ANAHEIM, Calif. — CC Sabathia had this message for Chone Figgins before the first game of the ALCS.
“CC came out that first day and said he was not going to let me beat him,” the Angels leadoff hitter said yesterday. “And he’s making that very clear.”
Heading into tonight’s Game 5, Figgins is hitting .125 in the ALCS, the same as No. 2 hitter Bobby Abreu, the same as Kendry Morales. Left fielder Juan Rivera is batting .118 and catcher Mike Napoli is hitting .111. As a team, the Angels are hitting .138 with runners in scoring position, and they haven’t been getting many runners in scoring position.
The Yankees pitchers, particularly Sabathia and Mariano Rivera have done a great job of shutting down the Angels. With the way the Angels are hitting, tonight’s starter John Lackey may have to throw a shutout, just so they have a chance to survive.
It’s not that the Angels can’t hit. It’s that the Yankees pitching staff continues to make perfect pitches.
“The Yankees pitchers are treating Figgy like he’s Babe Ruth,” Torii Hunter said jokingly. “We’ve got a mountain to climb.”
Just two Yankees pitchers have struggled in the series, Alfredo Aceves (13.50 ERA) and Joba Chamberlain (13.50). If Andy Pettitte (4.26) had not allowed that home run to Vladimir Guerrero in the Angels only win in the series, the Yankees ERA would be even better than 2.16.
“I think we definitely need to do more in our batter’s box,” Mike Scioscia said. “That’s really going to rely on our ability to have good approaches against their pitchers. . . . That’s going to have a big impact on how this series moves forward.”
“The Yankees pitches just aren’t missing their spots,” Figgins said. “They are making their pitches when they need to.”
“We’ve got to get some runs for Lackey,” Hunter said of the plan of attack against A.J. Burnett tonight. “We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done.”
This entire series the Angels have been trying to play the perfect game against the Yankees, and that has resulted in them making a lot of critical mistakes.
“I’m not frustrated, but I’m ticked off,” Hunter said. “CC shut us down, Mariano shut us down. Need I say more. They got the best over there. We haven’t been able to play our game, it’s getting late, that bell is about to ring.”