Mark Teixeira has the city of New York in a frenzy after his dramatic walk-off home run last night in Game 2 for the Yankees vs the Twins. Yankee fans have been very frustrated in recent years as a result of collapses in the postseason, so they’re giddy with excitement at the prospect of a high-priced player who can live up to the hype in the playoffs. Even C.C. Sabathia got off to a great start in game one. Who knows, maybe even A-Rod will get into the act. We’ll see in the next round when they face a better team.
Tag: Yankees (Page 3 of 4)
CC Sabathia allowed just two runs – one earned – over 6 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ 7-2 win over the Twins in Game 1 of the ALDS. Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui each had two-run dingers in the victory.
The Twins took the early lead with two runs in the third inning against Sabathia, as Michael Cuddyer followed two singles with an RBI hit. Sabathia had trouble ironing out sequences with Jorge Posada, crossed up for a second time as a passed ball ticked off the catcher’s mitt with Joe Mauer sliding home safely.
The first miscue was on Posada, the second on Sabathia. But they found their rhythm in time to earn applause, as Sabathia clamped the damage there and kept the threatening Twins from bringing anyone further around. Sabathia had lost his past three playoff decisions for Cleveland and Milwaukee, but he was a winner on Wednesday.
Appropriately, Jeter drove in the Yankees’ first postseason runs at the new Stadium, pulling a two-run homer into the left-field seats off Twins left-hander Brian Duensing to tie the game.
Swisher gave the Yankees the lead off the rookie Duensing in the fourth with a bullet double down the left-field line, sending Robinson Cano sliding home. As the go-ahead run scored, Swisher stood on second base, pumping his fist and pointing his two index fingers toward the sky.
A-Rod gave the Yankees needed insurance in the fifth inning, lining a run-scoring single to left-center field to send home Jeter and chase Duensing to the showers. It was Rodriguez’s first hit with runners in scoring position in a span of 19 postseason at-bats, dating back to Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series.
This was a perfect start for the Yankees. Not only did they take a 1-0 lead in the series, but Sabathia and A-Rod (two players that have earned criticism for their lack of production in the postseason) contributed in big ways, Jeter was as clutch as ever and Joe Girardi’s club didn’t overlook a pesky Twins team.
The key for the Bombers is sustaining this momentum and carrying it through an entire series. In the past, the Yankees have fallen victim to lackluster postseason play after racing through the regular season. They have a long way to go, but they couldn’t have asked for a better start.
Alex Rodriguez homered and hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the Yankees’ 6-5 victory over the Angels Tuesday night as New York became the first team to clinch a postseason berth in baseball.
New York clinched the first phase of its postseason plans while still on the field, the berth finalized by the Athletics’ 9-1 victory over the Rangers while Jorge Posada was batting in the eighth inning. But that gave the Yankees little cause to rejoice — not after they gave back all five runs to the pesky Angels.
Facing Matt Palmer in the ninth inning, Gardner opened the frame with a line-drive single to center and waited out the right-hander, who threw to first base repeatedly to check the speedster. Gardner took second base on the 1-0 delivery, and Derek Jeter walked.
The playoff entry was acknowledged after the game with hugs and handshakes, but no wild celebrations — a tact that was encouraged by the Yankees’ team leaders. Those will be reserved for a potential division clinch in the near future, when next chapter of the club’s season truly begins.
Not to be a downer, but the Yankees have done this before. It’s the next step that has eluded them.
It’s time for CC Sabathia and A-Rod to step up in the postseason just once in their careers. This is a club that routinely looks past the first round and routinely finds themselves out of the playoffs too early. The Yankees need the players they spent millions on in the offseason to produce or else this playoff berth means nothing.
The Yankees are built to win championships so anything less should be a disappointment. (Especially considering their payroll.)
As far as the Yankees and Cardinals are concerned, they are on a collision course for the World Series, as they are putting large amounts of distance between themselves and their closest competitors. The Braves, Cubs, Marlins and Giants are losing hope in the NL, while the Rays, Mariners and Twins are losing it in the AL. Time is just running out and is on the side of those out in front. We also had some changes in this week’s rankings, with the Phillies dropping and the Rockies and some other teams climbing.
1. New York Yankees (91-51)—Seriously, does this team have an off-switch lately? Their fans had better hope it doesn’t get flicked on in October. And Derek Jeter now leads a pretty awesome list of company for the team hits lead.
2. St. Louis Cardinals (84-58)—On freaking fire, and Albert Pujols is closing in on 50 homers.
3. Los Angeles Angels (85-55)—With a 5.5-game lead, the Angels are breathing just a bit easier, but they can’t feel good about a likely match up with the Red Sox again.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (84-58)—Barely hanging on to the NL West lead, but still in front by 2 games. The question is, do they want to face the Phillies or red-hot Cards in the first round?
5. Boston Red Sox (81-58)—They are not able to keep the pesky Rangers away, and Red Sox nation is a few weeks away from breathing easy, if they even hang on at all.
6. Colorado Rockies (82-60)—Nine out of ten wins and the Rockies are no longer thinking just wild card. But would they keep it up in October?
7. Texas Rangers (79-60)—The way they are chasing the Red Sox puts them just a notch above struggling Philly.
8. Philadelphia Phillies (80-59)—A 6-game lead over Florida is fairly comfortable, but the Phils are not playing good baseball. Can they find their stroke in October?
9. Detroit Tigers (75-65)—Only a total collapse would keep the Tigers from a postseason berth now, but just ask the Mets if that can’t happen.
10. San Francisco Giants (76-65)—Mediocre ball in September will not help this team catch the Rockies and Dodgers.
Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig for the Yankees’ hit record with a single in the seventh inning of New York’s 4-2 victory over the Rays on Wednesday night.
“You look at all the great players that have played in this organization throughout the years,” Jeter said. “To say that you have more hits than them or at least tied for the most hits in the history of the organization is definitely hard to believe. It means a lot.”
The way in which it happened was typical Jeter. Swinging at an outside pitch, the first he saw in a seventh-inning at-bat against the Rays on Wednesday, Jeter laced Jeff Niemann’s offering down the first-base line past a diving Chris Richard.
Then he stood on the bag and doffed his helmet twice, as the Rays climbed to the top step of the visiting dugout and 45,848 fans roared their approval of Jeter’s 2,721st career hit.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “You think about what Derek has done his whole career, how great he has been for such a long time and what he has meant to the organization, and you put his name next to Lou Gehrig. It’s amazing.”
Even if you hate the Yankees, you have to appreciate what Jeter has accomplished in his career, especially while playing in the steroid era. His better days are definitely behind him (most notably on defense), but he continues to go out every night and play like it’s his last game.
Jeter is one of the finest baseball players ever to play the game and a true role model for how hard work and determination pays off. He also respects former players and takes pride in joining them in the record books.
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