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Tuesday, October 04, 2005 |
Wrong Number Five: Yankees 4, Angels 2
I feel badly for Casey Kotchman; Erstad absorbed four at bats that he shouldn't have against the Yankees before Mike decided to put Kotchman in to face, oh, I don't know, only the most effective postseason closer in the history of the game as the tying run. But as I've said all along, this team's offense is far too sketchy, and Kotchman not being in there was a big part of it. Erstad "protecting" Vlad is a joke, and Vlad himself was limited to a lousy single.
I also don't blame Colon, who pitched well considering the lineup. It's too bad, but I'm dropping the Angels to done in four, Christina Kahrl's projections or no.
Update 10/5: Stephen Smith writes to remind me that Kotchman's first major league hit was against Rivera. Sure, I remembered that, but expecting to catch lightning in a bottle is a pretty lousy way to go about winning ballgames. Erstad had no business starting last night, and especially, he had no business hitting fifth.
Comments:
Mussina had his slider working really, really well for him today. Scoscia went with a left heavy lineup, which made sense regarding past success against Mussina, but it backfired big time here. Locating sliders and knuckle curves on the inside plate is totally unfair for lefties. :)
Putting Erstad behind Vlad was a bad, bad idea. Both Erstad and Vlad are near the bottom of the lineup at hitting against him.
I was encouraged with how well the Angels were swinging at Gordon's and Rivera's pitches. The Angels mostly have problems with heavy junk and pitchers that can change speeds really well. But they seem to do better against power-ish pitchers. I wouldn't be surprised if the Angels hit Randy pretty well in game 3. Things ought to look up for games 2 and 3.
I thought Colon did very well all things considering. The problem with Colon is that he relies on his velocity and throwing strikes in order to get ahead. Moneyball and all that, the Yankees are maybe the best fastball hitting team in the league. I actually thought Colon would get shelled all day.
Things should look up with Lackey. I figure the Yanks will do most of their damage in the first 2-3 innings, as they did today.
Putting Erstad behind Vlad was a bad, bad idea. Both Erstad and Vlad are near the bottom of the lineup at hitting against him.
I was encouraged with how well the Angels were swinging at Gordon's and Rivera's pitches. The Angels mostly have problems with heavy junk and pitchers that can change speeds really well. But they seem to do better against power-ish pitchers. I wouldn't be surprised if the Angels hit Randy pretty well in game 3. Things ought to look up for games 2 and 3.
I thought Colon did very well all things considering. The problem with Colon is that he relies on his velocity and throwing strikes in order to get ahead. Moneyball and all that, the Yankees are maybe the best fastball hitting team in the league. I actually thought Colon would get shelled all day.
Things should look up with Lackey. I figure the Yanks will do most of their damage in the first 2-3 innings, as they did today.
# posted by 
: 10/05/2005 12:14:00 AM
: 10/05/2005 12:14:00 AM
Randy was pretty much nails in his last outing, an 8-4 pasting of the Red Sox in which he gave up three earned runs over seven and two thirds; considering the Red Sox lineup that's a positive accomplishment. Frankly, as with last year, I expect him to melt down in cold weather, just about our only hope.
I think putting Anderson in LF instead of Rivera was a bad idea from the get-go.
- Chris
- Chris
# posted by : 10/05/2005 09:22:00 AM
: 10/05/2005 09:22:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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