Monday, October 08, 2007 |
ALDS Game 4: Indians @ Yankees
Top 1st: Before the game started, the Boss said the Yankees must win or Joe Torre is fired; Roger Clemens, no help in Game 3, was taken off the postseason roster. In this game, the Yanks gave up two in the first on a Grady Sizemore leadoff homer, and a Jhonny Peralta RBI single. 2-0 Indians.
Top 2nd: The Tribe get the bases loaded, nobody out, chasing Chien-Ming Wang, who was pitching on three days' rest. Enter Mike Mussina, who elicits a groundball to second from Sizemore, scoring Franklin Gutierrez (no RBI). The crowd roars a throaty "Mooooose", which sounds like "booo". Asdrubal Cabrera cashes in Blake on a bloop single. 4-0 Indians.
One of the Cleveland broadcasters: "I'll tell you what would be the prettiest sight in America: if two-thirds of this park were empty by the seventh inning."
Bottom 2nd: Paul Byrd is in trouble for the second straight inning, loading the bases, two by walks. With one out, Johnny Damon pops out to short just back of third, but Jeter reaches on an infield single that just squirts out of the glove of Casey Blake's glove at third.
Byrd elicits a tall flyout to center from Bobby Abreu, getting out of a terrific jam. 4-1 Indians.
Top 4th: Victor Martinez cashes in men on second and third with a one-out RBI single, but Jhonny Peralta puts a quick end to the rally by hitting into a 5-3 double play. 6-1 Indians.
Bottom 5th: There was some chatter at BTF today (see here) that Paul Byrd's awful record against lefties would just crush the Indians' chances:
I'm with Joe here. Byrd vs. 7 lefties (everyone but Jeter and ARod) is a recipe for disaster.Byrd's been good enough through five, which is really all the Tribe should need, especially with a five-run lead. He faced one over the minimum in the fifth, allowing a groundball single to A-Rod but getting Posada on a liner to second and Matsui on a shallow popout to short. 6-1 Indians.
Byrd vs. LHB:
2007: .322/.345/.459
2006: .369/.413/.559
2005: .306/.339/.473
2004: .329/.364/.514
Not to mention that Byrd's been having command issues the last month or so. I don't like this. Not at all. I'm just hoping for five solid innings out of Byrd, then give it to Lewis, Perez, and Betancourt the rest of the way.
I've been nauseous all morning thinking about tonight's game. Tribe fans just have to hope Wang keeps elevating that sinker.
Bottom 6th: Leadoff batter Robinson Cano belts one into right in the New York night, and that's enough for Eric Wedge to retrieve his starter in favor of Rafael Perez. 6-2 Indians.
Perez easily retires Melky Cabrera, but loses his command and starts throwing balls, and when he's not throwing balls, he's getting slapped around. Two consecutive batters reach, pinch hitters Shelly Duncan and Johnny Damon, to put men on the corners for Derek Jeter. Perez goes 2-1 on Jeter, but then Jeter bounces to second to end the frame. The nascent uprising is snuffed, and it's still 6-2 Indians.
Top 7th: Kyle Farnsworth comes out of the bullpen to scattered boos. The fans have tried, on several occasions, to cheer their team on, but Cleveland has stomped on every potential rally but one, and that led only to a single run. The crowd is sullen, subdued. Farnsworth nevertheless makes his outs and pitches a scoreless frame.
Bottom 7th: A-Rod does a little bit to redeem himself; after the Cleveland announcers mention how the Indians would like to keep Rodriguez to zero RBIs, he belts a one-out solo shot, making it 6-3 Cleveland.
Perez shushes the suddenly resurgent crowd a bit by getting Posada to ground out, but he walks Matsui on five pitches. Wedge starts to stir but doesn't pull his reliever, allowing Perez to face Cano, who just homered in the sixth. Perez goes 2-0 on Cano, both balls missing (if you believe Gameday and the announcers) by quite a bit, low. On the 2-1 count, Cano taps out to first, and Victor Martinez easily beats the Yankee second baseman to the bag. Still 6-3 Cleveland.
Top 8th: Jose Veras strikes out Casey Blake on three pitches but surrenders a standup double in center to catcher Kelly Shoppach that's darned close to a home run. Veras intentionally walks Grady Sizemore, and that gets Torre to call in Mariano Rivera for five outs. The slow intentional pass comes with a slower mound conference to stall for Rivera to warm up.
Rivera doesn't disappoint. He gets Asdrubal Cabrera to bounce to second on the very first pitch, but Grady Sizemore breaks up the double play with a hard slide that takes Jeter out. Travis Hafner taps softly to short, and Jeter gets him amid Hafner's complaint of catcher's interference by Posada. The umps won't hear of it, and the inning ends with the score unchanged, 6-3 Indians.
Bottom 8th: Cleveland brings in Rafael Betancourt to face the 8-9-1 batters, and Betancourt efficiently retires Melky Cabrera. The Yanks call on pinch hitter Jason Giambi, and he whiffs on three pitches, swinging at a pitch in the dirt. That brings up Damon, and Betancourt quickly goes 2-1 on him; those two balls are the first Betancourt has thrown today. Damon strikes out on a foul tip, and the Indians are three outs away from a date with the Red Sox, and incidentally firing Joe Torre. One wonders whether the Indians will bring in regular closer Joe Borowski, who isn't known for clean saves, to face the heart of the Yankees' order.
Top 9th: The first two batters reach on singles off Rivera. The Yanks defend bunt, but Lofton shows no signs of smallball and bounces out to short, avoiding a double play as Jeter doesn't attempt a throw. The inexperienced Gutierrez whiffs on three pitches, bringing up Casey Blake with men on the corners. Blake belts a screamer to left center, but Damon makes a fine running catch to end the frame. 6-3 Indians.
Bottom 9th: Wedge decides to go with Borowski. This should be interesting.
Borowski gets Jeter to pop out on a changeup. One out.
Abreu homers on a long upper deck fly. 6-4 Indians as the Cleveland announcers remind us that JoBo once upon a time gave up six earned runs at Yankee Stadium to upend a 6-2 Tribe lead back on April 19.
A-Rod flies out to right. Two out.
Posada comes up, and hits a 0-1 slider barely foul — and then strikes out swinging. Borowski makes up for his earlier collapse, and the Indians advance to the ALCS. Congratulations Indians, who do it on enemy turf.
Labels: indians, postseason, recaps, yankees
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