What the hell happened Yankees?
So I was about to jump off the roof when...
Ok, it wasn't that bad. Ok, it WAS that bad. Game 1 went about as bad as it could go. Wang got bombed and the offense let Sabathia off the hook last night when they had him in trouble in the first. Pettite is going tonight and I would bet money (Zac?) that he will pitch very well tonight and the Yankees will tie it up at one game a piece.
The thing that upset me is that Wang threw too many breaking pitches. It's like Ed has said so many times, you don't want to change what got you there. There being the playoffs and winning 19 games. The guy throws 94 mph sinkers and makes you hit it into the ground. Why change that? Supposedly the Indians are a good fastball hitting team. So what? It seemed like every hard hit ball off Wang - and yes there were plenty - were off breaking balls last night. That's not his strength. Bad gameplan. As for Sabathia, the guy is throwing harder than ever. He looked good when he wasn't missing the strike zone.
The big worries for me are Clemens going in game 3 now. The guy hasn't pitched in 3 weeks. I'm very worried. I wouldn't have been as worried had Wang won. You could almost experiment with Clemens going in Game 3, but now? I would rather see Hughes or Ian Kennedy. 5 Game series' are tough. Since the Indians are such a good fastball hitting team we're definitely going to win Mussina's start. The guy hasn't thrown a fastball in 2 years.
3 comments:
I was worried about Wang in the playoffs, along with the other young Yankee arms, before the playoff seedings were even set. Wang's a groundball pitcher, which means that hitters consistently make contact. Against a team like Cleveland, that's good at manufacturing runs, that's not a good combination. Cleveland's roster has also demonstrated good power (albeit young and uproven) and have been going up against, and beating, the likes of Justin Verlander and Johann Santana all year. They beat Santana 3 seperate times this past season (Sabathia did it twice). Wang's also young and hasn't necessarily pitched in these kinds of spots outside of last year's playoffs.
That said, you have to feel confident about Pettite tonight. Clemens in game 3 is tricky but if the Yanks are facing an elimination situation, I'd start him...with a very short leash. The over-arching concern may be Wang in a game 5 situation if it gets to that point.
I think you'll tie tonight. If they could have started with Pettite they should have. They didn't and Wang got weirded out and changed what was working for him. Clemens will get you the second win-Torre is going with a veteran in game 3 to (hopefully) take a 2-1 lead and gain the momentum they need for the ALCS. It's getting the 3rd win I would worry about.
Does anyone else find it ironic that the INDIANS beat the YANKEES on Columbus Day?
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