Yankees Will Need to Play Better

There were more than a few encouraging signs from the Yankees in their American League Division Series sweep of the Minnesota Twins.

Alex Rodriguez finally produced some October magic, Derek Jeter delivered a big home run and another brilliant defensive play, and Mariano Rivera performed like, well, Mariano Rivera. The team even got contributions from A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain.

All of that is fine, but here’s one other point to consider: the Bronx Bombers must play better if they are going to beat the Angels in the American League Championship Series. The Yankees swept the Twins, but it also helped that the Twins made critical mistakes that helped the Yankees. It’s not so much that the Yankees won, but the Twins made miscues that practically gift-wrapped the series for New York.

Such as? Glad you asked.

The most glaring was in Game 2, where the Twins summoned closer Joe Nathan to protect a two-run lead. The Yankees held a 1-0 lead in the series, and to that point had managed all of three hits against four Minnesota pitchers. Nathan surrendered three hits, including a two-run home run by A-Rod, and the game went extra innings.

In the 11th, the Twins loaded the bases with none out against Damaso Marte and David Robertson, but failed to push in the go-ahead run.

A lot of people complain about umpire Phil Cuzzi’s blown call on a ball hit by Mauer down the left field line, which he incorrectly called foul. Mauer should have been on second base, no question about it. Yet if the Twins can’t push across the go-ahead run in that inning, they didn’t deserve to win the game. And they didn’t, losing in the bottom of the inning on Mark Teixeira’s walk-off home run off of Josa Mijares.

In Sunday’s series clincher, the Twins took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning on an RBI by Mauer. Carl Pavano, a former Yankees bust, kept his former teammates guessing through the first six innings. So what does he do when he gets a lead?

He promptly gives it up, yielding home runs to A-Rod and Jorge Posada, as the Yankees took the lead for good.

In the eighth, Nick Punto’s basesrunning mistake proved costly, as he was gunned down after a terrific play by Jeter, who saw Punto running through the stop sign at third. Punto was dead on the relay from Posada, and it killed the rally. The bullpen then promptly blew whatever chance the Twins had by allowing two tack-on runs in the 9th as the Yankees won, 4-1.

And while everybody pointed to A-Rod, did any one notice that few others hit for the Yankees? Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher hit .083, Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano and Teixeira were at .167. Hideki Matsui was .222. Phil Hughes pitched all three games, but had an ERA of 9.00.

Rodriguez had a fantastic series, hitting .455 with two home runs and six RBIs. His postseason struggles are legendary, but his shot off Nathan in Game 2 changed the series, and he crushed another home run off of Pavano. The starting pitcher with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte was solid.

But if the Yankees think the Angels are going to make the same errors the Twins made, they have another thing coming. They need to dial it up even more in the ALCS, because unlike the Twins, the Angels won’t hand them any thing.

A Team Effort Propels Yankees

It wasn’t just important that the Yankees defeated the Twins, 7-2, in Game 1 of the American League Division Series Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

What was impressive is the way the won, because if this team is going to win its first World Series title since 2000, it will need to have contributions from every one.

Wednesday night, they did.

There were the usual suspects that delivered big in October for the Yankees. Derek Jeter had a home run, scored three runs, knocked in two more. Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth. They did what they’re supposed to do in October.

They were not the only ones, however, who starred on this night. CC Sabathia, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodrgiuez, even Joba Chamberlain, contributed in this one.

If the team is going to do anything this October, they will need to continue to produce.
Sabathia and Rodriguez are the perhaps the most critical pieces, and they each delivered in their own way last night.

Sabathia pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one earned run with eight strikeouts and no walks. He also allowed a run on a wild pitch, but he handcuffed the Twins most of the night.

"I was able to hold them down," Sabathia said. "It got a little sketchy in the third, but I was able to come back and put up zeroes like I have all year - and these guys scored runs like they did all year."

Sabathia is crucial to the Yankees postseason plans. He’s their top starter, and with the unpredictable A.J. Burnett following him, the Yankees need him to be at his best. Sabathia came into the postseason with a shaky past – a 2-3 record with a 7.92 ERA – but he was superb Wednesday. He pitched the way he did during the regular season, when he was 11-2 with a 2.74 ERA after the All-Star break.

"This is what you come here for, to pitch in the postseason and play in October," Sabathia said. "It was electric tonight."

The other key figure in Wednesday’s win was A-Rod, who had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run. The numbers were gruesome. He was 0-for-29 with runners on base in postseason games dating back to Game 4 of the AL Championship Series. He hit .071 in the 2006 playoffs, and hit just .256 with six strikeouts in 14 at-bats in the 2007 divisional round.

It was just a pair of singles for A-Rod Wednesday, but it took the pressure off him. At least for a little while.

"I'm sure it makes him feel good inside," Girardi said. "Whenever you contribute, it's important. It puts you in a good place."

There were others, too. Hideki Matsui hit a two-run home run. Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and Joba combined to get four outs before handing the ball over to Rivera for the ninth. Steve Swisher, an overlooked component of the Yankee who had 29 home runs during the regular season, delivered an RBI single.

It was all good for the Yankees Wednesday against a drained Minnesota team that was playing less than 24 hours after beating Detroit in a playoff for the AL Central crown. Few people expected Minnesota would be able to win Game 1, and the Twins looked like a tired team.

Still, it was important for the Yankees to take that first step toward 11 postseason wins. What was impressive was not how they won, but in the way in which they did it. If they continue to get contributions from their entire roster, they might just win that elusive 27th World Series.

Yankees Will Be Measured by October

The Yankees clinched a spot in Major League Baseball’s postseason tournament earlier this week, but that can only be the beginning for this proud franchise.

For the Yankees, and second-year manager Joe Girardi, it’s all about October. In New York, it is always a pass/fail grade. Despite being the first team to secure a spot in the playoffs, the Yankees’ final report card won’t be distributed until next month.
Going into the playoffs, there are a few reasons to be concerned.

First, the Yankees have to take care of business and secure the AL East division title. They can take a big step toward that direction this weekend with a three-game series against Boston, their closest pursuer in the division chase. After finally winning a series in Anaheim this week, the Yankees need to keep the momentum going and play well this weekend. Boston leads the season series, 9-6, after taking the first eight games against the Yankees this season. Boston enters this weekend 5 ½ games behind the Yankees.

More importantly, however, the Yankees have to sort out their pitching. It is difficult to fathom how the team has won 97 games because 40 percent of its starting rotation has been downright frightful. Joba Chamberlain has looked lost for the past two months and the No. 5 starter has been either Sergio Mitre (3-3, 6.88 ERA) or Chad Gaudin (5-10, 4.78 ERA). Neither of them figures to be important factors in the postseason.

The wild card as the Yankees get ready for October is Chamberlain. The enigmatic right-hander gets a start tonight against the Red Sox, and it is important that Yankees see some progress after a string of poor performances.

His most recent effort was perhaps his most disappointing. Last Sunday against Seattle, Chamberlain pitched three innings and gave up seven earned runs, six hits and three walks. Ouch!

He hasn’t won a game since beating Boston on Aug. 6, and is 8-6 with a 4.72 ERA in 29 starts this season.

The Yankees have mishandled the “Joba Rules” from the outset, trying to cap his innings to protect his valuable right arm. He has only pitched six innings once in the last two months, and has been limited to three innings in four of his last five starts. He pitched four innings in the other one.

Besides Chamberlain, however, there are other concerns as well. A.J. Burnett (12-9, 4.19 ERA) has been nearly as enigmatic as Joba. He can be ridiculously nasty in one start – like he was Wednesday in Anaheim, where he struck out 11 in 5 2/3 innings – or he can be awful. He gave up six runs in seven innings in a Sept. 12 start against Baltimore. If the Yankees are going to do any thing in the postseason, they need the dominating Burnett.

Mariano Rivera anchors the bullpen, but there are questions in the bullpen as well. Phil Hughes has emerged as the eighth inning set-up man, but how will the 23-year-old perform in October? There are questions about the other relievers as well, such as Phil Coke, Alfredo Aceves, David Robertson and Brian Bruney. Can they get big outs in October?

And what happens if Alex Rodriguez has one of his famous October meltdowns? Is the lineup good enough to have an unproductive A-Rod batting in the middle of the order?

Those are some of the key questions that will be resolved. When we get the answers to them, we can the final grade to the Yankees’ season.

Yankees Coasting to Division Title

We all know there have been teams that have blown leads in September as the pennant races heat up in Major League Baseball.
The Mets did it just two years ago, when the Phillies came back from seven behind with 17 to play to steal the National League East division title. In 1964, the Phillies blew a big lead and lost the National League pennant by a game to the St. Louis Cardinals.
But don’t expect that to happen to the Yankees this year.
Heading into the final 32 games of the season, the Bronx Bombers have a commanding six game lead on Boston in the American League East race. They have 32 games left in the season, but the way the Yankees are playing, they would need a total collapse for the Red Sox to catch them. It’s not going to happen. Neither manager Joe Girardi nor anbody else on the team will say it, but this race is over.
There are some issues worth monitoring as the team heads down the stretch.
The most critical one is their pitching as the Yankees try to get their rotation set for the postseason. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are a formidable frontline, but Sabathia’s postseason history is not good (2-3 with a 7.92 ERA in five starts) and Burnett has not thrown a postseason pitch in 11 years in the majors. No one knows how he’ll do in October.
Andy Pettitte (14-9 postseason, 3.96 ERA) has a good history, but he’s not the lock that he was in his prime. The fourth starter will likely be Joba Chamberlain, and good luck trying to figure out what the Yankees have planned for him. He pitched three innings yesterday, giving up two runs and four hits, and wasn’t even in long enough to get the victory. The way the Yankees seem to be tinkering with the Joba Rules on the fly, there is no way to ascertain how effective the right-hander will be during the postseason.
The Yankees seem to have steadied their bullpen by inserting Phil Hughes into the set-up role for Mariano Rivera (36 saves, 1.83 ERA). If the starters are effective in getting the ball to Hughes, the Yankees will be fine. If they have to rely on other pitchers to get key outs in the sixth and seventh innings, they could be in trouble.
The other issue the Yankees will face is a difficult September stretch. They have six games left against a Tampa Bay squad that is fighting to make the playoffs. They also have a six-game trip to the West Coast that includes three games against the Angels, who have given the Yankees fits over the past few years. They also have three games at home against Boston in late September, and the Red Sox won’t concede the division easily.
With six games each against Baltimore and Toronto, and games against Seattle and Kansas City, the Yankees should have a big enough cushion to secure the division title.
That will put them back into the postseason after a one-year hiatus, and with them, that’s what will determine whether this season was ultimately successful. The Yankees can’t afford another early exit, and nothing less than a World Series victory will satisfy an ownership that has paid handsomely to win its 27th championship.

The division title may be within reach, and for some teams, that may be enough. The Yankees need to do more. October will be the time for the ultimate judgment on this team.

Joba Frustrates Again

Well now, this whole Joba Chamberlain move to the Yankees starting rotation is working out swimmingly, don’t you think?
Watching the big right-hander with the even bigger attitude during last night’s 10-9 debacle of a loss to the Texas Rangers was like seeing someone without a clue trying to hang wallpaper. It was ponderous, frustrating and, just when you thought success was at hand, the whole thing came unraveling and he had to start over.
Last night’s outing may have been the most frustrating of his career. Staked to a four-run lead in the first inning, Chamberlain quickly proceeded to give it all back and then some. He labored through four innings on 96 pitches, giving up nine hits, seven earned runs and three walks.
He was removed after a brutal fourth inning when the Rangers scored five times to take a 7-4 lead. He threw 44 pitches in the inning, which began to unravel with a two-out walk to Ivan Rodriguez. He then allowed five straight singles.
The seven earned runs were a career-high against Joba, and all of them came with two outs. Chris Davis, hitting eighth in the Texas lineup with a .206 average, had two hits against Chamberlain, who never seemed to find his rhythm.
"It's frustrating [to not get that third out], but at the end of the day I just didn't do what I needed to do to help this team win," Chamberlain said. "And that's the frustrating part: I just didn't have it to finish [the inning]."
The Yankees have to bear some of the responsibility for the struggles of Chamberlain, who had his fourth straight subpar start. He has not pitched beyond the sixth inning in those starts, and has allowed 19 earned runs in 20 innings. Control has been a big issue, as Joba has walked 15 batters during his four-game rut and had just 55 strikes in last night’s 96-pitch outing.
It was Chamberlain’s first start since Aug. 16, when he labored through five innings against Seattle. Manager Joe Girardi and his staff have been carefully limiting Chamberlain’s innings. The Yankees haven’t disclosed how many innings they are going to allow Chamberlain (8-4), but it is expected to be near 160. He has thrown 130 2/3 innings this season and is projected to make his next Sunday against Chicago.
"We have him scheduled starting for the rest of the season," Girardi said. "At times, he will go on extra rest."
What makes Chamberlain’s recent struggles more perplexing is his brief surge after the All-Star Break. Chamberlain returned from the break confident and fearless, and it looked like the Yankees had finally solved the Joba Riddle. He allowed two earned runs in 21 2/3 innings after the All-Star Break, and looked like the Chamberlain who dominated opponents as a set-up man for Mariano Rivera. Since then, however, Chamberlain has returned to the frustrating, inconsistent pitcher he was during the first half of the season.
No one knows where it goes from here for Joba and the Yankees, but if the team is to make a deep October run, it will need to solve the Joba Riddle over the next five weeks.