Yes, Ninja Ichiro’s leaping, stretching dance at home plate was entertaining and gave us a run. Perhaps he has a future as a performer in Cirque du Soleil when his baseball days are over.
Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte deserved better than tonight’s loss. He was great except for that unpleasant patch in the third inning, and he wasn’t helped by his teammates’ offense or defense.
Speaking of which, what an odd occurrence that Jeter had errors in consecutive games and that Tex had his own in this one. Sloppy, boys. Sloppy.
And then there was the offense. Euwww. It seems that we need Ibanez in the lineup; I thought we might see him in the ninth batting for the hapless A-Rod. And Swisher is now something like 1-for 35 in the postseason? I think it’s safe to say he won’t be with the Yanks in 2013.
But the truth is I feel lucky to get out of Baltimore with the split, given how competitively the Orioles have played the Yankees all year long. Supposedly, the next couple of games are where the home field advantage kicks in, so I expect the setting in the Bronx to matter. We kept hearing from the TBS crew how loud the fans at Camden Yards were. (Craig Sager’s sport jacket was even louder, but I digress.) I hope the Yankee fans in attendance starting Wednesday night will show everybody how it’s done. Bald Vinny will lead the charge.
Jeter had a big hit, an RBI single — as always.
A-Rod struck out twice late in the game — as always.
Andy pitched well — as always.
The Yankees are going to make the series interesting, because we can’t seem to do anything the easy way — as always, at least lately. In 1998 we crushed all comers, except for that one brief moment where that pesky Cleveland team went up 2-1 in the ALCS. But we don’t seem to have that kind of killer instinct anymore. Even when we win a series, we make it difficult [unless we’re playing Minnesota.]
Well, we have Kuroda for game 3. MUST win, otherweise we’d have to burn CC in game 4 and then who do we pitch in game 5? That means the final score will be about 2-1, b/c Kuroda always pitches awesome and gets no run support. As long as we have the 2 instead of the 1 I’ll take it.
Come on, boys, just have to win 2 of 3 at home to move on. Let’s get it done! Starting with a win in game 3…
Francessa on WFAN yesterday rebuffed numerous fans that urged dropping A-Rod down in the lineup or even benching him. I wonder if his huffieness will change his mind today. A-Rod and Swisher are holes in this lineup right now. Seriously, there is something wrong with A-Rod. Strike outs, weak grounders and soft pop ups are his norm. He isn’t striking fear in anyone lately, actually for months now. Swisher need to lay off the Red Bulls and A-Rod needs to get less at bats.
Got that off my chest, now I feel better.
Andy really did all that could be expected of him. I’m quite surprised Girardi left him in so long but in the end he did what he needed to do but did not get the win. Oh well, now we come home. Maybe the owners asked the team to throw this game so they could sell tickets to at least 2 games at home. LOL – just kidding. Not much more I can say other than…GO YANKEES!!!
I apologize to my fellow she-fans – I did not wear the lucky sweatshirt yesterday, nor did I listen to ‘Empire State of Mind’. In fact, I was not feeling well and went to bed instead of watching/listening to the game. *GASP* I promise to get my schtuff together tomorrow to bring back the luck.
Let’s Go Yankees!!
No, the Yankees haven’t made it easy, Sean. So we’re in for a bumpy ride.
A-Rod and Swisher have definitely been holes in the lineup, John. Maybe A-Rod would benefit from being dropped down in the order but Swisher’s played in several slots and just seems to have a block when it comes to the postseason.
I was surprised Andy was left in that long too, Diane, but he finished strong. Just wish he’d gotten more from his teammates.
Not to worry, DJ. I ate my lucky food from Sunday night and all the rest, and none of it worked. I think it’s up to the Yankees now. Hope you feel better.
Texiera’s bad wheel hurt the cause last night, definitely once or twice on the basepaths, and perhaps a factor on defense as well. Maybe Girardi should give Nunez a butterfly net and put him at first base till he’s up to speed. The split in Baltimore is a good result. It’s time to win 2 out of 3, it’s as simple as that. Time to get it done, boys. Have at it.
Not interested in seeing Nunez in the field even with a butterfly net, NYL. Tex is playing hurt for sure and it’s not an optimum situation, but there’s always Nix and Chavez for defense.