting edges at third base, shortstop, second base, and rightfield. New York is also better at catcher and leftfield. The bench of Giambi, Molina, Betemit, and Duncan is deeper than Michaels, Nixon, Shoppach, Barfield, and Gomez. The Yankees are in much better shape to overcome an early deficit not only because of their offensive firepower but also because they have an edge with Phil Hughes as a long man, opposed to Aaron Laffey. Hughes came into his own down the stretch, pitching better than his numbers would indicate. He dominated Cleveland’s offense in his only start of 2007 against the Tribe. He should be able to hold down the Indians and give his team a chance to come back when called upon.

This is a very favorable matchup for the Yankees. Wang is likely to lose the opener, but Pettitte is a proven stopper. The Yanks have gotten to Carmona before, and they should be able to hit him in Game 2. The offense should be able to break out against subpar opposition starters in Yankee Stadium. It is unlikely Clemens and Mussina both will pitch poorly after extra rest. The Yanks should be in good shape, even if Hughes does need to stop the bleeding in one of these games. New York has the pitching to get the ball to Joba Chamberlain, who will not have heavy restrictions in this series. Joba can get the ball to Mariano Rivera, who always kicks it into another gear in October. Some call New York’s starting pitching shaky. It will be good enough to give leads to the team’s best 1-2 punch since Rivera-Wetteland in 1996. The Yankees will move to the ALCS.

Prediction: Yankees in four

NY Post on Cleveland’s Bullpen

Fred Kerber of the New York Post wrote a piece on how successful the Indians’ short relief was during the regular season.

 In Cleveland, closer Joe Borowski, with a 5.07, was something of a high wire act all season. He would come in and paramedics stood by with paddles. But the bottom line: Borowski led the American League in saves with 45. OK, he blew eight, but his teammates are standing by him.

“More times than not, he got the job done,” right-handed Jake Westbrook said.

And in Borowski’s eyes, the main two-man bridge before him made all the difference. And that’s a pair of Rafaels: right hander power man Rafael Betancourt with power and command and left hander Rafael Perez, the seventh-inning set-up specialist with a slider that has been ruled illegal in 37 states.

Cleveland’s biggest problem is that they have by far the worst of the three pitching the 9th inning. Borowski is living proof that the save statistic is overrated. Either Perez or Betancourt could have registered 40 saves. Borowski is extremely hittable. Facing him after hard-throwers like Perez and Betancourt speeds up bats. Borowski owning the closer role also makes it most likely that the opposition will face the weakest short reliever on the team. If C.C. Sabathia pitches 8 innings, the Yanks will bypass Betancourt and Perez, instead of facing a dominant reliever. If Chien-Ming Wang goes 8, Cleveland will face Mariano Rivera. What Eric Wedge is doing would be equivalent to Joe Torre using Kyle Farnsworth as his closer, allowing the Tribe to avoid facing his best reliever. Borowski hardly fits in the category of Rodriguez, Papelbon, and Rivera in the club for American League postseason closers.  The Yankees have made a habit of clubbing pitchers with stuff as pedestrian as Borowski’s. Indians fans should be nervous with any tight 9th inning lead in this series.