
According to Friend of the Blog Nadine, “Scherzer” means “joke” in German. (See what you learn on twitter?)
Unfortunately, I wasn’t laughing at the way the Tigers’ starter was no-hitting the Yankees for much of today’s game. In fact, it made me downright mental. I reverted back to my old superstitious ways – from changing positions on the couch to yelling “No-Hitter! No-Hitter! No Hitter!” in an attempt to lay a jinx on the guy.
Nothing worked until Cano’s bloop single. And our offense couldn’t really get anything going after that, homers by Grandy and Swisher and Jorge’s triple aside.
Some in the crowd at the Stadium booed A-Rod. And while I was frustrated with his at-bats too, I wanted to strangle every person in the Bronx who calls himself/herself a fan. My God. He’s playing hurt, plus he had plenty of company in the rally killing department.
I didn’t have huge expectations for Garcia and actually thought he pitched pretty well after the first inning, although I didn’t understand the wisdom of pitching to Cabrera. It was Jeter’s error that opened the door for the later runs and perhaps Girardi left Sweaty Freddy in too long.
What I don’t get was the use of Ayala. I’ve made no secret of my lack of faith in him so I wasn’t happy to see him – even though the Yankees did have a hill to climb (which they almost did climb against Valverde). Girardi defended his choice of reliever by saying, “We have to play back to back games.” Or something like that. So the skipper was, what, saving the good relievers? Isn’t this the postseason when every game is do-or-die? When you worry about tomorrow tomorrow? When you really, truly try to win now? They can all rest in November.
Having Chavez pinch-hit for Gardner was also a headscratcher, but Joe said he was going by the numbers. *Shrug*
Oh, and one other thing. I won’t do a full-on rant about the TBS/TNT broadcasters; they’re inept but they’re not as obnoxious as the guys on FOX/ESPN. My issue is with the network’s camera choices. Did we really need a shot of Leyland in the dugout every six seconds? Was I watching a Tigers telecast instead of the ALDS? What was all that about?
Yes, I’m grouchy. And I felt sorry for the Yanks that they had to play in the rain yet again. I don’t exactly think of Detroit as Sunnyville, USA, but maybe the weather will be better there. We can hope.