I honestly don't know what to say after last night. Or even after the first 3 games of this series. It's been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows as a fan and as a writer these last 4 days, and to be perfectly honest I am drained. The Yankees certainly looked like the were fixing to break our hearts last night, but some more Raul Ibanez fireworks, this latest round some of the biggest Yankee postseason fireworks in recent memory, changed all that. Now the Yankees come into tonight's game with the series lead, the momentum, and the emotional edge with the way last night's game finished up. Baltimore's got a tall order in front of them to try to keep this series alive tonight, and putting their playoff lives in the hands of a pitcher they basically picked off the scrap heap, even if he did pitch well in the Wild Card game, is a tough spot to be in.
I'm hoping for a nice easy game tonight. I could really use it, and not just to catch up on sleep. There are some personal obligations on the horizon for Friday and Saturday night that I was hoping wouldn't interfere too much in my postseason viewing/writing plans, and those obligations become a lot less intrusive if the Yankees take care of business tonight.
Updated Starting Lineups (3:55PM):
NYY: 1) Jeter- DH, 2)
Ichiro- LF, 3) Teix- 1B, 4) Cano- 2B, 5) A-Rod- 3B, 6) Swish- RF, 7) Martin- C, 8) C-Grand- CF, 9) Nix- SS
BAL: 1) McLouth- LF, 2)
Hardy- SS, 3) Davis- RF, 4) Jones- CF, 5) Wieters- C, 6) Thome- DH, 7) Reynolds-
1B, 8) Flaherty- 2B, 9) Machado- 3B
Pitching Matchup-
Phil Hughes (16-13, 4.23 ERA/4.56 FIP, 7.76 K/9) vs. Joe Saunders (9-13, 4.07 ERA/4.08 FIP, 5.77 K/9)
Sources: Yanks acquiring Brewers closer Williams
43 minutes ago