2012 ALDS Game 2 Preview: Put 'Em Down

Game 1 was about as textbook a win as the Yankees could have on paper. They scored a few early runs and wore down the opposing starting pitcher in the process, get him out by the 6th inning to get into the bullpen, struck late against the 'pen, and got a standout starting pitching performance from the ace of their staff. Last night’s game was incredibly important in terms of not letting the whole “lower-seeded team starting at home” thing become an advantage for Baltimore, and now they find themselves with their backs against the wall tonight, trying not to go down 2-0 with the series heading to New York. They send a struggling Wei-Yin Chen to the mound, not exactly an ideal starting pitcher to have out there in their situation, and he’ll be opposed by a guy who’s been in more big playoff games than he can probably count in Andy Pettitte. The cards are stacked in the Yankees’ favor again tonight, and they can push the upstart O’s to the brink if they play them right

Updated Starting Lineups (4:30PM)-

NYY: 1) Jeter- SS, 2) Ichiro- LF, 3) A-Rod- 3B, 4) Cano- 2B, 5) Swish- RF, 6) Teix- 1B, 7) Martin- C, 8) C-Grand- CF, 9) Nunez- DH

BAL: 1) McLouth- LF, 2) Hardy- SS, 3) Davis- RF, 4) Jones- CF, 5) Wieters- C, 6) Reynolds- 1B, 7) Thome- DH, 8) Machado- 3B, 9) Andino- 2B

Pitching Matchup-

Andy Pettitte (5-4, 2.97 ERA/3.48 FIP, 8.24 K/9 ) vs. Wei-Yin Chen (12-11, 4.02 ERA/4.42 FIP, 7.19 K/9)

How's That For Location?

(Courtesy of Texas Leaguers)

Pretty impressive, huh?  Lotta fastballs for strikes on the corners, ditto for changeups on the outside corner to righties, and a lot more changeups and sliders located down in the zone for either called strikes or swinging strikes.  CC threw 31 changeups last night, 21 for strikes, and 22 sliders, 17 for strikes.  That's command, people.  That's what an ace does.  Now somebody hit the music!

2012 ALDS Game 1 Thoughts & Afterthoughts: NYY 7 BAL 2

(Always a good sight to see.  Courtesy of the AP)

I don't get much fall out here in Wisconsin.  It's usually just a 3-4 week period between the middle of September and the middle of October where it stops being 70 degrees and still isn't cold enough to snow.  That transition came this past week, and combined with the beginning of playoff baseball there's no doubt that it's officially fall out here now.  The Yankees found themselves back in Baltimore to open their divisional series on the road against the Orioles, but had to battle the rain before they could even get on the field.  When the weather cleared and the game finally did start, it was a CC Sabathia-Jason Hammel pitching matchup that should have favored the Yankees.  That matchup stayed close for most of the night, with the Yankees finally pulling away to secure the win late.

2012 ALDS Game 1 Preview: On The Road Again

In a continuation of one of my favorite traditions from one of my favorite Yankee blogs, the now defunct Fack Youk, we'll once again be doing our AB4AR playoff game preview series with a musical theme/connection for each game.  Tonight's is the road, specifically Baltimore, where the Yankees find themselves again despite outlasting the Orioles for the AL East title.  Bud Selig's desire for more dollars has created this screwy 2-3 format for the division series, and the Yanks will just have to roll with the punches and try to get a win tonight to eliminate any potential advantage Baltimore could gain by starting the series on their home turf.  Starting lineups below and keys to tonight's game after the jump.

Updated Starting Lineups-

NYY: 1) Jeter- SS, 2) Ichiro- LF, 3) A-Rod- 3B, 4) Cano- 2B, 5) Swish- RF, 6) Teix- 1B, 7) C-Grand- CF, 8) Martin- C, 9) Ibanez- DH

BAL: 1) McLouth- LF, 2) Hardy- SS, 3) Jones- CF, 4) Wieters- C, 5) Reynolds- 1B, 6) Machado- 3B, 7) Davis- DH, 8) Ford- RF, 9) Andino- 2B

Pitching Matchup-

CC Sabathia (15-6, 3.38 ERA/3.33 FIP, 8.87 K/9) vs. Jason Hammel (8-6, 3.43 ERA/3.29 FIP, 8.62 K/9)

Yanks-O's ALDS Preview: The Prediction

(Used courtesy of The Baltimore Sun)

The rosters are set, the comparisons and contrasts have been made, the advantages, on paper at least, have been analyzed, and the lineup cards for tonight are in the process of being filled out.  The only thing left to do from a blogger standpoint is put my fictional internet money on the line and make a pick.

Truth be told, it didn't take a lot of time to come to this conclusion.  I've felt the Yankees are the better team all along and I still think it's a matter of time until the rabbit's foot Baltimore has been carrying around in its back pocket all season falls out.  And if you're wondering why I haven't said boo about the 2-3 setup for this series that starts the Yankees out on the road despite having a better record than Baltimore and winning the division over them, there's an answer for that too.  I don't think it's going to matter much after tonight because I believe CC Sabathia is going to come out firing tonight.  I think the extra rest his 2 DL stints gave him is going to do him a world of good this postseason, and I think he comes out tonight and dominates to win Game 1 and set the stage for the rest of the series.

Yankee Postseason Roster Officially Unveiled

And it's got no surprises.  Via Bryan Hoch, the 25-man that the Bombers will carry into the ALDS against Baltimore will be exactly what everybody thought it would be yesterday once Andruw Jones announced he would not be included.  Brett Gardner, Jayson Nix, and Derek Lowe are in; Jones, Chris Dickerson, Cody Eppley, and Ivan Nova are out.

Final ALDS Roster-

Position Players: Martin, Stewart, Teixeira, Cano, Nix, Jeter, Nunez, A-Rod, Chavez, Swisher, Granderson, Ichiro, Gardner, Ibanez

Pitchers: Sabathia, Pettitte, Kuroda, Hughes, Soriano, D-Rob, Logan, Joba, Phelps, Rapada, Lowe

Andruw Jones Not On ALDS Roster

Jones himself confirmed it this afternoon to the media:

“I don’t deserve to be on it."

There it is, folks.  Andruw Jones will not be on the ALDS roster, logic and statistics scores a win, and my faith in humanity has been restored.  Round of applause to you on this one, Joe.

Yanks-O's ALDS Preview: 3 Things That Will Decide The Series

(Hey, remember this?)

There wasn't nearly as much drama and work involved as I was personally hoping for last night, but the Orioles sent the Rangers packing and the Yankees now know who they'll play in their divisional round matchup tomorrow night.  As a divisional rivals, the Yanks and O's saw plenty of each other this season.  They played to a 9-9 stalemate in their season series, with the Yankees taking 5 of the first 8 and Orioles winning 6 of the last 10.  That record and those trends mean little now, as the slate is wiped clean for this 5-game series.  But they can give some insight as to the type of things we should be looking for to make predictions and a decision on who will ultimately win.

These teams have a lot of similarities, and there aren't many points of comparison where one has the clear advantage over the other.  The Yankees are the deeper and more talented team on paper, but the O's have played with that undefinable "it factor" all year long, and that is reflected in their undeniably impressive 1-run game and extra-inning records.  I expect this to be a close series and a competitive series, and after the jump are the 3 things that are going to decide who wins.

AB4AR's Final Playoff Roster Prediction

Joe's getting his Jim Gordon on and playing things close to the vest with announcements about his postseason roster, so not much has been confirmed yet.  We know that Casey McGehee won't be a part of the club, which is a bit of information that should elicit almost no emotional response, good or bad.  We know that CC Sabathia is getting the ball tonight to start Game 1 of the series, which has been a scientific fact since the moment he walked off the mound in his last regular season start.  We know about 22-23 of the guys whose names will inevitably be chosen, it's not that hard to figure out, so we're really only waiting for Joe to confirm those last 2 or 3 names.  But AB4AR waits for no one!  I'm going to help Joe get the news out of the way early with the official AB4AR 25-man postseason roster final selection.

Who Cares If It's The O's Or The Rangers?

Everybody has been doing the "who would you rather face?" posts the past day or so in preparation for Game 1 of the ALDS on Sunday.  To be honest, I don't see the value in it.  There's no way to predict which of those teams is going to win and actually be the opponent, and at the end of the day there really isn't a clear advantage for the Yankees over one or the other.

Against the Orioles and the Rangers this season, the Yankees were a combined 13-12 with a +1 run differential.  They were practically dead even with both teams.  Both teams sport a pair of potentially tough lefties to match up with CC and Andy, they both have solid bullpens, and they both have lineups capable of doing a lot of damage in a hurry.  If you want to make the "yeah, but the Rangers blew a huge lead and aren't playing good baseball right now" argument, I'll admit that you're right and then remind you the O's just loss 2 of 3 to the Rays to close the season and only scored 1 run in the game they won; they aren't exactly burning the world down themselves.

There's too many similarities between both teams and too little of a past history advantage to point to for the Yanks to really feel better about facing one or the other.  What I am rooting for is a long game tonight, preferably 15 innings, with a lot of scoring early so both teams have to chew up their bullpens and possibly get another starter involved.  That will give the Yankees an advantage and that's something I would root for.  As far as the colors of the jersey and logo of the hat, I really don't give a shit.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 10/5

On my journey back home and back to Dover, DE last weekend, I was reunited with 2 of the greatest loves of my life, Dogfish Head beer and Yuengling.  A few years ago, Dogfish ended their distribution to the state of Wisconsin, for the simple reason that they just couldn't keep up with demand.  Anybody who has had their beer before and knows how great it is can surely understand how that's possible.  They are in the process of building another facility to allow them to distribute further west, but that plant is years away from being operational.  Yuengling is in a similar situation and also working on a new facility to allow them to expand their distribution, but for the time being I only get a few chances a year to enjoy these fine brews.  I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say I would drink Yuengling 24/7 if I had access to it out here.  There's really no clean ending or point to this intro; I just wanted you all to know that I got to drink a lot of beer.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Jimmy Kraft of Yanks Go yard asked if Eduardo Nunez is still the heir apparent to Jeter at shortstop.  After Joe's latest instance of removing Nunez because of his defense, I think it's safe to say that he is not.

- On Tuesday, Mike Axisa of RAB examined Ichiro's late-season hot streak and the positive impact it had on the Yankee lineup.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS addressed the notion that Joe shouldn't have let CC Sabathia go 8 innings on Monday and concluded that second guessing Joe in this case would be stupid.  As a constant questioner of Joe, I actually agree with Brien's logic and Joe's decision.

- On Wednesday, Andrew Mearns of Pinstriped Bible got deep into the postseason roster contstruction and proposed his 2 roster versions, 1 for if the Yankees won the division outright and 1 for the 1-game playoff scenario with Baltimore.  Props to him for going through the exercise.

- Bryan V of The Greedy Pinstripes made his postseason bullpen selections.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog looked at the polar opposite performances from Mark Teixeira and Raul Ibanez in clutch situations over the past few games.

- On Thursday, fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite wondered if the Yankees having to play so hard all the way through the regular season will be beneficial to them in the playoffs.

- Steve Lombardi of Was Watching made a frightening connection between Curtis Granderson's 2012 and Jose Canseco's 1998.  Yeesh.

- EJ Fagan of TYA wrote the definitive "Trumbo or Cabrera for MVP" piece on the web.  It's brilliant in its simplicity and the manner in which EJ's points are conveyed.  If you're even remotely intelligent you'll read it and nod your head in agreement.

- SJK of NoMaas poked a hole in the Fraud Sawx biggest excuse balloon with relative ease.

- Mike of Pride Of The Yankees made his personal selections for the AL and NL award winners, and the Yankee winner in each major category.

- Marc Hulet of FanGraphs checked in with his latest Yankee prospect scouting report, this time focusing on the players he saw in the Double-A playoffs.  Lots of good info there on guys like J.R. Murphy, Zoilo Almonte, Mark Montgomery, Nik Turley, and even Graham Stoneburner.

For today's Friday Jam, I'm throwing a little Mos Def out there.  I've got a smattering of his songs on my iPod (still rocking the old scroll wheel version), and every time one of them comes on I always enjoy it.  This song, "Ghetto Rock" is especially groovy.  It's got a great bass line and Mos lays some serious rhymes down, but it also has that great guitar riff and I love me some catchy guitar riffs.



P.S.- Mos Def was absolutely hilarious in his old guest spots on "Chappelle's Show."  His "Black Head of the CIA" character was a riot.

Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Wild Card game is tonight and I'll be watching and scouting, and ALDS Game 1 is Sunday for the Yankees.  Series preview posts will be coming tomorrow.

AB4AR "Best Of The Month" Awards: September/October 2012

(Who will take home the certificates in the last month?)

After a very blah August that saw them lose most of their division lead and set them up for a competitive and pressure-packed final regular season stretch run, the Yankees rebounded nicely in September to overcome the undesirable situation they had created for themselves.  They got healthier, with CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, and Mark Teixeira returning from injuries, and started to fix some of the problems that plagued them over the summer in what ended up being a 20-11 final month plus of the year and ended with another division championship.  After the jump, check out the AB4AR choices for best performers and moments of the last month.

Alex Rodriguez And The Postseason Batting Order

(Hasn't been a lot of kick from The Horse in a while.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

I was legitimately shocked to hear about Alex Rodriguez's 83-plate appearance/67-at bat extra base hitless streak when I watched game 162 the other night.  I clearly had not been following the numbers closely enough because even though I was well aware that his power has been greatly diminished this year, I thought surely a hitter of his caliber had snuck a double down the left field line or into the right field gap somewhere in those 83 PA.  Thinking about Alex Rodriguez going that long without an XBH, even an aging, breaking down, power-sapped Alex Rodriguez, is just incomprehensible to me, and the fact that he did go that long gets me thinking about his place in the batting order and if 3rd is the proper spot for him.

Gardner Could Sneak Onto The Playoff Roster

It didn't get mentioned much with all the hoopla surrounding the exciting finish to the regular season, but Brett Gardner is back to resuming full baseball activities.  He got an at-bat in Monday night's game as an 8th-inning pinch hitter, and 2 more last night as late-game replacement, even getting a base knock and coming around to score a run.

Gardner hadn't had an official at-bat prior to Monday since April 17th, so in a small sample size of 3ABs it's hard to say he's "back" and much more likely that he's still very rusty when it comes to hitting against Major League pitching.  But Gardner would represent an upgrade over the potential bench OF options that Joe has to mull over in the next few days (Jones, The D); he's a better outfielder and baserunner than both of them and when he's right he brings good stuff to the table at the bottom of the order as a grinder and speed/sacrifice option.

Despite all my worrying, we haven't heard any more horror stories about Gardner's elbow starting to bother him since the Yankees started working him back in. It appears as if he's out of the woods now, and if he has come away from these first couple of ABs back without any pain in the elbow, he could very well find himself on the postseason 25-man as the 4th OF.

Game 162 Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Best picture ever.  Courtesy of the AP)

Since there was a postseason atmosphere surrounding last night's game and we're now transitioning into the postseason, I figured it was time to dust off the "Thoughts & Afterthoughts" series to get into true playoff mode.  Now that I have the guaranteed ability to watch each and every game on TV, my ability to analyze and comment on everything is greatly enhanced and I usually expand said commentary to more than just the game itself.  If you're a long-time reader you know how this works; if you're new to the AB4AR crew, here's your chance to get familiar.  The game recaps from here on out will be in this free-flowing format, with the standard game recap awards coming at the end.  Enjoy.

Game 162 Wrap-Up: NYY 14 BOS 2

(I can't tell, is he smiling?  Courtesy of the AP)

It became very clear to me at around lunch time at the office yesterday that I really didn't give a damn what happened at work for the rest of the day.  My mind was already firmly focused on the game and the task at hand for the Yankees, and I wasn't even playing.  I imagine that feeling was even more intense in the Yankee clubhouse before last night's game coming off of the dramatic ending on Tuesday night.  They had full control over their American League destiny, Hiroki Kuroda on the mound, and a beaten down Fraud Sawx team with a soon-to-be-fired manager as the only thing standing between them and a #1 seed.  There was surely no desire on their parts to let this game drag on and they played like it, beating the Fraud Sawx into submission to lock up another division title.

Game Notes:

- I can't imagine swinging at 4 of the first 6 Matsuzaka pitches was in the game plan, but that's what the Yankees did in the bottom of the 1st.  Not surprisingly, that led to 3 outs and a quick inning.

- The patience still wasn't there in the 2nd, but the results were.  Robinson Cano singled, Nick Swisher drew a walk, and Curtis Granderson hit the first pitch he saw into the right field seats for a 3-run dinger and a 3-1 Yankee lead.

- Kuroda wasn't as great as he was mid-season, but he was good enough.  He gave up a run in the 1st but settled down after that.  His fastball was lively, and he threw enough good sliders and sinkers to keep his pitch count down and get plenty of GB outs through 4.

- The offensive barrage didn't stop after the 2nd, and it was all produced off the bat of Cano.  He hit a 2-run home run in the 3rd that looked like he was taking a BP swing, and then another 2-run BOMB in the 5th that looked even smoover.  Dude was SPITTING OUT SEEDS MID-SWING!!!  7-1 Yanks.

- Excellent outing for Kuroda; just what you want to see heading into the postseason.  His slider seemed to get better in the later innings, he got more Ks, and his fastball velocity stayed up.

- I almost feel bad talking about Cano this much, but he WAS the offense last night.  He's the one guy who you don't mind swinging early when he's on because you know he's going to do something good.  His 2-run single in the 6th was the perfect example of that and was pretty much the dagger in the Fraud Sawx's hearts.

- I said I wanted the Yankees to keep their foot on the gas in this game, and they did.  Up 9-2 after the Fraud Sawx scored another cheapie in the top of the 7th, they responded with a -run bottom half, punctuated by Ichiro's 2-run double to make it 12-2.

- Classy move by Joe getting as many guys involved late as he could.  With a 12-run lead it was more than safe enough to do that.  Brett Gardner got a hit, Francisco Cervelli got another appearance, and so did Freddy Garcia.

- 2012 AL East champions and #1 seed in the AL playoffs, the New York Yankees.  Damn that's fun to write!

Your 2012 American League East Champions...

And #1 seed in the American League playoffs.  Well done, gentlemen.  Well done.  You put your feet on the gas early and didn't let up.  We'll see you Sunday.

Now somebody hit the fucking music!

Setting The Stage For Game 162

(Hopefully it's not as stressful, but I'd take a repeat of this celebration tonight.  Courtesy of the AP)

I can't remember the last time the Yankees played a final regular season game with this much meaning.  And no, I'm not going to bother looking it up because there are plenty of other blogs out there that handle historical stuff better than mine.  It's been frustrating, agonizing, refreshing, and exciting watching this last month of slim-to-none division leads, and it all boils down to what should be an incredibly drama-filled night of baseball tonight.  The Yankees, after being in a pretty precarious spot last Sunday morning, have done what they needed to do and won their last 3 games, and they now find themselves in the driver's seat tonight with the man who has been their most consistent pitcher this season on the mound against a guy who has been absolute dog crap for his team.  So what should we be looking for tonight?  Here's my thoughts after the jump.

In Case You Missed It...

Or if you just wanted to relive last night's late-inning drama, sit back and enjoy.  Sometimes pictures can say it better than words, especially my words.

(Courtesy of TYA's resident gifmaster Mike Eder)

 

(Courtesy of Mike Axisa and RAB)

 

Just amazing what Ibanez has done in these last couple weeks after looking only slightly less dead than Andruw Jones.  The guy has really come up with a lot of big hits this year.

 

 

P.S.- Cervelli's slide into home in the 12th was just awful.  Funny how that gets glossed over when you're scoring the winning run in extra innings.

CC And Cano Preparing To Carry The Postseason Load

(Oh so smoove.  Courtesy of the AP)

Big time players make big time plays in big time games.  That's a generic sports cliche that, despite my friends and I readily ignoring it when it was repeated to us over and over by our college dropout assistant coach during over sophomore lacrosse season, does ring very true.  There's a reason Reggie Jackson is called Mr. October, there's a reason that nickname was altered to Mr. November for Derek Jeter in 2001, and there's a reason that Aaron Effing Boone will always be a legend in New York despite having a relatively mediocre Major League career.  The Yankees have a lot of big time players on their roster, at least in name, but too often this season those players have come up small in big time games.  2 guys who have stepped up as the pressure has risen these past few weeks are CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano.  Not surprisingly, they are the best pitcher and best position player on the team, and their timing could not have been better.

Game 161 Wrap-Up: NYY 4 BOS 3

(GAH!!  What the fu-, oh.  It's just Raul celebrating.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

Last night was a night of opportunities in Yankeeland.  The Yankees had an opportunity to clinch the AL East and move closer to securing the #1 seed in the AL with a win and some help from the Orioles and Rangers.  David Phelps had an opportunity to help them get that win and continue to strengthen his case for 2013 rotation consideration with a good outing in place of Ivan Nova.  The Fraud Sawx, after rolling out one of the lamest lineups known to man the night before, attempted to thwart those opportunities by re-inserting Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroyyyyaaahhhhh into their lineup against Phelps.  That shouldn't have been enough to tip the scales, but the Yanks still ended up going longer than they probably wanted to get the win.

Game Notes:

- Phelps made me look bad for writing another post singing his praises in the 1st when he got beat by Ellsbury and Pedroyaaahh for 2 runs in the top of the 1st.

- The Yankees scrapped a run together in the bottom of the 2nd on a pair of infield singles by Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez, with an error and a stolen base thrown in.  It wasn't a 9-run barrage, but it was something.

- Unfortunately, they couldn't take advantage of a shaky Jon Lester thanks to 2 Mark Teixeira inning-ending GIDPs.  Joe made the brilliant call to bat Robinson Cano, the hottest hitter in baseball, 5th behind A-Rod and Teix, and through 3 innings that strategy failed miserably.

- There's no shame in giving up a couple hits and runs to a former AL MVP and a recent MVP candidate, and Phelps rebounded nicely from his tough 1st inning.  He used his 4-seamer and 2-seamer generously and only gave up 1 more hit before getting lifted after 5.1 innings and 86 pitches.

- As has been the case many times this season, the Yankees weren't short on opportunities last night.  They had 10 hits and a walk through 6 innings, but only 1 run to show for it.  Teix's double plays hurt, but so did a 3-10 RISP effort that produced only 1 run-scoring hit (Nunez's in the 2nd).

- The bullpen did the job in relief of Phelps, tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless ball to keep the comeback in play.  Joba Chamberlain and D-Rob were stand-out effective, working 2 near-perfect innings with 3 Ks to keep the game tied into the 9th.

- It was looking like another textbook Yankee blown-opportunity loss after Rafael Soriano gave up a solo HR in the top of the 9th until Raul Ibanez got the pinch hit call in the bottom half.  Joe hasn't been pushing a lot of right buttons lately, but he did this time and Ibanez hit a clutch 2-run HR to tie the game at 3 and send it into extras.

- Soriano got used far more than Joe probably wanted to, Derek Lowe probably secured his postseason roster spot with 2 solid innings after, and it all led to fan favorite Francisco Cervelli drawing a 2-out walk and Ibanez coming up with the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 12th.

Cano, So Hot Right Now. Cano

Robinson Cano's batting line on 9/24: .293/.362/.519

Robinson Cano since 9/24: 18-29, 7 2B, 1 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI

Robinson Cano's batting line on 10/2: .308/.375/.540

I don't know what being more than locked in is, but Cano is it right now.  He schlepped through most of September, but he's picked it back up at the perfect time.  If this carries into the postseason, watch out.

Mugatu approves.

ManBan Scheduled For TJS, My Genius Is Confirmed

I knew it was coming.  I knew it was coming from the moment he first got shelved with his elbow injury, and I've said as much over the past 5 months:

- June 14th: "Maybe I've just watched "Conspiracy Theory" one too many times on TNT, but 7-8 weeks seems like an awfully long time to be on the shelf with just a tired arm."

- July 12th: "I hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but the Yankees might as well just pencil ManBan and Campos in for Tommy John Surgery right now."

- August 6th: "2012 was already a lost season for Banuelos before this latest setback. Now my concern is that 2013 could be the same if the Yankees continue down this path of trying to get him to pitch this season instead of doing something to address his continued elbow problems." 

And today it all came full circle as Josh Norris reported that Manny Banuelos will go under the knife for Tommy John on Thursday, putting a really shitty finishing touch on his 2012 season and effectively ending his 2013.

Phelps Getting The Ball Instead Of Nova, And What It Means For Both Of Them

(Tough way to go out for Ivan, but the right move.  Courtesy of the AP)

The biggest non-Mark Teixeira piece of news to come out of Yankeeland yesterday was Joe's pregame announcement that it would be David Phelps, and not Ivan Nova, who would be taking the ball for tonight's game.  At the time, this game was still a potential must-win for the Yankees to keep pace in the AL East race, a situation that has changed after the Yankees won and the Orioles lost last night.  With the way Nova has pitched in his last 2 starts and for almost the entire season, there was no way he could be allowed to take the ball in a game that important, and even though the critical nature of tonight's game has been slightly lessened, it's still a game that has a lot riding on it.  Phelps is a better option than Nova right now, that much is certain.  But looking longer term, what does this decision say about both guys moving forward?

Game 160 Wrap-Up: NYY 10 BOS 2

(Home runs = Happy.  Courtesy of the AP)

Normally, a Yanks-Sawx season-ending series at The Stadium with playoff implications tied to it would be enough to have me bringing an extra pair of undies to the office and making sure I spent the majority of my day sitting down, if you catch my drift.  This season, not so much.  The Sawx are a dead stick just coasting to the finish line of their disastrous season, and the Yankees are seemingly having to scratch and claw for every little thing they get while the Orioles just keep doing that impossible-to-statistically-explain voodoo that they do.  The Yanks had CC Sabathia on the hill for the opener last night, which gave them the clear advantage, and they expanded that advantage quickly by rocking Bahhston starter Clay Buchholz.

Game Notes:

- Buchholz threw a 1-2-3 1st inning, and that was where his effectiveness ended.  Robinson Cano led off the 2nd with a home run, Curtis Granderson hit a 2-run shot 2 batters later, and Russell Martin went back-to-back (and belly-to-belly) to make it 4-0.

- But it didn't stop there.  Buchholz walked a few guys, Ichiro singled the bases loaded, and Cano came up again and doubled home 2 runs to end Clay's night.  And Marky Mark Teixeira, in his second AB back from injury, welcomed Alfredo Aceves to the game with a 2-run shot to make it a 9-0 Yankee lead.

- When it was all said and done, the Yankees tied a franchise record by hitting 4 HR in one inning.  It was the third time in team history that they've done that.  Making history is always cool.

- Sabathia's job became easier when he saw Bobby V's lineup, and even easier after the offense handed him a 9-0 lead.  Sabathia pitched appropriately, going heavy on the fastball-slider and pounding the strike zone.

- CC did give up a few runs, one of a solo HR by Daniel Nava in the 4th and another on a walk, wild pitch, and sac fly in the 7th, but he was in full control all night.  He finished with 7 strikeouts, 6 on the slider, which continues to be a money pitch for him.

- I was getting ready to complain about the offense going dormant after the 9-run barrage, but they did put another run on the board late and it came via Melky Mesa.  In his first career AB he singled home Eduardo Nunez on a groundball back up the box.  Good for him.

- In what was likely his final appearance of the 2012 season, and possibly final appearance as a Yankee, Freddy Garcia pitched a scoreless 9th.