ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels simply don’t have enough pitching to keep up with the Yankees. Scott Kazmir came west with the reputation of being a Yankee killer who was supposed to solidify the Angels rotation, but he could not find the strike zone last night and could not keep the Angels in the game. Not to mention he didn’t have a fastball.
The Yankees quickly built a 5-1 lead as Kazmir couldn’t make it out of the fifth. The Yankees went onto an easy 10-1 victory at the Big A and a commanding 3-1 lead in the ALCS.
Forget that Freeway Series the West Coast was getting all excited about. Get ready for a Turnpike Series, gritty baseball.
The difference in this series has been the pitching. The Yankees have it, the Angels don’t. CC Sabathia is 3-0 this postseason.
Kazmir knew he stunk it up, saying, “It wasn’t good. I wanted to attack the strike zone, but I just couldn’t get it done. Nothing went right. I constantly fell behind, ball one, ball two. I didn’t do my job.”
He’s not alone. The Angels have a 4.24 ERA in this series. The Yankees pitchers are at 2.16. The Angels bullpen, as expected, has been dreadful. Brian Fuentes cost them Game 2 with his 0-2 fastball home run to Alex Rodriguez. Last night, the Yankees pulverized the Angels bullpen.
Considering the state of Angels pitching, they might finish third or fourth in the AL East. It was clear, after this performance, to see why the Rays dumped Kazmir. The Angels still have to pay him $20 million over the next two years.
The 10 runs scored by the Yankees were the most against the Angels in the postseason since Game 5 of the 2002 World Series. The Angels have been working on emotion the entire series. They needed Game 2 in New York to have any chance of making this close. They’ve run out of gas. It’s just a matter of time.
John Lackey goes tomorrow in Game 5. The Angels have to sit around a day and wait to hear the executioner’s song.
“As long as we got a chance, we’re going to play hard and hope for the best,” Torii Hunter said. “That’s a good team over there. We’re going to relax [today] and give our minds a rest.”
That’s the best thing to do when you take a baseball beating.