After the dreadful, agonizing loss yesterday, there were a lot a hanging heads, slumping shoulders, and fingers pointed in Girardi's direction for taking Robertson out with two out and nobody on.
But this is baseball. It's just one game, and the Angels need 3 more. There's another game to be played the next day.
And OH did the Yankees play that game!
CC started on 3 days rest and took over the game for 8 innings of nearly flawless pitching.
The lineup came in with something to prove, and OH did they prove it. Let's go to the videotape!
First CC. It seemed like it got easier for him as the game went along. It didn't matter what the Angels did, they didn't appear to have a chance. Utterly shut down inning after inning. The big man was in the house, and he made sure that, for today, it was his house. Here's Duquette's analysis.
On the other side of the ball, the Yankee bats were itching to get swinging at Kazmir. Why was he only the 4th starter for the Angels? Well because Scoscia knew the Yankees were probably going to do stuff like this! And this (the gamebreaker from Melky).
Of course, the Angels, for a bit, reminded the Yankees that they were in Anaheim, in one of the hardest places to play in all of American sports. They set off a lot of fireworks, the smoke from which lingers over the field and settles, filling the air with the sights, sounds, and even smells of Angel intimidation. But all of those LA theatrics was no match for CC, as the big man righted the ship and put the Yankees on course for a victory.
All the while, we were seeing some pretty bizarre stuff from the umpires. One moment they're calling Swisher out when replays show he's out by 6 inches. Then, in what looks to basketball fans like a makeup call, another umpire calls Swisher out for leaving third too soon on a tag, even though that umpire wasn't actually looking at Swisher. Then when Cano was standing off of third base he called him safe while a tag was being applied. Here are the 2 plays (Swisher 1, Swisher 2, the makeup call Posada and Cano), the analysis, and the explanations.
Didn't faze the Yankees, though. They ripped right through the Angels pitching all night long, responding emphatically with this A-Bomb and this shot from Damon, not to mention Melky's continued redemption from a dreadful performance in game 3 and with CC taking care of business when he needed to, the Yankees were able to rest their bullpen, bring in Gaudin, and put themselves one win from the pennant.
So you know what? On Friday I want to see the Yankees win the pennant. Yeah right now. In LA, with the Rally Monkey out. Win it right now and shut those Californians up with a brand new proposition, called Proposition 40: for 40 Yankee American League Pennants.
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