Sunday, October 09, 2005 |
Series Over: Yankees 3, Angels 2
Collapses by the Angels bullpen, the team's all-too-fragile offense, and every last flaw of the 1-4 hitters came on display again. This is not an accident; this was just one game, but you can rewind August and every damn last game was that way. Mike left Shields in far too long when it was obvious that he didn't have anything, one day of rest notwithstanding.
I can't be the only one to think that the Angels bullpen can't be trusted with anything but a bulletproof five-run lead in late innings tomorrow. Despite home field advantage, I have to think the Angels are toast tomorrow, and the worst part of it is that I've got tickets to see them fall. $32 million for Orlando Cabrera and his 1-4 performances? Erstad and his consistent whiffing? Guerrero, shut down for virtually the whole series? They need plate discipline; where's Kotchman? This is pathetic.
Update: They are so going to lose tomorrow:
We've got our Cy Young winner going tomorrow," Lackey said, assuming his teammate will win the award and the game. "We're going to be just fine."Wake me when he's won anything, Lackey. Jesus Christ.
1) The bullpen is fine. Shields had a bad day, and the defense (*cough* Figgins *cough*) did him no favors. It happens.
2) Guerrero has not been "shut down" - he's hitting .286 for the series with an OBP in the neighborhood of .370 (I could you for certain if somebody would update their stats, or if ESPN was keeping playoff stats to begin with. What's up with that, BTW?).
3) Being tied 2-2 and stifling the Yankees' offense for the series is far from pathetic. We knew the Angels bats weren't going to be great - we've seen that all season.
4) With Colon going against Mussina tomorrow, I'd say we have the upper hand.
So pop a couple Paxil and enjoy tomorrow's game.
Chacon, Leiter and Rivera pitched a great game...as did Lackey. Give credit where credit is due.
Sad and ironic that both games have been lost over defense (BAD throws...two from GA, one from Figgens)...and in relief (Shields tonight), when those are the two areas we have a decided advantage over the Yankees
2) Vlad: .286/.412/.286. I'd call that pretty damn well neutralized.
3) Sure, the Angels could be the Padres. They aren't, but offensively, that's not saying much.
4) How soon they forget. Upper hand? Is last week even that remote from your memory?
I keed, I keed!
2) .400 OBP? Clearly this man is Neifi Perez.
3) I'm afraid I can't formulate a response to that...
4) Oh my God! The Angels once lost a game that Bartolo Colon pitched in (and pitched pretty well in, IIRC)! Well, they might as well not even show up!
The Angels didn't sign Vlad to be David Eckstein, who, coincidentally, is hitting for more power than Vlad in these playoffs.
... and Bart still has that same back trouble that's been plaguing him throughout September. Whoopee.
Remember that Vlad hitting 286 is inflated by Randy's fat pitch performance. All of their hitting stats are.
Not surprised the Angels couldn't hit Chacon. Like I said, Angels can't hit guys with heavy sinkers or a lot of breaking stuff. Basically if you get junk over for strikes on the first pitch, you can own the Angels offense. Same goes with Kotchman.
Shields didn't have a bad day, per se. But what he didn't do was throw strikes on the first batter. Even with just a one-run lead, you don't walk the first guy. With one guy on and nobody out, against the meat of the Yankees order, they were going to score. The Yanks hit the Angels bullpen probably better than anybody else in the league. No lead is safe.
The real shame -- and why I think the Angels will lose tonight -- is that Scoscia has to use Colon tonight rather than Lackey. The one brilliant Angels pitching performance of this series was last night, not tonight. The Yanks have hit Colon well in the past, as they did in the first game.
Angels aren't going to hit Mussina tonight. He's slept in the same bed for one whole week. He's going to own the Angels.
Nope. The ALCS has been postponed to Wednesday now that a Game 5 has to occur on a Monday.
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