Three of the four ALCS starters pitched poorly. The bats are soft. But don’t dismiss the bullpen as a reason the Yankees are one game way from going off the air.
After a sensational ALDS against the Twins and pitching well in the first two games of the ALCS versus the Rangers, Yankees relievers were putrid in Games 3 and 4. In five innings, they allowed 11 earned runs, 13 hits and issued three walks (one intentional).
Joba Chamberlain and Sergio Mitre worked the final 2 1/3 innings in last night’s 10-3, Game 4 loss at the Stadium and combined to give up four runs and six hits. And Boone Logan gave up a crucial homer to Josh Hamilton, who also went deep off Mitre. The Bombers trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
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Lance Berkman believed he had hit the Yankees’ second homer in the second inning last night, but the blast that was initially called fair was reversed to foul after a replay viewing.
“I thought it was fair, to be honest with you,” said Berkman, who suffered another bit of tough luck in the eighth when his hard-hit ball was fielded by third baseman Michael Young with the bases loaded for the final out. “I looked at that replay 50 times, and I was like, ‘Did that thing graze the foul pole?’ It’s close. If that ball is six inches to the left, if the ball I hit in the eighth is a foot in either direction, you’re talking about a different ballgame.”
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Manager Joe Girardi does not sound like a man who will make an issue of the rosin affixed to Cliff Lee‘s hat if the ALCS goes to seven games.
Lee routinely goes to the rosin bag then the bill and back of the cap with his left hand. The actions leave a stain on the hat that some people believe is an indication Lee is cheating.
But don’t count Girardi among those who believe Lee is getting an advantage from a foreign substance that the rosin may be hiding.
“A lot of guys use the rosin and go to the back [of the mound], it’s just the way he does it,” Girardi said. “Every pitcher usually has something he does. It doesn’t strike me as really odd.”
Girardi said if he felt Lee, who dominated the Yankees in Game 3 Monday night, was gaining an unfair advantage he would bring it to the umpire’s attention, which he hasn’t.
“It’s just rosin,” Girardi said.
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When the Yankees shipped Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino to Atlanta before the season for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan, they believed Vazquez would support the back end of the rotation and Cabrera would help the Braves.
Nevertheless, Girardi did not think Vazquez could help the Yankees in any role during the postseason and left the veteran right-hander off the ALDS and ALCS rosters following a 10-10 record and 5.32 ERA in the regular season.
Yesterday, the Braves cut Cabrera after he batted .255 with four homers and 42 RBIs in 147 games. Because he made $3.1 million and was eligible for arbitration, the move appeared to be a financial one. The Braves, however, believe they can do better than the switch-hitting Cabrera in the extra outfielder department.
So far the best player in the deal is Logan, though the right-handed Vizcaino is a highly regarded minor league prospect. Dunn pitched in the big leagues this year, but Logan developed into a bullpen mainstay for the Yankees, who lost fellow lefty reliever Damaso Marte in early July.
Because Cabrera helped the Yankees win a World Series in 2009, the Yankees might be interested in bringing him back this coming offseason to serve as the fourth or fifth outfielder.
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Commissioner Bud Selig was on hand last night for Game 4 and watched it from a Yankees luxury box. Selig didn’t make himself available on the field before the game. . . . Michael Jordan watched from Derek Jeter‘s suite above the Yankees dugout. . . . Former Yankees great Bernie Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
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The Yankees are batting .198 (26-for-131) and .154 (6-for-39) with runners in scoring position. But Rangers manager Ron Washington said he knows the Dead Bat Society can wake up at any moment.
“The type of lineup the Yankees have you don’t know what’s going to happen until the day is over,” Washington said.
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According to a report out of Toronto, Yankees’ third base coach Rob Thomson has been informed by the Blue Jays that he is no longer a candidate to replace Cito Gaston as the manager.
Audio: Teixeira: I Knew It Wasn’t Good
Audio: Berkman: I Thought It Was Fair
Audio: Gardner: One Game At A Time
Audio: Jeter: We Can’t Feel Bad For Ourselves