ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees are on the razor’s edge of technology when gathering information, but yesterday all those computer printouts buried their chance for a victory over the Angels in Game 3 of the ALCS.
Although reliever David Robertson had registered the first two outs in the 11th inning, manager Joe Girardi traveled the path he had cut into the Angel Stadium field from the dugout to the mound. Girardi already had made the walk four times without a pitching change and on several other occasions to call for a reliever.
Howie Kendrick and Jeff Mathis were the next two hitters in the Angels’ order, and according to reports compiled by Yankees scouts, computers and video, Alfredo Aceves’ slider provided a better way to retire them than Robertson’s fastball/curveball stuff.
“It’s just different kind of stuff against those hitters,” Girardi said. “We have all the matchups and all the scouting reports and we felt [Aceves] was a better matchup for us.”
VACCARO: JOE’S MANEUVERS FINALLY CRAP OUT
Nevertheless, Kendrick smoked a single to center and Mathis scorched a double to left-center that scored Kendrick from first for a 5-4 win in front of 44,911.
The Yankees still lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1, and will send ace CC Sabathia to the mound on three days’ rest tonight for Game 4. He will be opposed by Scott Kazmir.
Was Robertson surprised to get the hook?
“A little bit,” he said. “But [Girardi] has a plan in mind. Maybe Ace matches up.”
Aceves had never faced Kendrick and Mathis was 0-for-2 with a strikeout against the right-hander before smacking his game-winning hit past Jerry Hairston Jr. and off the fence in left-center.
“I think it was a little slider or a cutter,” Mathis said of the pitch he smoked.
Had the Yankees not wasted strong scoring chances in the second and fourth, Girardi’s strategy wouldn’t be on the back page of today’s Post.
Derek Jeter hit Jered Weaver’s third pitch of the game over the left-field fence and Alex Rodriguez’s blast to left opening the fourth staked Andy Pettitte to a 2-0 lead. But the Yankees had first and second and no outs in both the second and fourth innings and didn’t score, with Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera all failing in those situations.
“Not being able to get it done there is probably part of the reason we lost the game,” Girardi said.
Johnny Damon upped the Yankees’ bulge to 3-0 with a homer to right in the fifth, but the Angels copped a 4-3 lead on a solo homer by Kendrick, a two-run shot by Vladimir Guerrero and Maicer’s Izturis that scored Kendrick from third in the seventh. Jorge Posada tied the score, 4-4, in the eighth with a solo homer that could have been a two-run blast had pinch-runner Brett Gardner not been caught trying to swipe second when the Angels pitched out.
“We have a lot of confidence in CC pitching but we have to swing the bats better,” said Jeter, who went 0-for-5 after the homer and stranded two runners in the eighth inning. “We had chances to score some runs with runners in scoring position.”
The Yankees were 0-for-8 in the clutch. In the three ALCS games, they are 3-for-28 (.107) and hitless in their last 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Having used Mariano Rivera for 2 1/3 innings (25 pitches) in Game 2 on Saturday night, Girardi set a one-inning limit on his closer and it was a wild frame.
Rivera entered after Mathis led off the 10th with a double. Rivera fielded Erick Aybar’s bunt and had Mathis at third until he bounced a throw to Rodriguez that got by the third baseman.
With runners at the corners and the infield in, Chone Figgins hit a grounder to Mark Teixeira that he fielded for the first out. Bobby Abreu was walked intentionally. Rivera induced Torii Hunter and Guerrero to hit consecutive grounders to Teixeira to end the inning.
“When you lose, you look forward to tomorrow,” Posada said, “and we have a pretty good guy on the mound.”