What do you get when you pit two teams with shaky bullpens but who won’t quit against each other?  Another nailbiter of a game which, fortunately for the Yankees, will qualify for Yankees Classics, as the Yanks took Game Four 7-4 with a clutch two-out, 3-run 9^th inning.

Joe Blanton did all that could be reasonably expected of him: he kept the game close, and gave his team a chance to win it.  When the Phils inched their way back to tie the game at 4-4 in the 8^th, the Phils had effectively neutralized the advantage the Yanks had by starting their ace, Sabathia, against the Phils’ #4 pitcher. 

In doing so, however, the stage for a showdown between the two teams’ bullpens had been set.  The Yanks have questionable middle relief, but the greatest closer in the history of the game in Mariano Rivera.  The Phils, by contrast, have fair-to-middling relief, and a fallen giant for a closer in Brad Lidge, who was so dominant in 2008, but has been such a liability in 2009. 

The Yanks’ bullpen faltered first in Game One, and then again last night when Joba gave up a game-tying homerun in the 8^th, despite striking out the side. 

But then with the game tied 4-4 and two outs in the top of the 9^th, it was the Phillies’ turn to have a bullpen nightmare.  In what looked at times like a surreal turn-of-events (particularly the part where Damon stole second and then third in the same play when he saw that nobody was covering it), the Yanks surged ahead 7-4, and yet another Lidge meltdown had plunged the Phillies into a 3 games to 1 hole. 

With no room left for error, and the dreaded Lidge meltdown still fresh in mind, it is possible that the Phils’ spirit is broken, and that they will go quietly tonite in Game Five, Cliff Lee notwithstanding.  But if their spirit is not broken, the Phils still have a helluva ball club; and every pitcher they face for the rest of the Series will be on 3-days’ rest. 

Still, with A.J. Burnett on the mound tonite and all the momentum going their way, the Yankees will be primed to end the Series in short order.  Like Blanton, all A.J. has to do is keep the game close.  And there’s nothing to say that A.J. just couldn’t outduel Lee; his stuff at times has been as good as anyone else’s in the game. 

With that in mind, I’ll make a bold prediction and say: expect the Yankees to jump out to an early lead.  I know Cliff Lee is pitching, and that he was great in Game One.  But baseball is a funny game, with momentum and inertia that is bigger than just one pitcher.  I expect that the Phils will put themselves into another hole tonite before they start digging their way out of it.  The key is for the Yanks to pounce and pounce hard, keep adding the runs, and never give the Phils a chance to get up.

Over the past few weeks Girardi has been repeatedly slammed for what has been described as chronic mismanagement, including but not limited to: consistently over-managing; misusing the bullpen; recklessly pinch-running for star players without any consideration for the consequences; and other crimes against humanity.  Indeed, a good amount of this criticism has come from this blog (though not from the authors of this post). 

But the last two games have shown instances of Girardi learning from his mistakes, and showing restraint where he has recently shown panic.  A prime example is the bullpen.  Girardi’s use of the bullpen in the first two rounds of the playoffs was riddled with pitching changes with his best relievers based on shortsighted individual pitching matchups – with many of these changes taking place mid-inning, and after the previous pitcher had obtained only one or two outs.   The result: when these close games went into extra innings, all the best relievers were already used and out of the game, after throwing only a handful of pitches each. 

Tonite’s performance, however, showed a more measured approach.  Andy Pettitte hurled 6 strong innings, handing the bullpen a 3-run lead.  Girardi went with Joba in the 7^th, and Marte in the 8^th, and did not pull either of these pitchers even when the pitching matchups may have favored such a change.  The only mid-inning pitching change he did make was in the 9^th, when Hughes, after getting a quick out, gave up a homerun to Ruiz.  But with slugger Matt Stairs due up next, Rollins on deck, and Utley and Howard lurking soon thereafter, it was important to close this game out before the Phils could amass any more momentum.  And there’s no better dose of Yankee reality than Mariano Rivera.  Girardi made the right move. 

Girardi is also pulling the proper levers with the position players.  For instance, starting Hairston in Game 2 for Swisher, in which Hairston got a key hit, allowed Swisher to take a break and clear his head.  All of this led to a dynamic performance by Swisher in Game 3, wherein he hit a key double, and a solo homerun, to help propel the Yankees to victory. 

In short, rather than repeating the mistakes of the last two series, Girardi is making adjustments in his management style, and appears to be finding a rhythm.  The Yankees, thanks in no small part to Girardi’s steady management in this Series, now find themselves up 2-1 in the Series with Sabathia slated to pitch in Game 4.

Game 3 started exactly the way the Phillies needed it to.  Cole Hamels set down the Yankees quickly through the first three innings, and the Phils jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Andy Pettitte, threatening in each of the first three innings.  The crowd was roaring, and the Yanks were in a real hole.

But then things started to deteriorate.  After a walk to Texeira with two outs in the 4^th inning, A-Rod hit a shot off a camera in right field which, upon further review, was ruled a homerun to cut the Phils’ lead to 3-2.  The Yanks then tied it in the 5^th with an RBI hit by Andy Pettitte (of all people), and then scored two more runs off a double by Johnny Damon to jump ahead 5-3, Hamels having been knocked out of the game after only 4 1/3 innings.  And then the Yanks continued to pick away at the Phils’ bullpen, tacking on an additional run in the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th innings to take an 8-5 victory in Game 3.

Needless to say, this was a huge victory for the Yankees.  With Sabathia slated to start in Game 4 against Joe Blanton, the Phils really needed to win Game 3 behind Cole Hamels, their recent ace, and last year’s World Series MVP.  A win in Game 3 would’ve put the Phils on track to maybe win the Series in five games and close it out in Philly like they did last year.  It would also shift the pressure to the Yankees to win Game 4 behind Sabathia on short rest.  And if for some reason the Yankees and Sabathia stumbled in Game 4 – a game they really should win given the pitching matchups – the Phils would have a rested Cliff Lee to close things out in Game 5.

Instead, the Yankees’ victory in Game 3 now puts Philadelphia in the hole.  For one, it means the Series will definitely go back to the Bronx – unless of course if the Yanks win the whole thing in five games.  It also means that the Phils now have to try to win tomorrow with their #4 starter against Sabathia.  Given how good Sabathia has been (even in his Game 1 loss to Cliff Lee), there is now an excellent chance that the Phils will find themselves down 3 games to 1 after tomorrow night. 

Clutch performances in Game 3 included Nick Swisher, who finally broke out of his slump with a rally-starting double in the 5^th, and then a solo homerun in the 6^th.  Welcome back, Swisher. 

Robinson Cano continues to suck, going 0 for 4 again.  What bothers us most about Cano is his apparent nonchalance about the whole thing.  It may be that he cares very much about not producing; but it sure doesn’t look like it to us. 

Finally, the Yankees’ bullpen put in a decent performance, with Joba and Marte putting in strong 1-2-3 innings in the 7^th and 8^th.  Phil Hughes, on the hand, continues to struggle, as Mariano had to come in for the last two outs in the 9^th.  Fortunately, Mariano only threw 4 pitches, and so will be fully available to pitch in Game 4. 

On the whole, an outstanding team effort that has knocked a very good Phillies team back on its heels.

The answer:  Probably not. 

Sure, there are certainly other ways the Yanks can win.  The Phils could fumble and collapse of their own accord (not likely).  The Yankees’ starters could all go 8 innings every start, with Mariano Rivera closing out the 9^th (tough, but can be done).  Or the Yankees’ offense could just knock the cover off the ball and win every game by a blowout, such that the performance of the Yankees’ bullpen becomes irrelevant (not likely, especially in light of Lee’s performance last night). 

But other than that, the Yanks really need the bullpen to pitch up to form – specifically, the middle relievers – or they will not win this Series.  The middle relievers have been mediocre at best; but for the most part, they’ve been lousy – and it’s primarily because Phil Hughes has not pitched as well as he has in the regular season.  Indeed, the only reason the ALCS went six games was because Hughes and the middle relievers gave Game 5 away after the offense rallied to go up 6-4 late in the game. 

They did it again last night, with Hughes opening the 8^th inning with 2 walks, and the rest of the middle relief following suit, giving up 4 runs in the last 2 innings to put the game out of reach.  True, when a pitcher like Cliff Lee has a dominant outing like he did last night, there’s not a lot a ball club can do, except wait until he shows a weakness and then pounce.  (And if that doesn’t happen, you tip your cap to the opposing team’s fine play, and you put that game behind you.)  But you have to be in it to win it – which the Yanks might have been if the score in the bottom of the 9^th with runners on first and second and no outs had been 2-0, instead of 6-0.  After the bullpen’s collapse, however, this was not to be.  And while this was a collective failure of the middle relievers, it is Hughes’ failings that have been the most significant. 

This is not to knock Hughes.  As we all know, back in April and May the Yankees were a 3^rd place team because they had a big gaping hole in the 7^th and 8^th inning between the point when the starter ran out of gas, and the point where Rivera got the ball.  The whole season turned around when Hughes went to the bullpen and became that reliable middle reliever that was missing.  Since then, Hughes has been the glue that has held the Yankee pitching together for 9 innings … and, apparently, he still is. 

But now that Hughes is not pitching up to form, are the Yankees not as vulnerable as they were back in April and May? 

It’s not clear why Hughes hasn’t pitched as well – whether it’s because he’s just had a bad couple outings; whether it’s the colder weather; or whether its because he’s now facing the best teams in baseball. 

The good news is that Hughes remains an extraordinary talent, and is the future of the franchise.  He’s got excellent stuff; and when he’s on, he’s the perfect complement to Rivera.  And, as previously discussed, great Yankees are born in the post-season.  So with that in mind, the next several games represent an enormous opportunity for Phil Hughes – a date with destiny, and one that he is no doubt worthy of.  He has had a break-out year, and so a break-out World Series for Hughes would seem only natural.  If Hughes gets back into a groove, the whole team will follow as it did last summer.  If he doesn’t, it may be a very short series for the Yanks.  We shall see.

A proud night indeed – long-awaited, and much-deserved.  Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and the New York Yankees finished off the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles tonite to win the franchise’s 40^th pennant, and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2003 to meet the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. 

While it’s hard to believe that it’s only been 6 years since the Yanks’ last trip to the Big Dance, it has felt like an eternity.  The dark days of 2004, and the ensuing chaos which followed (numerous Boston titles in various sports, a Yankees team that no longer knew how to win, the departure of Joe Torre) have loomed like a dark shadow over our hallowed franchise in a world clearly turned upside down.

But not anymore.  No matter what happens from here, this has been a season to be proud of.  The pride is back.  And victory and glory will soon be ours once again.

The Angels, for their part, went out of the ALCS the way they came in: with inexplicable defensive errors leading to crucial runs.  While these errors no doubt speeded the Angels’ demise, the Angels were nevertheless outclassed by a better team.  Honorable mention goes to the Angels’ formerly weak-hitting catcher, Jeff Mathis, who played brilliantly on defense and offense, powering 5 doubles and otherwise looking like the second coming of Johnny Bench. 

C.C. Sabathia was the ALCS MVP – a choice we agree with – though Mariano and A-Rod were close runners-up.  Since the All Star Break, the Yankees have been the indisputable best team in baseball with Sabathia on the mound.  They will have Sabathia against a very excellent Phillies team on Wednesday night in Game 1.  Given that both the Yanks and Phils have been playing like champions this post-season, while both having similar flaws in their armor, the World Series promises to be a classic matchup, which I believe will be determined simply by who wants it more.

Finally, and at the risk of being disowned by my father, I think it would be remiss not to acknowledge Girardi for his contribution.  The one thing I really like about Joe (aside from the fact that he was the catcher on the great 1998 team) is his commitment to being positive, and understanding how important that is for the team.  In a world where attitude tends to make all the difference, Joe’s commitment to focusing on what is going right for the team is a constant step in the right direction. 

Bottom line: 110 wins down; 4 to go.  Bring it home, boys!

The Yankees were predestined to lose tonite.  This was true because:

1. The Angels were at home.

2. The Angels had their best pitcher going.

3. The Angels had their backs to the wall.

So the series will return to New York, where Game 6 figures to be pivotal.  If Pettitte can’t close it out on Saturday, the Yankees will have to count on CC to win Game 7.  Either way, the Yankees will lose.

Obviously, if CC loses Sunday night, the Yankees will have collapsed, and the season will be over.  But even if he wins, the Yanks will be in trouble.  If CC pitches Sunday, he will not be available until Game 3 of the World Series.  That means Burnett will pitch Game 1 against Cliff Lee, a matchup that will favor the Phillies.  Andy will go in Game 2 against Cole Hamels.  Hamels has not done well in the playoffs so far, but he is still one of the better pitchers in the game.  If the good Hamels shows up, the Yankees could head to Philadelphia down 2-0.

So a lot is riding on Game 6.  If the Yankees want to win a world championship, they need to close out the Angels Saturday night.  A great deal will depend on the veteran left arm of Andy Pettitte.

My sons tell me I am too negative about Joe Girardi.  They point out that the Yankees are six wins from a World Championship, and that Girardi must receive some credit for this achievment.

I must respectfully continue to disagree.  If the Yankees win the World Series, it will be in spite of Girardi, not because of him.  Today’s disastrous loss to the Angels provided a showcase for Girardi’s incompetence.

The game was lost in the 6th innings.  Andy Pettitte had a 3-1 lead.  He did not have his best stuff, but he was handling the Angels’ punch and judy lineup.  With two out, Andy had a man on first and a 2-2 count on Vlad Guerrero.  For reasons passing understanding, Girardi found it necessary to come out to the mound IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AT BAT!   Remember, this is Andy Pettitte, the Yankees most experienced pitcher, a man who has been pitching in the post season since 1996.  What could possibly have been so important that Girardi felt it necessary to go to the mound and break his pitcher’s concentration???

Well, he succeeded.  Andy’s concentration was broken, and he served up a home run ON THE NEXT PITCH.  At that moment, the game was effectively lost.

But Girardi wasn’t done.  Instead of letting Joba Chamberlain start the 7th inning, he let Andy face one batter, then brought in Joba in mid-inning.  With a regular relief pitcher, this approach might have been acceptable, but Joba has been a starter most of the year.  After Girardi jerked him around the last two months of the season, it’s a wonder Joba knows what he is.  Anyway, Joba promptly fell apart and gave up the go ahead run.

In the bottom of the 8th, Matsui led off with a walk.  Girardi promptly pinch ran with Gardner.  Now at this point, the Yankees were losing 4-3, so there is a reasonable argument for putting in the faster runner.  But then Girardi ran Gardner on 0-1, the obvious place to do it.  So obvious that Mike Sciosia easily anticipated the move and pitched out.  Gardner was a dead duck.  Posada homered on the next pitch, tying the game instead of giving us a one run lead.

Worse, the Gardner move meant that there was no one in the five hole to protect Arod.  As a result, Sciosia was able to walk Arod intentionally with two out and nobody on in the ninth.

Finally, in the last inning, David Roberston got two quick outs.  For reasons unfathomable, Girardi abruptly pulled Robertson and brought in Aceves, another right hander.  Aceves had nothing, and immediately gave up two hits and the game.

What can we conclude from today’s debacle?  Two things.  First, Girardi personally threw away this game.  If the Yankees go on to lose this series, Girardi will bear direct responsibilbity for starting the team’s demise.

But second, Girardi cannot manage under pressure.  When things get tight, his insecurities kick in, and he feels compelled to try to control events.  Instead of trusting Pettitte in the 6th inning, he had to come out and meddle.  In the 8th inning, he had to substitute Gardner, with no thought of how it might affect Arod later in the game.  In the last inning, he had to tinker, even though Robertson was cruising.  Like Bobby Valentine, he always makes one move too many.

Girardi manages tight.  He can’t handle pressure.  He does not trust his players.  His bungling may cost the Yankees a chamionship.  If they do prevail, it will be in spite of Girardi and not because of him.

The Yankees hold a 2-0 lead over the Angels after winning in 13 innings last night.  Although the talking heads are hailing the game as a classic, it was actually a mess.  It was played in a downpour, which likely contributed to the sloppy play.  Robinson Cano booted two easy ground balls, and Derek Jeter – DEREK JETER! – of all people, kicked a sure double play ball late in the game.  AJ Burnett wild pitched in the tying run in the 6th inning.  The Yankees had thirteen hits, but their batting was largely negated by hitting into four double plays.  In many respects this was a game the Yankees should have lost.

But they found a way to win.  Arod has now officially exorcised his postseason demons.  The man who could not hit in the clutch poked yet another game tying home run.  With Teixeira and Cano mired in deep slumps, Arod is carrying the team.

And despite his erratic pitching style, Burnett has been the good AJ, the one who is largely unhittable.  If he continues to pitch this way, the Yankees have a one-two punch in Sabathia and Burnett that no one can match.

Derek Jeter had another home run.  Joe Buck publicly acknowledged that the numerous pundits who said Jeter was over the hill have been forced to eat their words.  The captain has the team totally focused.

Finally, the team continues to overcome Girardi’s incessant overmanaging.  Once again the peerless leader attempted to give the game away.  He emasculated the offense by prematurely removing Swisher and Matsui from the lineup.  He got a total of five outs from his three primary setup men (Coke, Joba, Hughes), then found himself squeezed and had to use Mo for 7 outs.  After Aceves gave up the lead run, he let him start the next inning, then inexpicably removed him so that Marte could face Morales.   Which would have been fine, except Morales is a switch hitter, who promptly turned around and batted right handed.  Marte got Morales, but then was inexplicably replaced by Robertson.  At that point, Girardi had only Gaudin left in the bullpen.  If the Yanks had not won in the 13th, Girardi would have been forced to use his last pitcher.  If Gaudin had proved ineffective, I guess he would have brought in Swisher, except Swish had already been removed.

But the Yankees survived him.  They continue to survive all adversity.  Perhaps they are a team of destiny.  They can prove it with six more wins.

C.C. Sabathia officially became a Yankee tonite, holding the Angels to one run over 8 innings in Game 1 to lead the Yanks to a 4-1 victory.  While C.C. has pitched well all season, tonite marked a breakthrough performance. 

As all Yankees fans know, the road to Yankee Greatness is fraught with many perils.  A blood-thirsty NY media.  An unforgiving ownership.  Hideous traffic jams on the Major Deegan.  A downright dangerous neighborhood in every direction from the ballpark.  Hungarian midgets…  (Admittedly, this last one is a fiction.)

But while many can claim to have worn the uniform and earned a living with the New York Highlanders, far fewer can claim to have actually earned the right to wear the pinstripes that are the hallmark of this great franchise.  Put another way, a ballplayer can play well during the regular season, and even win things like the Cy Young Award or the MVP.  But until he actually comes up BIG in the postseason, he will never truly know what it means to be welcomed into the Yankee family.  This is to earn the pinstripes. 

By way of illustration, Mike Mussina earned his pinstripes in Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS against Oakland when he almost single-handedly (save for the Derek Jeter flip-play) stopped a three-game Oakland sweep and turned the tide of that classic series, saving the Yankees from ignominious defeat at the hands of a younger and very talented Oakland club.  Andy Pettitte earned his pinstripes when he outdueled Cy Young winner John Smoltz in Atlanta in a 1-0 shutout in Game 5 of the 1996 Fall Classic – a victory that cemented the passing of the torch from the Braves to the Yankees as the dominant team in Baseball in the 1990s.  Likewise, Scott Brosius: Game 3 of the 1998 World Series.  The list goes on. 

Tonite C.C. joined the hallowed ranks.  True, C.C. had already turned out a quality start against Minnesota in the ALDS.  But that was C.C.’s first playoff win.  And he did it against a tired and injured (though admittedly momentum-driven) Twins ballclub.  Tonite, by contrast, he turned out an utterly dominating performance that shut down a very good Angels team before it could even get started.  When the Angels stumbled out of the gate in the 1^st inning with mental mistakes and a fluke dropped pop-up that gave the Yankees an early 2-0 lead, it was C.C. who made sure the Angels never got off the mat.

And this was not without significant efforts and adversity.  The weather was certainly not in anybody’s favor, it being a miserable 45 degrees and raining to start off the game – the coldest game in the Bronx this season.  The home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, also didn’t help with what seemed like an unusually tight strike zone.  (In fairness to McClelland, he called it tight for both teams, creating more than one occasion where pitchers, broadcasters, and fans on both sides wondered how the previous pitch could not have been a strike.)

Meanwhile, the Angels’ starting pitcher, John Lackey, was impressive in his own right.  The weather clearly was impacting Lackey’s curveball, which forced Lackey to throw more fastballs than he would’ve liked.  But he allowed neither this nor his teammates’ 1^st inning fielding incompetence to rattle him.  Instead, he grinded it out with 3 innings of fastballs, then 3 innings of breaking balls, giving up only 2 earned runs and pitching out of more than one jam through sheer mental resilience. 

And finally, there was that awesome defensive play by Angels’ catcher Jeff Mathis, who fielded an off-center one-hop throw to the plate, then lunged leftward into an oncoming A-Rod who ran him over like Tom Berenger in Major League II, but was called out anyway when it was determined that Mathis had held onto the ball.  A remarkable effort that helped keep the Angels in the game. 

But in the end it was not enough to overcome Sabathia and Rivera.  Tonite’s victory was a solid one, and will hopefully set the tone for this series.  There is still a lot of baseball to be played.  But victories like these have really got us believing that the Power and the Glory will soon be ours once again, now and forever, Yankees Universe without end, Amen.

For the first time in a very long time, the world is starting to make sense again.  Tonite the Yankees beat the Twins 4-1 to complete the three-game sweep and advance to their first ALCS in 5 years.  A-Rod continued his heroics with a solo HR, finishing the ALDS batting .455 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs – the clear MVP of the series.  The Yanks’ victory capped off a weekend where everything – and I mean everything – went our way.

With all the great things that happened this weekend – the Yanks’ dramatic Game 2 victory on Friday; the Red Sox falling behind 2 games to none, then blowing today’s would-be victory in devastating fashion; the New York Football Giants blowing out the Raiders; and the Patriots losing to Denver in overtime – the Yankee victory tonite seemed inevitable.  Things did not seem so good at first, with Pavano mowing the Yankees’ down, and the Twins drawing first blood in the bottom of the 6^th.  But the Yanks answered immediately, with homeruns by A-Rod and Posada in the 7^th.  Then, with a leadoff double in the bottom of the 8^th by Nick Punto, and the tying run poised to score, a critical base running error by Punto sealed the Twins’ fate when he ran threw a stop sign at third and was gunned down by Posada as he tried to get back to third after Jeter, in a brilliant heads-up play, threw home instead of to first on a high bouncer up the middle.  Three walks and two insurance runs by the Yanks in the top of the 9^th removed any further suspense; and Rivera came out in the 9^th to finish the job. 

The Yanks’ win tonite completed a perfect 10-game sweep of the Twins for the 2009 season.  Certainly the Twins could not hope to measure up, their heart and their late-season run notwithstanding.  Not with Justin Morneau on the DL; Joe Mauer playing hurt with a hip flexor issue; an overpowering Yankees’ offense that wouldn’t quit; and the Friday night disaster in the Bronx still fresh on their minds.  With all these things going against Minnesota, all the Yanks had to do was lean on the Twins until they fell. 

The Yanks go on to face the Angels in the ALCS.  Historically, the Yanks have struggled against the Angels, losing two short post-season series to them in 2002 and 2005.  This year is different, however.  The Yanks are focused, and they are running on all cylinders.  They also recently took 2 out of 3 from the Angels in September, to even the season series at 5-5, for what that is worth.  But most of all, the Yanks are absolutely determined to win.  They play hard all 9 innings, regardless of the score, and they get results.  They are not without flaws; but they win despite them.  And, perhaps best of all, they really seem to be having fun being the Yankees again.  The irrational expectation of the last several years, that they must win the World Series or be declared a failure for not doing so, is gone.  This team has something to win, rather than something to not lose.  And with that levity, it really is a pleasure to root for them again.  It should be an interesting ALCS.  Go Yanks!