Two-Man Show Has Yanks on Top
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees are one game from the World Series, one win from the stage they abandoned five years ago in an epic playoff collapse. Their best players are playing their best when it matters the most.
C. C. Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez powered the Yankees to a 10-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday at Angel Stadium. The Yankees lead the series, three games to one, and can clinch their 40th pennant in Game 5 on Thursday night.
They have not been to the World Series since 2003, when they lost to Florida in six games and reacted by trading for Rodriguez, the reigning most valuable player who wilted the next four Octobers. When they missed the playoffs last year, the Yankees responded by signing Sabathia, the most coveted pitcher on the free-agent market.
Working on three days’ rest, Sabathia repeated his Game 1 performance, allowing one run in eight innings. Rodriguez had the best game of his scintillating postseason, with a homer, a single, a double, a stolen base and three runs.
Sabathia allowed a Kendry Morales home run and only four other hits, striking out five and throwing 95 miles per hour in the eighth inning. He is 3-0 with a 1.19 earned run average in three postseason starts. Rodriguez is batting .407 (11 for 27) with 5 homers, 11 runs batted in and 9 runs in the playoffs.
The Yankees had little trouble with Scott Kazmir, the left-hander the Angels acquired from Tampa Bay in August. Kazmir had humbled most of the Yankees while pitching for the Rays, but past results do not often mean much against a hot team.
Kazmir kept the Yankees quiet for a while, but they broke through in the fourth, an inning that started with a single by Rodriguez. Up next was Jorge Posada, batting fifth because of his strong track record off Kazmir. Manager Joe Girardi was widely criticized for his strategy in Game 3, but this move worked; Posada doubled past third base.
With runners at second and third, Matsui struck out and Robinson Cano tapped a ball to second. The infielders were playing halfway, and Howie Kendrick charged the ball and fired home. But his throw was high, and Rodriguez slid hard into home for the run.
Kazmir moved Cano to second by walking Nick Swisher, and then could not put away Melky Cabrera after getting ahead in the count. Cabrera chopped a two-run single through the left side, snapping the Yankees’ 0-for-25 streak with runners in scoring position and giving them a 3-0 lead.
By the third out, Kazmir had thrown 85 pitches. Sabathia completed his half of the inning with 38. Kazmir had just four pitches left, and his final line was four innings, six hits, four runs and four walks. The Angels had hoped Kazmir would be an October weapon against the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees, but both teams have hit him hard.
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia pulled Kazmir before he could face Rodriguez in the fifth. After a leadoff single by Mark Teixeira, he summoned Jason Bulger, who had fanned Rodriguez in Game 1.
Bulger had no such luck this time. Rodriguez turned on his second pitch, a 92 m.p.h. fastball, and launched it out to left for his fifth home run in the playoffs. Only one Yankee, Bernie Williams in 1996, has ever hit more homers in a postseason, with six. Williams played 15 games that postseason; Rodriguez has played 7.
The Yankees were ahead by 5-0, and by the end of their half of the inning, the umpires were part of the story again. A missed call by the left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi had marred the second game of the division series against Minnesota, and there were several questionable calls in the middle innings Tuesday.
In the fourth, replays showed Kazmir picking Swisher off second base, but Dale Scott missed the call. When Swisher got to third, he tagged up on a fly out by Johnny Damon — but was called out for leaving too early, though replays did not show that conclusively.
In the fifth, Swisher batted with Cano at second and Posada at third (Posada had pulled a nifty trick of stealing second yet failing to score on a double). Swisher bounced to pitcher Darren Oliver, who threw to catcher Mike Napoli as Posada came home.
Posada treaded back to third, where Cano was headed, and Napoli tagged both runners. Cano was a foot or so off third, and Posada was off to the foul side of third base. Yet only Posada was out. The normally upbeat Angels fans howled in protest, chanting a swear word at the umpires in unison.
None of the calls effected the scoreboard, but they repeated a discouraging theme for Major League Baseball, whose umpires are highly scrutinized every October and often make calls contradicted by replays.
In any case, Sabathia and the offense kept the umpiring in the background. It was Sabathia’s first start on three days’ rest since last year’s division series, when he could not complete four innings for Milwaukee.
That was his fourth start in a row on short rest, necessitated by the Brewers’ madcap push for a wild card. There was no such desperation for the Yankees, who cruised to 103 victories and gave Sabathia extra rest for each of his last four starts before the playoffs.
Sabathia promised he would be fine for Game 4, predicting a slight drop in velocity but nothing that would limit his effectiveness. Instead, he threw hard, bent wicked sliders, and retired the side in half of his innings.
Unless the Angels win on Thursday and again in New York on Saturday, Sabathia’s next start will be Oct. 28 at Yankee Stadium for the first game of the World Series.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees are one game from the World Series, one win from the stage they abandoned five years ago in an epic playoff collapse. Their best players are playing their best when it matters the most.
C. C. Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez powered the Yankees to a 10-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday at Angel Stadium. The Yankees lead the series, three games to one, and can clinch their 40th pennant in Game 5 on Thursday night.
They have not been to the World Series since 2003, when they lost to Florida in six games and reacted by trading for Rodriguez, the reigning most valuable player who wilted the next four Octobers. When they missed the playoffs last year, the Yankees responded by signing Sabathia, the most coveted pitcher on the free-agent market.
Working on three days’ rest, Sabathia repeated his Game 1 performance, allowing one run in eight innings. Rodriguez had the best game of his scintillating postseason, with a homer, a single, a double, a stolen base and three runs.
Sabathia allowed a Kendry Morales home run and only four other hits, striking out five and throwing 95 miles per hour in the eighth inning. He is 3-0 with a 1.19 earned run average in three postseason starts. Rodriguez is batting .407 (11 for 27) with 5 homers, 11 runs batted in and 9 runs in the playoffs.
The Yankees had little trouble with Scott Kazmir, the left-hander the Angels acquired from Tampa Bay in August. Kazmir had humbled most of the Yankees while pitching for the Rays, but past results do not often mean much against a hot team.
Kazmir kept the Yankees quiet for a while, but they broke through in the fourth, an inning that started with a single by Rodriguez. Up next was Jorge Posada, batting fifth because of his strong track record off Kazmir. Manager Joe Girardi was widely criticized for his strategy in Game 3, but this move worked; Posada doubled past third base.
With runners at second and third, Matsui struck out and Robinson Cano tapped a ball to second. The infielders were playing halfway, and Howie Kendrick charged the ball and fired home. But his throw was high, and Rodriguez slid hard into home for the run.
Kazmir moved Cano to second by walking Nick Swisher, and then could not put away Melky Cabrera after getting ahead in the count. Cabrera chopped a two-run single through the left side, snapping the Yankees’ 0-for-25 streak with runners in scoring position and giving them a 3-0 lead.
By the third out, Kazmir had thrown 85 pitches. Sabathia completed his half of the inning with 38. Kazmir had just four pitches left, and his final line was four innings, six hits, four runs and four walks. The Angels had hoped Kazmir would be an October weapon against the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees, but both teams have hit him hard.
Angels Manager Mike Scioscia pulled Kazmir before he could face Rodriguez in the fifth. After a leadoff single by Mark Teixeira, he summoned Jason Bulger, who had fanned Rodriguez in Game 1.
Bulger had no such luck this time. Rodriguez turned on his second pitch, a 92 m.p.h. fastball, and launched it out to left for his fifth home run in the playoffs. Only one Yankee, Bernie Williams in 1996, has ever hit more homers in a postseason, with six. Williams played 15 games that postseason; Rodriguez has played 7.
The Yankees were ahead by 5-0, and by the end of their half of the inning, the umpires were part of the story again. A missed call by the left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi had marred the second game of the division series against Minnesota, and there were several questionable calls in the middle innings Tuesday.
In the fourth, replays showed Kazmir picking Swisher off second base, but Dale Scott missed the call. When Swisher got to third, he tagged up on a fly out by Johnny Damon — but was called out for leaving too early, though replays did not show that conclusively.
In the fifth, Swisher batted with Cano at second and Posada at third (Posada had pulled a nifty trick of stealing second yet failing to score on a double). Swisher bounced to pitcher Darren Oliver, who threw to catcher Mike Napoli as Posada came home.
Posada treaded back to third, where Cano was headed, and Napoli tagged both runners. Cano was a foot or so off third, and Posada was off to the foul side of third base. Yet only Posada was out. The normally upbeat Angels fans howled in protest, chanting a swear word at the umpires in unison.
None of the calls effected the scoreboard, but they repeated a discouraging theme for Major League Baseball, whose umpires are highly scrutinized every October and often make calls contradicted by replays.
In any case, Sabathia and the offense kept the umpiring in the background. It was Sabathia’s first start on three days’ rest since last year’s division series, when he could not complete four innings for Milwaukee.
That was his fourth start in a row on short rest, necessitated by the Brewers’ madcap push for a wild card. There was no such desperation for the Yankees, who cruised to 103 victories and gave Sabathia extra rest for each of his last four starts before the playoffs.
Sabathia promised he would be fine for Game 4, predicting a slight drop in velocity but nothing that would limit his effectiveness. Instead, he threw hard, bent wicked sliders, and retired the side in half of his innings.
Unless the Angels win on Thursday and again in New York on Saturday, Sabathia’s next start will be Oct. 28 at Yankee Stadium for the first game of the World Series.
Source: New York Times
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