The scheduling gurus at Major League Baseball used their considerable brainpower to decide that it was a good idea to have the teams that finished their game and post interviews less than 20 hours ago get back on the clock first today, while the teams that just had a day off yesterday get the night start, guaranteeing a finish about the time when east coast TV programming flips over to infomercials, personal chat line ads, and the rest of the domain of the angry loner. On the flip side of that decision, at least the youngster Yankee and Indian fans will get to watch their idols, while the left-coast Halo fans won’t have to ditch work early, unlike certain bloggers who will remain nameless.
After last night’s truly dismal outing by Wang and multiple squandered opportunities by the Yankee battery, it might be easy to feel a bit low. However, just as I would advise you not to say the name "Lilly" around any Cubs fans today, I would advise you to look for the silver lining: every time the New York Yankees have lost game one of a post season series, they went on to play in game two. I looked it up.
Fausto Carmona gets the ball for the Tribe this afternoon. The 23 year-old phenom from Santo Domingo faced the Yankees twice this season, allowing 14 hits and six runs over 13 innings of work. One was a fine start, wasted by Joe Borowski as described in last night’s gamer. The other was a highly serviceable, seven inning-start at the Jake where except for a solo shot by ARod, Carmona allowed a run on a ground-out twice and once on a ground ball single. However, Hughes, Chamberlain and Rivera were each superb that night and Carmona recorded the loss. Rested since September 26th, Carmona won his last seven decisions and finished the season five-hundredths of a run behind John Lackey for the AL ERA lead and has a legitimate candidacy for the Cy Young in his first full season as a starter.
Andy Pettitte gets the rock for the Bombers. Except for Tom Glavine, there is no pitcher in the history of baseball who has logged more post-season innings on the bump than the veteran from Texas. Here’s hoping for strong work from our favorite southpaw along with some vigor from the Yankee bats to earn the Yankees a split, and then it’s back to the Stadium. Go time is in one hour. Lineups follow, comment away.
Lineups.. corrected.
| New York Yankees | ||
| Johnny Damon | lf | |
| Derek Jeter | ss | |
| Bobby Abreu | rf | |
| Alex Rodriguez | 3b | |
| Hideki Matsui | dh | |
| Jorge Posada | c | |
| Robinson Cano | 2b | |
| Melky Cabrera | cf | |
| Doug Mientkiewicz | 1b | |
| Andy Pettitte | lhp | |
| Cleveland Indians | ||
| Grady Sizemore | cf | |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 2b | |
| Travis Hafner | dh | |
| Victor Martinez | c | |
| Ryan Garko | 1b | |
| Jhonny Peralta | ss | |
| Kenny Lofton | lf | |
| Jason Michaels | rf | |
| Casey Blake | 3b | |
| Fausto Carmona | rhp | |
I have to admit that I have always been a bit of a closeted Carmona booster since he hinted that he may be a bit of a Randy Newman fan by giving a certain second basemen conniptions. Coincidentally, Newman wrote a musical version of Faust.
why the hell would he put Matsui in the five hole?
That makes absolutely zero sense.
Brad, agreed. If A-Rod sees a hittable pitch this game, I’d be shocked.
I’m with you guys, Matsui in the 5 hole make absolutely no sense. Of course, I’m not a MLB manager.
The TBS announcers are talking about stealing bases, and what a runner is thinking. They basically just said “A runner looks to see if a pitcher is going to turn to first base, or throw home.” This is pretty self explanatory.
Wow, Matsui in the 5-hole? Against a lefty? Does Torre know something we don’t? Did Carmona lose a poker match and has to pay Matsui back by pitching a few down-the-middle fastballs?
Isn’t Fausto a righty?
Carmona is a righty. Putting Matsui in the 5-hole is still ludicrous, however.
I’m off to my friendly neighborhood pub to watch the game. Might be useful to have copious amounts of alcohol at hand…
Go Yankees!!!
Um. I counted and Matsui is in the 6-hole. Unless we’re discussing that Kaz fellow who plays for the Rockies? Splitting hairs, I guess, but it’s not the 5-hole.
Pete A. has him hitting 5th.
Me ^^
Despite Pete A’s connections, I trust ag a little more. The Yankee fans on his blog are a little more civil toward (outsiders/each other/Yankee players).
ESPN’s box has him at 5th too. Was Posada’s AB last night w/ bases juiced that bad? Despite two lefties back-to-back (Matsui/Cano), ag’s lineup is better, clearly.
My mistake everyone, I thought Carmona was a lefty for some reason. Anyways, we’ll see how it works out tonight. Maybe Matsui has great numbers against Carmona.
Matsui was 1-3 against Fausto this year. I’m guess that isn’t what determined his spot in the lineup tonight.
Lohud/ESPN are right and I am wrong. My lineup is wishful thinking and less-than-stellar editing from carrying over the html for the player links from last night’s thread. Corrected now.. thanks for the heads-up.
Pettitte has a 4.08 career ERA in the postseason in 34 starts, 212 IP. That’s a whole freakin season, just in Octobers!
Carmona is hitting the corners with the sinker. Looks like this strikezone is gunna be a good deal larger than last night.
Jeter at 0-2.
Carmona is nasty thus far. If only Wang had this strike zone..
11 pitches, 9 for strikes, and I’m struck at work. After half inning, no score.
That really didn’t go too well. Fausto blazing, hitting the zone, and getting a little help on the few balls where he could use it. ball really moving.
Carmona did look sick that inning.
That really didn’t go too well.
Sounds like it’s going great to me. :-D
Leadoff single by Sizemore.
Well atleast the DP cleared the bases.
463 DP. That’s the way to do it!
OK this announcer is starting to bug me alot at this point. Lots of excitement for everything that indians do well. “A single right back where it came from to lead off!” and just normal intonations for the Yanks DP.
Well, AP gets the DP love too.
> I trust ag a little more. The Yankee fans on his blog
Thanks for the kind words, Quo. But don’t go trusting me too much. Here’s look inside my baseball mind. And it ain’t my blog. They just let me scribble here in trade for cleaning up after the keggers.
AP strikes out Hafner. Let’s go Yanks!
Hafner down looking on an inside strike to end the inning.
Yeah! More like it now!
he just seemed disapointed that hafner Kd just now.
Sam – TBS is just trying to enforce a Braves-Indians alliance. Nothing personal.
The announcer just got excited about the strikeout, so I guess it’s not too bad. I wonder how they’ll act when in Yankee stadium.
Oh ya. 8 pitches first inning for AP. I hope he goes far, even with an off day tomorrow. Or better yet, the Yanks blow out Carmona, so we can save AP for game 5.
I’ve been busy at work today, what’s the word on that? Any chance for a Wang/AP 4/5?
ARod pops out to leadoff the inning.
ARod not working the count. Though it looked down the middle, and just enough to get him to pop up. All we need is a HR or two from him and I’m good.
I remember back in the days, Bernie used to carry this team…
Chokey McChokester pops up on the first pitch. I’m surprised he got a pitch that good.
Matsui working a 6 pitch walk.
Lar, I always liked Bernie. He always showed dignity and class while playing the game. An all-around great guy. It pissed me off too, because I wanted to hate him.
Carmona throws ARod a pitch right down the middle, but walks Matsui? Is this the twilight zone?
Ya, and though I used to make fun of Bernie not being clutch because he always kicked ass in ALDS and ALCS, but not as good in the World Series. Hah, how I long for those days when we get to the World Series to suck in!
I did notice how excited the announcers got for Indians hits last night. More excited than I thought was warranted for non-team-affiliated announcers. I wanted to compare it to Yankee moments, see if maybe they were just excitable guys, but I tuned in just after the fifth…
Posada draws a DP. On to the bottom of the 2nd.
It looks like it may be a doubple play fiesta tonight.
TBS announcer just said the Posada is the most underrated Yankee in recent history. Might be true, but only in a relative sense.
Posada hits a pitch that might be on the outside for a double play. A good 7 pitch at bat, but the result is not so good.
yeah paul not too much to get excited for after the 5th but it didnt seem like he got too excited for the yanks “rally” in the fifth.
VMart pops up in foul territory. Good out on a dangerous hitter.
Hey! Queen “Kill all the white people” Latifa threw out the first pitch? She’s a Yankees fan! Can’t the Indians Organization find any celebrities who root for, you know, the Indians?
Two outs as Garko grounds out.
Walks the dude with the weird spelling.
In general, I — like apparently everyone else on the planet — have been completely underwhelmed by TBS thus far.
Thomas and Ripken are AWFUL, the in-game announcers are generally terrible, except for Orsillo and Caray (who have good voices, at least), there are way too few camera angles for a playoff game, and the ones they have seem always to be in the worst spot to catch a play (their replays of the Ortiz homer were hideous — following the ball until the camera loses it right as it’s about to travel into the seats). Never mind cutting into games late, and that ridiculous lead ruler that put out there for baserunners. They also don’t deploy their strike-zone monitor — which is poorly designed and confusing (two boxes?) — enough.
So except for the bad in-studio commentators, in-game announcers, graphics and camera angles, TBS is doing a hell of a job.
Pettite should be on that Dancing show after that move.
Pettitte (15 strikes, 12 balls) not exactly pounding the zone.
Peralta steals second. Wasn’t AP the best at holding people on at some point?
Lofton also fouling off some tough pitches. And then singles to drive up Peralta. WTF.
Any story as to why Peralts spells his name with the “h” out of place?
Wow, I spoke too soon. Wow. Melky throws out Peralta, it’s still tied at 0.
MELKY!!!!!
Peralta should have been held at 3rd. Melky has been gunning people out this year like a Mob hitman.
Lofton with another hit. Is the guy holding a grudge from that failed Yankee thing?
Peralta out at the plate, according to GameDay.
At end of 2, AP at 29 pitches, Carmona at 25 pitches.
peralta should have rolled possada if he was gonna be out by that far at the plate…if ever there was a time to do it when it counts…it’s the playoffs.
I’m very pleasantly corrected, of course. I thought with Peralta’s speed. Go Melky!
Peralta goes for home, and it’s not even close. Melky’s golden arm strikes again.
Peralta was out by several strides. Lofton’s single to center was fielded quickly by Melky, who threw a one hop strike to Posada.
Peralata was out by about 5 feet. Thanks for the replay TBS.
Here’s Robby.
And TBS inexplicably does not show a replay of what they just called a “defensive gem.” *boggle*
Robby grounds out. Let’s go Melky, let’s get some things started!
Finally they show the replay, after the other Cabrera makes a nice grab to retire Cano.
*boggle*
Love that game.
I’ve never in my life found myself longing for FOX baseball coverage.
MELKY~!!!!!!!!
Melky with a bomb.
MELKY!
LECHE on D!
LECHE on O!
THEY CAN NOT CONTAIN MELKY!
the milk man taketh, and the milk man giveth!!
and why are the announcers from TBS telling us what the finger symbols mean for the indians?
he says
“slider”
and melky hits a homer….and with possada changing up signals for no reaosn earlier it makes you wonder.
Great hanging slider there.
How often do you see someone make a great plate in the field and then hits a HR on the bottom half of the inning? No idea, but this is great anyhow!
EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS
Man, Chip Caray is such a freaking Cleveland homer. Or an anti-Yankees homer.
Melky hits it hard. Silence for a second. “…Man, how far is that one going to go. It is out of here.”
Jesus christ. Maybe they think they shoot always root for the home team? Who knows. Melky is the player of the game so far.
Doug M flies out to center. Two outs.
> How often
I don’t know, but I sure am happy for Melky to break out of his recent anemia.
Doug breaks his bat and flies out meekly to center.
I wasn’t paying attention the entire flight (still at work) so I didn’t know if it was fair or not. But still.
That HR erased all doubt of bias from Chip Carey. Can you imagine if that was an indian?
let’s just hope that pettite doesn’t give away this lead like wang did.
Carmona ends the inning with 42 pitches, 27 strikes, as Damon taps a dribber. The big hit from Melky brings it 1-0 Yanks.
Andrew: until game 3, I’ll give these guys the benefit of the doubt and assume they’re just sheep for the home crowd in general.
It doesn’t change that the complete no-selling of Melky’s home run really annoyed me. You’d think he flied out given Caray’s reaction.
I bet 100% we’d hear another “CLEVELAND ROCKS!”
My only reservation left about his bias is that he’s decided to cheer for the home team in every game.
snowballa, you’re a ray of sunshine, eh? =P
Oh ya, I heard the “Cleveland Rocks!” yesterday. Other than being a homer, it was also totally lame.
This guy is Harry Carrey’s son, of course he’s a homer!
That’s too bad because Carey does have a great voice. It’s annoying to hear announcers get excited just for one team. I like it when announcers get excited, but it’s gotta be equal unless you’re watching the hometown network, and even then, I don’t think Remy and Orsillo are as bad as these guys.
Man, I forgot about “Cleveland Rocks!” That was awwwwful.
Agreed Paul. These guys are supposed to be neutral. I shudder to say it but Joe Buck is way better.
Who are the guys for the sox series?
Michaels doubles the other way to lead off the inning against AP.
I hate that funky fence at the Jake.
A Michaels double and Caray shows 10 times more emotion over it than Melky’s HR. Pathetic.
Am I the only one who’s annoyed that everyone reverts the stats to zero for the postseason? Jason Michaels is not a 1.000 hitter. Don’t ask me how, but I just know this…
Blake grounds out, moving Michaels over. 1 out.
btw that was me.
I wonder if Chip Caray would prefer to have mad cow disease or be the top broadcaster in his field.
Minky with a great play to get Sizemore and keep the runner at 3rd.
Nice. Great decision by Mientkiewicz and he holds the runner at third. Huge play.
“RBI machine Sizemore” had 78 RBIs this year
Nice play on a tough hop by Doug to freeze the run and make the play.
Doug shows why he’s a gold glover. Actually the commentary on this play wasn’t so bad. Michaels stays at third, now with two outs.
That 1-1 looked awfully close. Gah.
Sam: Steve Stone does color, and aside from his voice, has some semi-intelligent things to say. I’d take him over McCarver or Morgan, at any rate. I don’t know the lead guy, but he said some dumb crap. The color-from-the-stands guy could barely get a sentence out, and when he did, it made no sense. He was terrible.
Finally Pettitte gets a call to back-k Cabrera.
Stupid Indians.
YES! K’s Cabrera to get out of the jam. Nice pitching, and good work by Joe’s defensive alignment.
AP strikes out Asdrubal Cabrera on a full count. Nice working around the lead off double. In my book, Minky already scored a run today.
lol, “Catch Adams”
That was a perfect Robin Williams.
NICE. Pettitte is a beast. The Yankees should throw out Sean Henn before every Pettitte start.
And wow, I totally thought that they had Jack Nicholson and Robin Williams (for a second) on “Frank TV”. Now I just know it’s a guy who does pretty decent impressions. Eh.
Upon seeing the Jack Nicholson impression, I thought “holy shit, he has really let himself go.” Glad to see he’s not THAT much of a fatso.
I saw one bit by that color guy from the stands guy. Anybody on this blog would have done a better job. The equivalent character for this series was dressed like a used car salesman last night and an easter bunny tonight!
Jeter ropes a single back up the middle.
Paul: the interviewer dude is Craig Sager. He’s definitely competing with Don Cherry in the “pimp suit” department.
Jeter with the “laser.” No out.
Captain on the board!
Jeter starts off with a Jeterian swing with a Jeterian result. No one in baseball is more Jeterian than Derek Jeter.
Jeter leads off with a single. Nice to see the captain starting things off.
Andrew: Especially in the postseason.
feh. abreu hosed and an open base for alex. hmmm.
Garko makes a great stab on the hit and run to get Abreu.
Abreu moves Jeter to second as Garko with a great diving catch.
Let’s go ARod!
Damn. Cleveland defense is robbing the Yankees tonight. Here’s A-Rod with a walk, I wonder where in the infield Matsui will hit the ball for the doubleplay?
Carmona’s going after him. I have a bad feeling about this AB.
Doug, no for the Sox games it was someone else. I remember his last name was Mota. Maybe Jose? Anyway, he just couldn’t formulate a sentence, or rather, a paragraph. The sentences almost had no connection to each other. It looked like nerves.
I was being sarcastic about the walk. Damn it.
ARod strikes out.
Carmona looked great against ARod right there.
ag – ya, just when I thought/hoping he was losing it.
And now he starts off Matsui 2-0.
That strikeout is going to set people to talking, I think…
Paul: Shoot, I was hoping we could have a good time discussing Craig Sager’s inscrutable taste in menswear.
Matsui chops to 3 unassisted for the end of the inning. Opportunity=squandered.
Matsui hits a chopper. Three outs. Bah. Carmona with 54 pitches after 4.
That K was on a good AB by Arod. He swung at pitches he should be swinging at and just got beat by some filthy stuff.
ARod looks lost at the plate again.
Sager is the fool for this series.
I thought opportunity = crisis. Does that only work in Chinese?
Ugh, Matsui. I haven’t lost hope – even guys in bad slumps can run into one (see: Cabrera) – but Matsui has nothing right now. Reminds me of Sheffield being forced into the lineup last year, although thankfully without the defensive embarrassment.
Sam, I don’t doubt that’s the case. But if I know the NY tabs, unless A-Rod hits a home run later this game, that strikeout’s going to call out the dogs.
The only pitch ARod could reasonably have done anything with in that at bat was the first pitch inside. Everything else was breaking down at the ankles by the time it hit the glove. Excellent job by Fausto right there.
Lupica’s sharpening his anti-Rodriguez pencil right now in fact, just in case.
FSP – good point. May the Tribe live in interesting times.
Paul the tabloids are gonna write crap about AROD no matter what. See september of this year during a 25 AB mini-slump. I just hope he has learned to ignore it at this point.
Hafner leads off with a single. Bah. Here’s VMart.
“Lupica’s sharpening his anti-Rodriguez pencil right now in fact, just in case.”
Does he have any other kind of pencil?
3-1 pitch to VMart…
Hafner displays cat like reflexes holding up when Cano fields the ball.
VMart moves Hafner to second. Could’ve been a DP ball, but here we go.
damn. nice break for the tribe there, hopefully pettitte can pitch around it.
What the fuck? Horrible decision by Cano. He could have gotten Hafner even with the change of direction, which was his fault anyway. This better not cost us, because I will mandate that Cano create a run to make up for it.
TBS has just made the second reference that no one on the Indians staff has homered off of AP.
Groundout to Jeter. Pettitte being positively Wang-ian tonight. I mean that in the good way.
thats a little harsh Andrew. he had to change direction and got the sure out. not too bad a play on his part.
Garko grounds out to shortstop, so Hafner holds at second.
Garko grounds out 6-3; Hafner has to hold at second. Two away to nJhnoy P
AG can you erase that garbage?
Rob – are they trying to jinx it? ;)
Pettitte can’t buy a strike low in the zone.
I think so Lar, Sager is inside sacrificing a chicken for he jinx.
Took care of it, Sam.
thanks Paul
AP strikes out Jonny, with a misplaced h. Every inning is so tense!
Tiny strike zone tonight. But Pettitte gets him anyway. No one is on the hook, now.
Pettitte K’s Peralta after he misses a couple really close pitches. Joe T actually showed emotion.
The Tribe are the masters of unclutch tonight. Five baserunners in four innings, no runs.
AP at 61 pitches after 4.
Been following this site all season. Don’t know why I waited so long, so this is my first time posting.
The Caray et al bias piqued my interest. Anyone catch the statement last night about the Yanks being “overwhelming favorites?”
I defy them to find one “expert” who picked the Yanks to win this series. And they’re “OVERWHELMING favorites?”
Haters.
ANDY!
dealing.
Also, 61 pitches for Pettitte through 4. Even if he only goes six, you’ve definitely got Joba for 2 and Mo to close. Just two more scoreless innings, or some more runs. Let’s go.
Ya, I think it was a toss up amongst most people at best coming into the series. Overhelming it is not. Because you know, the Yanks can never be underdogs..
Andrew – ya I would like about 5 more runs about now.
Po walks. C’mon Robbie.
Posada works a leadoff walk.
Posada worked a good 8 pitch walk. Only the second walk of the game for Carmona. Let’s get it started!
Maybe he meant the Yankees are overwhelming favorites among those who only show up for postseason Baseball? Not watching the first 162 games could definitely color someone’s expectations of what should happen in an Indians-Yankees series. Just based on historical outcomes and all…
(I don’t mean to defend a dumb statement so vigorously. Just playing Fausto’s Advocate, I guess.)
Joe Torre calls out MLB for the “unbalanced schedule.”
Look at that 9 foot lead Posada is about to take
AH…the complimentary 9ft graphic with Posada on first.
And Carmona gets another DP by Cano. Grrr. 2 outs.
Cano grounds out sharply to short for the 6-3 double play.
Jesus. I guess the baseball gods want the Yankees to sweat all season.
Cano hit that ball hard. Right at the SS, damn.
Oh ya, I was teasing the 9ft graphics all last night.. haha..
Cabrera grounds out to end the Yankee fifth.
Melky with an easy ground out. Three outs, 67 pitches for Carmona, it is 1-0 Yanks after 4 and a half.
I was counting Sabathia’s pitches last night; even though we hadn’t done much, I was optimistic once he reached 100.
I’m counting Carmona’s pitches today (67); am somewhat optimistic. But we need to DO something! I cannot handle another 9 innings of high anxiety. I need a 10-run lead, dammit!
I hate you, Kenny.
Lofton continues his personal crusade of revenge against the Yanks.
“Leadoff line technology”
Catchy…
God damn it Lofton. The Yankees need to poison anyone who leaves their organization, or something. Lofton was horrible this year, and has horrible numbers vs Pettitte, so of course he plays like a friggin hero against the Yankees.
This Lofton is going for it all series. With another leadoff basehit, and for the n-th inning the Indians have the leadoff guy on.
The bunt advances Lofton.
Good sacrifice by Michaels. One away with Lofton in scoring position to Blake.
Michaels moves Lofton over to second base. One out, Blake at the plate.
I’m never really a fan of the 1st-to-2nd bunt.
for the love of god, can andy pettite not give a hit to the leadoff batter in EVERY inning. i know he’s done a good job, but you’re asking for a big inning.
oh and yankees, some hits please.
frustrated yankees fan
Blake busts his bat chopping it foul up third to fall behind 0-2.
Lofton bothering AP
Flies out to left, so Lofton stays at second. Two outs.
Phew. I got a bad feeling as soon as I saw the fastball up positioning from Posada.
Two away on the fly to right by Blake.
We should play a drinking game where we drink everytime they bring up the 0 home run thing.
If Cleveland hits a homerun, I will personally drive to New York on Sunday and strangle Chip Carey.
I would be drunk by now, probably, haha..
NICE. Andy Pettitte shows why he’s one of the best all-time at pickoffs. What a guy.
Pettitte picks off Lofton! Awesome. On to the sixth.
Not sure what Lofton was thinking there.
Nice, AP picks off Lofton. Wow. Not the worst thing in the world for the Indians either, as Sizemore leads off next inning with a clean slate.
Though ya, never make the third out at third. Well, go Yankees!
> We should play a drinking game
Way ahead of ya. *hic*
i think careys voice actually went down two notches on that play. sorry to disappoint you chip
Minky grounds out on 2 pitches. Ah well.
Dang it. Doug with YAGO (yet another ground out)
Damon with YAGO.
Another tapper to the mound. This is the type of performance that Wang usually gets, except it’s Carmona getting it.
Let’s go Captain!
Jeter with YAGO.
Hate that pattern.
Oh god there’s a squirrel on the field. Yankees win easily now.
Fuckin squirrel.
Get rid of that damn squirrel!!
Jeter grounds out. Bah.
On the flip side, the squirrel’s on the field. Maybe this will bring good luck to the Yanks..
Carmona with a brisky Wang-like pitch count of 76 through 6. Here’s AP.
Sizemore with a leadoff triple.
Sizemore with a leadoff, motors in to 3rd.
Great job by Abreau to hit the cutoff.
Grady rips a line drive to right up the line. Abreu misses Cano on the cutoff and Sizemore stands on third with a leadoff triple.
Sizemore with a lead-off triple, thanks to Abreu missing the cut-off man.
I don’t know what it is, but I absolutely hate Abreu. Something about him just rubs me the wrong way.
Ugh. I think Robi gets him if the cutoff throw is accurate. Plenty of time.
A comebacker by Cabrera and Sizemore holds at third.
Cabrera taps a grounder back to AP; Sizemore holds. Whew.
1 down and the runner holds. Andy!
2 more, pls.
ib hafner here to put the dp in order?
Not out of it yet, with the meat of the order up..
Can Joba go 2 innings and start next inning? No disrespect for AP, but..
Hafner swings at a very bad pitch to make the count 0-2
ANDY!!!!!!! who needs the ibb????
Hafner down swinging
c’mon andy, just get one more out.
Beautiful K from AP, who made Hafner look completely baffled.
Massive K for AP.
Carey as pissed as Hafner
Nice. I got to head out for a bit. Let’s go Yankees!
Pettitte K’s Pronk. 2 out, Sizemore still on third.
This would be absolutely devastating to Cleveland’s morale if Sizemore doesn’t score.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow. Fucking wow. *ag bows to Pettitte*
Wow, great job by AP. Cabrera should be pimp slapped repeatedly for swinging at the 1st pitch.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! go andy.
okay pressing question. does andy go out for the 7th? i say yes, but if he gets ONE man on base, go to joba. thoughts?
Talk about sucker punching 50,000 people in the gut and making them lose thier air.
Martinez K’s, looks like Pettitte brought his big-boy pants. The announcer did too, busting out the word “Prestidigitation.”
Lar, I wouldn’t be surprised if they roll out Joba for 2, despite a pitch count of only 80 for Pettitte.
Wow. Andy is on fi-yah.
That’s the best handling of a dire situation by a pitcher that I have seen in a long time. Amazing job by Pettitte.
Pettitte should def. start the 7th. We arent the cubs, his stuff is working.
Wow, someone gave Abreu a fake bat!
Abreau’s bat is made of balsa wood!
Abreu! Beats out a grounder after busting his bat tapping it on the plate.
Show time for Alex here. Need some insurance, big time.
Why do I smell a Cleveland roast this inning?
Almost YAGO, but Cabrera bobbles it and Abreu beats it out for an E4.
Abreu gets on base thanks to the 2nd baseman bobbling the ball. Let’s see if Carmona can get out of a less dire situation than Pettitte had.
arod goes down 0-2
Carmona is filthy against ARod, down on three pitches.
AROD Ks did not look good at all in that AB
Alex chasing. Not good.
The Chokester K’s on a nice slider. Both pitchers pitching themselves out of jams tonight. Great stuff from both pitchers so far.
no, a-rod, no…stop letting those stupid headlines get to your head.
Cleveland roast? Do I need to bust out the Urban Dictionary on that one?
Perfectly painting the lines against Alex there.
FSP…No, LOL, I figured after the last inning they were due to get burned this inning. A karma thing.
Ahh, I stepped out for a moment, so I missed the backstory.
Yeah. Tough on Alex, there. Takes a first pitch low for a strike–can’t blame him for not swinging first pitch, then sees two nasty ones. The 0-2 pitch was pretty close to the edge. He’s not getting much great to swing at…..stilll…..papers gonna be on him if this is a loss.
YAGO forces Abreu; Matsui at first with two away.
yet another ground ball. looks like carmona’s pitching the way wang should’ve yesterday.
Next best thing to a DP I suppose.
Matsui with the fc. Come on Jorge! Last night Vmart had the big hit….
Sizemore robs a hit with a nice diving catch.
Sizemore flashes some great glove work to rob Posada. Chip Carey creams his pants.
Great catch by Sizemore. Carey is fired up
I’m calling Joba. Two righties coming up…
FSP, is that like a CLeveland steamer?
HOLY SHIT diving catch by sizemore. If he missed it and it rolled to the wall Matsui might have scored from first.
OH MAN!!! Hang a star on that baby. Sizemore with the genius full out diving grab robs Jorge.
Drew Carey must also be fired up!
Carey may have just shown the biggest demonstration of man love on national television.
This is some kind of game. Great defense, great pitching. Welcome to playoff baseball.
Pettitte still pitching. Joba most likely up in the pen.
Dangit. I was hoping for the ol’ webgem/big-hit combo, but Sizemore doesn’t bat unless a whole lotta Indians get on in front of him. Nuts.
Nope…that’s I why i don’t post in game threads – lose my magic :)
Still, I wonder if this is the right move…
Minky–nice catch there on the run toward the stands. Garko down.
HAHAHA Carey just described Garko’s hit as “Fisted towards first”. He must be thinking about dirty sexual innuendo too!
Doug makes a running catch in foul territory for the first out.
FenShea, the webgam/big-hit combo happens SO often. My dad pointed it out to me at our first game together, and since then I notice one in almost each game I watch.
there is exactly a 1 in 9 chance that the webgem/big-hit will occur after a big play.
That was about 2 feet shy of a tie game.
Carey more excited about that than the actual HR.
Wow, Peralta misses a homerun by a foot. Carey sounds like he just rubbed one out, too.
You Yanks-fans are right–he’s totally biased. Should be interesting to see how he acts in New York on Sunday.
oh god, never would i have thought of saying this but thank god it was just a double.
okay torre, bring in joba.
Peralta doubles off the left center wall. Carey’s call is also his audition for lead tenor of the Cleveland Opera.
Atheose – Right? Even knowing that we tend to lump together coincidences to create patterns, it’s still eerie. I love it.
oh god, never would i have thought of saying this but thank god it was just a double.
okay torre, bring in joba.
Really, what’s the reason not to go Joba? The kid is lights out and with the day off, could pitch again on Sunday. Pettitte was dealing but you could save his arm for later in the series…
During the meeting on the mound Pettitte shook his head to Guidry two or three times. They’re probably close to pulling him.
Yep, Joba is up and warming now. Kenny Lofton batting.
You know who is up
Looks like Pettitte is pitching around Lofton to set up the DP.
i’m going to be pissed if we’re going to let kenny lofton beat us this series. kenny fucking lofton.
It really does, FenShea. Look at Melky’s throw-out-the-runner-at-home webgem, and then the go-ahead homer the very next inning. It happens more often than most people would think.
Here comes the Redskin (I apologize for the racist comment). One out and two men on for Michaels.
Absolutely, Melky’s play/HR is what put it in mind tonight. I wonder if a study exists. Someone get Rob Neyer on the horn.
this is the right move. I hope it works as planned.
Guidry phones the pen.. Joba is ready, so Joe comes out to get Andy. Great outing. Andy finishes with 6.1 innings, which puts him one-third of an inning behind Tom Glavine for the all-time post-season pitchers in IP.
Crazy that Pettitte is on the hook for the loss :)
FSP, ive read a study on this. it happens exactly how often you’d expect it. At least as far as the guy making the play leading off goes. 1 in 9
Nothing would make me happier than a three-run homer here. Nothing.
Well, other than a Red Sox win tonight, but I can’t watch that live… :-(
With how nervous the kid must be, even crazier that Torre didn’t let him start the inning.
Great TBS has the score up as 1-1 thanks alot guys. does anyone there know what they are doing there.
JOBA TIME!
Would Pettitte really get the loss? I thought if you left with the lead, you can’t get the loss, even if the runners you leave on are enough to put your team behind. I don’t have any proof of that. Just what I’ve always thought…
SICK curve on the 0-1.
Breaking ball looks absolutely SICK.
a curve and 2 sliders and SIT DOWN!!!!!!!!
Slider again he says dissapointingly
Big K
cleveland indians meet joba. joba destroy cleveland indians.
YOU’RE MY BOY JOBA
YES! THE JOBA HOUSE RULES!
No Paul. If your runners are the difference it’s your loss. But AP will not be getting one tonight!
Fly to right ends the 7th.
No excuses Paul. I’m in Europe and watching the Yankees at 1:30 am so I can be up for the Sox game. They will take me through morning. Then I go hiking with the wife all day.
Wow, Joba is good.
There can be no doubt, Joba Chamberlain is a HELL of a pitcher.
That makes the save/blown save rules even more whacky, where if you’re a setup man and you load the bases with no outs in a one-run game, then the closer comes in and gives up two sac flies, the closer gets the blown save because he allowed your runners to score. Silly.
Ha, Pete. Work calls. I honestly thought the Sox had the 4 pm game (not sure why), so I was happy, but now the football game I have to cover starts at EXACTLY the same time as the Sox game. My wife is tasked with texting me score updates, and barring that, I’m calling my boss to get scores if I haven’t heard from her.
Carmona has been brilliant this game.
Im officially sick of Carmona
2 choppers back to Carmona and this inning is almost over. Jeez.
YAGO from Melky.
Friday Night Lights, Paul? That’s pretty cool. Take some pix for us. Would love to hear about it.
YAGO?
And Carmona is good too.
You know, one thing I wonder is if the groundkeepers still tweak the fields. You know, let it dry out for last night and water it down tonight. Seems like one way to account for Wang’s extreme home/road split (Carmona is better at home too). That’s a good reason to have thrown Wang tonight.
Carmona is still filthy. What a fantastic game this guy is throwing.
Paul you can use 1-800-555-TELL to get the scores too. Its an audio activated phone number that will give you updates.
Also texting “red sox” to GOOGL will work
YAGO=”yet another ground out”.. I had to type ground out so many times this game I needed to invent an acronym.
Minky like Linus with the bugs around his head there. Had a good hack there at 3-2.
Get the man some Cutters!
Doug YAGO.
Carmona rocking it.
Doug’s helmet shows that he supplements his income as a human auger for Roto-Rooter.
is 555-TELL free? if so, holy crap why didn’t i find out about this sooner?
Gerb = Smart
Carmona: He’s been phenomemal. He’s not facing a bunch of pikers, like the LAA!
Paul, do you know you can get Gameday audio through your phone (- definitely if you have Verizon (that’s what I use) and I know Sprint had it last year. Easy to set up too – just order it on the phone and it works immediately. Just need an earpiece. My favorite purchase this year and really cool too – take the dog for a walk and listen to the game for $7/month.
I’ll do that next time, YF. It’s a fun side part of my job — overtime and everything.
Thanks for the tips, Sam. I will definitely use those.
Ciao, everyone!
555-tell is free and its awesome. I was using it to check scores from london when i couldnt get to the internet.
They listen to YF’s suggestion as Joba and the umps get sprayed down with some Cutters.
Jeez. Call an exterminator, Shapiro!
Crap. Not so funny now. 4 pitch bb for Sizemroe.
That 3-0 looked mighty good, but it’s called ball four as everyone seems to be pestered by Pedroia’s extended family.
Let the record show that God, and mother nature, hate the Yankees. He smite thee with pestilence!
Joba’s hat was COVERED with insects. It’s crazy out there. Yech. Cleveland.
this isnt cool at all
Sac bunt puts Smore on 3rd for the heart of the order. Big out here for Joba.
A passed ball causes Carey to spontaneously combust; then Cabrera pushes Sizemore over with the sac.
I’m getting itchy just watching on TV, that’s gotta be tortuous.
GROSSS!!!!! JOBA COVERED WITH BUGS!
HAFNER DRILLS ONE AT MELKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 down.
DOUG! Defends his life and stabs a frozen rope.
Minky not Melky.
Now things re getting interesting.
WP scores Sizemore. Tie game.
SHIT. wild pitch scores Sizemore.
Bugs 1 yankees 1
Hits VMart. Wild Joba.
Joba tried to block the plate, but Sizemore was already in.
Carey offers the dubious insight, “The Yankees could go into the ninth down a run,” which is an awful tell as to wishful thinking with the bases empty.
Now Martinez plunked on the ankle.
How was that not a strike?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Mr. Torre goes to have a talk with Torre as Joba buzzes Garko. Bugs look awful.
It’s like a plague of flies landed on Joba. I could not handle that at all, ick- crawling all over his neck and everything.
This is a god damn conspiracy.
This is ridiculous. Come on Joba. Get it over.
Where the fick is Mo???
This is insane
COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Joba looks incredibly stoic and composed, in the middle of a swarm of pests, in the cauldron of a playoff battle. I’m still impressed, this is a tight spot. He walks Garko, and faces YhJonn P.
Back-k sends it to the ninth tied up. What a bizarre turn of events was that inning.
BLECH!!!! REVOLTING.
That was unreal. Please 1 little run. Please bugs bother them. please please please
Just started watching–have the bugs been like this all game? They weren’t there like this yesterday, right?
Bugs started at the end of the top of the 8th and multiplied rapidly in the bottom. then they scored a run
No, the bugs came on in between the innings.
Hearing about the bugs makes me a little happier I’m just watching this on GameDay. Yeesh. Is it like the scene from Temple of Doom?
“There’s going to be two dead people in HERE! Hurry!”
Any want to put money on the bugs being GONE at the top of the inning for Carmona?
Buggies came in at the 8th.
So much for that
Now a bug has blinded Kenny. This is just crazy.
If the Cleveland grounds crew can make the bugs come and go at will, I’m going to say the Indians are the true team of God, not the Rockies.
FSP: no, not big ones. It’s like a million little winged Dustins.
Fausto still dealing as Damon starts with YAGO, and gets up 0-2 early on Jeter.
Orkin should pay 1 million dollars for an in game ad right now.
Jeter down swinging on a great pitch.
paul- jose mota is the angels (FSN West) roving reporter. i’m stuck watching him a ton. he makes rex huddler listenable.
i mean this in the least antangonizing….has anyone brought up dropping a-rod to the 8th spot? did that fix anything last year?
Abrue avoids YAGO and beats out an infield single
Here comes ARod’s moment
oh geez. this is a big spot for everyone involved.
Okay, looking at Arod here- what will he do.
good cut on first pitch
Bobby swipes second on the low 1-2 pitch. I’m dying here.
ARod works the count full on his best at bat of the night against Carmona. Abreu on second, two away. The payoff: sinker that ARod fouls off. Reset the payoff: lined four off first. Another full: strike out on an inside pitch. Great battle, with unfortunate results.
Wow…ARod is meat in the papers tomorrow.
Oh man!
WOW
freaking
WOW
what a pitching performance by carmona, i know petite di well, but this is carmona’s first playoff game, and he just went complete game 3 hitter with 1 run against the YANKEES….that kid is freaking SICK
So, is Carmona going to pitch the next nine innings of this game or what?
Mayrod strikes again….
0-18 in last 18 playoff plate appearances
That was the shot. Now it’s gonna be hard to hold off the tribe. They get at least 2 shots to score.
So does Joe bring out Mo here? God i hope so. History says he brings out the Viz but this is no time for that….
Carmona’s all like, What bugs?
ARod would have walked on the last pitch, but anyone who trashes his performance at the plate this game has not been watching the way that Carmona pitched him. Incredible stuff.
TheTree: save the Alex crap for somewhere else. What did Mr. November do that inning? Oh. Right. He K’ed too.
why do i feel like we are going to lose this game
Lofton a quick out.
This has the makings of a long extra innings affair.
Stopped keeping score, wanted to check in.
Bottom line, say what you’d like about Alex, the rest of the team has 3 hits. THREE hits. In addition Carmona is filthy and he has thrown him 2 fastballs total, the rest changeups and sinkers. Save the A-Rod nonsense.
Mo gets the K on the cheese.
K. Hot.
I know he’s thrown 113, but does Carmona pull a Jack Morris and come out for the 10th? The crowd… they would go wild.
Mo is bugproof
Quickie for Mo. Maybe he can go 3 if he keeps that pace.
Giambi PH for Matsui?
Good one Sam.
Extras! Battle of the bullpens now.
we want borowski!
John: agreed about Carmona being filthy. Maybe Fausto did make his deal with the devil. And the two fastballs were teasers. He’s thrown _nothing_ hittable to ARod tonight.
Wedge should be strung up if he trots that kid back out. He did his job.
If it is the bullpen: Am I the only person who thought it was weird that Betancourt was working the ninth last night during a blowout? Everything I’ve heard, he’s their main guy. Why was he working garbage time?
I have hit sinkers, but never at 95. I can only imagine how difficult that must be. Looks like a FB, looks like a FB, oopps, not a fastball, balls in dirt.
Giambi gonna PH for Doug i guess
I honestly wonder if the beat writers and other press people will actually look at how good Carmona pitched. I have a feeling that people will not focus on that but on the other side of the argument. Which is really not fair considering just how filthy Carmona has been tonight.
Why not pinch here is a really fucking good question. Hope Godzilla answers it, but with his swing on the 1-0, I don’t think I will like the answer.
Maybe PH for him and put Betemit out there.
YF:
0-18 is 0-18
no matter how you cut it or what red herring you toss out there to distract it…he better produce if he wants that 30 million dollar price tag.
Rob you are 100% right.
Carmona pitches really well – No going to sell papers.
A-Rod chokes – Boy will the papers sell!
Carmona has what, 20 ground outs tonight?
Rob – I get the impression that people like Lupica haven’t actually watched (meaning: paid attention to) a game in years. It’s all hyperbolic, simplistic reaction.
Maysui pops out to third
You couldn’t hit a beach ball with an Oar Tree so go troll somewhere else.
Atleast 20 AG. It seemed like everything was a groundball or a tapper back to the mound.
And now Perez, who is awesome, comes on as we watch free baseball. The Indians’ pen is chocked with guys who are considerable for starters.
Shows like PTI, Around the Horn and others have seemed to turn into the sports versions of the Springer Show.
Phewww…not enough juice Jorge.
carmona was amazing tonight, and throughout the whole game he realy wasn;t talked about as much as petite was…too bad really because he really has been amazing all day.
and gerbil I don’t knwo the exact numbe,r but it was over 15 that i started counting at
Posada rips one to right but it is easily in range of Michaels.
I will check the book AG in between innings for the Carmona info.
carmona had 18 ground ball outs.
Carey licks the indians you know what a bit more.
No Duncan for Matsui?
Yanks go down in order. Top of the lineup for the Tribe. Trouble.
Well, if Mo holds the Tribe 10th, we get to the question of who works the 11th? Viz?
16 GB outs, 5 back to the pitcher.
19 groundouts was the official count according to TBS
I will count again.
yahoo said 18 john, i guess they count both outs of the DPs?
gee that sounds like SF. i wonder if its him?
Mo runs off the mound in between pitches to escape the bugs.
16/18/19…really doesn’t matter. Was a hell of a lot of them anyway you count it.
Carmona had 16 GB outs. Maybe they have 19, but Carmona has 16.
Sizemore with the delayed webgem/big-hit combo maybe??
LOL you are right, it doesn’t matter.
The bugs have dispersed now. its a conspiracy i tell you
poser erased – ag
Don’t impersonate me, I will find out who you are!
The pitch chart on Game Day looks like July 4th. Dat’s a lotta pitches!
you guys know exactly who it is.
Sizemore is battling Mo bigtime.
You have got to be kidding me.
WOW….Sizemore strikes out, manages to make it to first after a bad throw by Posada. Minky must be getting tired of getting run into by base runners at 1st.
Dangit!!
Dropped strike 3; Sizemore is late out of the box, but Jorge’s throw is high and Doug can’t retrieve it to record the out. Grady advances on the sac.
Holy crap! Dangit redacted.
Wow BRaw you found a way to change your IP address. Still won’t get past us.
That hit him? Oh, I guess it did.
ruh roh…..
Not much of an effort to get out of the way there.
Mo hits Garko. Bases loaded.
The ump says that Garko was ticked on the arm. Didn’t see it on the replay, of which TBS grants us one from a bad angle, but it loads the bases for NJoynh P.
Yeah, I’m wrong. It ticked him.
wow, joba/mo disappointing. this game is on them. we weren’t great against carmona but we had a lead and they blew it. point blank
My lord…Thank you MO!
YEAH!
I would say that Hafner has had a worse night at the plate than ARod. The guy has had numerous chances to help the team and hasn’t stepped up himself.
Peralta Ks as Mo was throwing with some serious fire after the GBP (grazed by pitch)
That is it for Mo I think. That inning was a lot of pitches for him.
How is the game on Rivera? Joba gave up that run all by his lonesome.
I can’t believe this but I have to go. Party tonight for my mother-in-law-to-be. Go Yankees! Have a great night all. Thanks for the company.
I guess it’s Viz next inning.
my mistake. i meant this game is on joba not mo.
Later AG
i don’t know about that snowballs. mo looked pretty awesome to me. not his fault jorge airmailed that ball to minky.
AG before you go, I can’t do the gamer Sunday I will be at the Giants game. If we lose, you are banned from gamers though, LOL.
Come on Dunk…a little Dunk a Roo
Any out of the ordinary comments, please ignore. They are not real. It’s just our pesky friend.
Our pesky resident d*uchebag.
Out of the ordinary comments? Does that include “little Dunk a Roo”? ‘Cause I’m not sure what to do with that.
Lofton is a disease
No hope here. I just know Viscaino is gonna blow it. God I hate this pathetic Yank team!
Lofton is hitting .714 in the series
Good thing the Indians don’t have Tony Womack. Can’t have 2 players trying trying to get revenge on the Yankees.
How will the Yanks go down — my bet: Viz walks two hitters, and Cleveland scores on a single.
Have to walk him.
Game over in 3…2…1…
Go play in traffic BRaw, you are a moron.
Trisk, I highly doubt his Mommy lets him out after dark.
Unbelievable that Cleveland can’t hit a freakin sac fly. I want this series to go to five games, so I’m not really complaining, it’s just unbelievable.
Oh, it can still get to five games even if Cleveland blows this one, don’t worry about that. [bites knuckles]
Er, I mean if Cleveland wins this one… [still biting knuckles]
Does Viz really have to walk Hafner? Just once, can he get through an inning without his standard 2 walks…
Ballgame / season.
Sweet mamma jamma, thank god that’s over with. And now… to the bar!
I wouldn’t be so quick to call that the season there. The Indians got their best case scenario with their two best pitchers, so they are sitting pretty. But now it’s off to NYC, against two battle-tested, big-game, (albeit old) quality pitchers. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Clevelanders have to fish those ALDS Game 5 tickets out of their cupboards in a few days.
A very good game, Cleveland finally gets a hit that knocks a run in to end the game.
bummer
That was a good, honest single to end a very long game. Now onto another stressful affair.
I am so embarrassed.
Sigh.
Well, remember what comes around goes around, Boo Hoo.
Hey BooHoo, whatever propaganda gets you through the night, i suppose.
We played a great game stacked with phenomenal pitching & 1 bad break. Carmona = fantastic stuff. AP = Balls of Steel. Mo & Perez = Lights Out. Even Joba was great before the gnats.
The Yanks have the stuff to head to the series but we can’t suffer anymore of the big fat question marks that’ve plagued us.