Agita:

Like the just concluded game 5, I don't like the match-up in game 6 (assuming this is a fully rested Pedro vs. a short-rested Pettitte).  On the up side, if the Yanks do win, it can be by beating Pedro, which always makes for good television.

Optimism:

SOME of the Yankee bats are warming up and with a second look at Pedro, maybe they'll show a bit more of a heartbeat.  Also, if Pettitte can hang tough even through five, the bullpen should be in decent shape if Girardi tries to stitch Joba, Hughes, and Rivera together to get this done.  Not that the sequence I mention is a sure-fire recipe for success, but it's conceivable they can hold it together.

Agita:

If it goes 7, is CC (who will be seen for the third time in a little over a week by these Phils) near the end of his rope or already at it?  As big as he has been (ahem), it is still not outside the realm of possibility he would come out and just plain not have it.  And there would go the season.  Plus, maybe the Phils can squeeze two innings out of Cliff Lee for this game.

Optimism:

Cole Hamels (if that's who is slated) hasn't had it all post-season.

Perceived momentum from game 4 aside, folks, this is anybody's series.  At this point in the war of attrition, the bats are going to have to decide this WS champion.

Considering the pounding Burnett keeps taking before anyone has gotten to their seats, maybe the Yanks should just bring in Rivera for the first inning, then go to their starter for the 2nd.

Must make Cliff Lee work and try to get to the bullpen.  Hopefully Burnett can hold it together.  The fact that Lee looked mortal in the first inning makes it all the more unsettling Burnett got pounded.

Swisher is protecting Arod in the lineup?  Oh boy...  Good sign that he took a walk though.  It is a massive black hole in the Yanks lineup and it's disheartening to know when you get past the meat of their order, it will be two innings before they have another chance to score.

The upside to getting Burnett out of there nice and early - the black hole of the lineup that features Molina can be filled in slightly with  Posada. Burnett is perfectly capable of getting clobbered on full rest, but oh boy has this decision by Girardi not worked out so far.  Even going into this game it looks like it'll come down to seeing what Sabathia has left for a
game 7 if they plan to win this series.

The fanny-kicking Burnett has prompted is probably better for the Yankee bullpen so the important guys can be rested for game 6.  Get Robertson some work.  We'll see Phil Coke in there.  Maybe Gaudin, unless he is the protection in case Pettitte starts game 6 and is bounced early.  If the Yanks come back to make this close, it could backfire on them.  I repeat my comments from the conclusion of game four:  the pitching match-ups seem to
be setting things up for a game 7.  The "momentum" from game four was nice, but that disappears in a heartbeat against a pitcher like Cliff Lee.  And it disappears so fast it practically goes back in time when your high priced righthanded horse is sent to the showers before he even had a chance to sweat.  Since you never know what you're going to get from this guy it'd be a heck of a gamble, but he can probably pitch a couple innings of game 7
if such a situation calls for it.   But for tonight, his final line:   2 IP,  4H, 4BB , 6ER.

This is too much agita.  To paraphrase Cole Hamels, let's just get this thing over with.

Best thing the Yanks can do tonight (short of winning) is have their offense show signs of life.   If they face Pedro on Wednesday, it'd be nice to think they don't have to wait until he's at the 100 pitch mark before making a dent against him.

They just turned a PH for Robertson into a run with a walk by Hinske.  Again, Lee looks slightly human tonight, so AJ's performance feels particularly brutal.

Yanks are making some slight noise in the top of the 5th.  If they miraculously score 6 runs and take a lead, I think Girardi will go to Rivera for the final five innings.

Teixeira's batting .063 in the Series.  Maybe he's waiting for a dramatic moment in game 7 before breaking out.

I'm repeating myself, but the thought keeps circulating around my head: Can CC muster just one more winning performance this year?  I don't even want to see him on the bench before then.  I'd like to think he's spending every hour of every day leading up to game 7 in a hot tub or getting a rub down so he's loose, limber and ready to go on Thursday.

Utley's HRs have become so expected, I might start a pool at work to pick which inning he launches one next game.

I don't mean this in quite the ominous manner in which it may sound, but this series reminds me of the 2004 ALCS.  With the Yanks up 3-0, I still felt the Sox should have won each of the four remaining games when looking at it as each game individually.  But I figured the Yanks would still win the series simply because weird things happen.  In this series, games 5 and 6 clearly have the Phillies favored -- I'm just hoping for something goofy to happen to win it for the Yanks.  The curious managerial move, the ball that hits a bird and drops in between three fielders, the star player accidentally scratching his cornea with a salad fork...

Coke is Hit.  Well, at least he got some work in that did not have to go to Rivera.  I would like to see Hughes get some work in tonight to see if he can be observed not through fingers being screened over ones eyes.  Ah, thank you Skip, Hughes is a-comin' in.

Wait a sec... Why is Charlie Manuel running Cliff Lee out there with a 6 run lead over 100 pitches if Lee is someone who can be hugely valuable to them in game 7?

...is what was bellowed from Cappiello's Yankee Corner (known by the Mrs. as "the clubhouse" since that's where I spend all my time.  Kids, don't be like me).  Two outs, no one on, Damon gave the kind of AB that I thought may pay off only if they made it to the 10^th inning against Lidge.  But he earned the single and clearly swiped the second base in a highly premeditated move whereby Damon knew he would nab third if no one was covering.  I don't know if he consciously thought "If I'm standing on third, Lidge won't throw the slider", but perhaps this is so and it most certainly played out that way.  At first glance I erroneously thought he fell for a simple age-old decoy by Feliz, but maybe I've just grown accustomed to bad baserunning this post-season that my yelling at the TV is more muscle memory than anything.  Either way, what was obvious is the Yanks (or at least Damon himself) prepared for this situation whereas the Phillies did not.  They did their homework by positioning Teixeira with the overshift, but they were thoroughly caught with their pants down when it lead to an extra base on a steal.  It was a heads-up play by Damon, but this is not unprecedented.  Either Lidge or Ruiz fell asleep on the play and forgot what was discussed in a team meeting, or such a situation was never discussed in the first place - the latter being what could prove to be an egregious oversight.   That at bat and subsequent heads-up baserunning is what we have not seen enough of in the post-season in general. 

The game tying HR by Feliz in the 8^th screamed of being a series turning point.  Instead of Rivera coming in to close out a close lead, it appeared Phil Coke was coming in to lose it.  Damon looks like he has laid claim to a different turning point altogether.  But that can change six more times before the series is over.

Mo Holding Steady

Mo is still efficient.  So far, he still is Superman™, rather than the pitcher who looks like he's been overused weeks before his 40^th birthday.  Knock on wood, he's the only stopper left who is essentially untainted this post-season.  He's looked shaky once or twice and in the process of this post-season all's he's done is improved his already preposterous lifetime post-season ERA.  In closing out the game tonight, even he showed emotion.  Good, gameface emotion, not histrionics emotion.  This one could be a back-breaker for Phils, and Charlie Manuel's post-game testiness is a good sign.

Legacy Clinched?

          Arod has been a funny cat in this series.  His strike zone still looks too big, he still looks a bit too anxious, yet his hits have been huge.  The two out double to drive in Damon defined clutch and was sweet poetic justice for a guy who looked like he was plunked for the fun of it.  I know it's the WS, but his HBP early in the game was suspicious.  Blanton was clearly going to pitch around him and in all likelihood put him on 1B (should Arod have chosen to not expand his strikezone), so plunking him high and hard on a fastball that was not targeted for that general area is very curious.  The HBPs yesterday did not seem dodgy.  Tonight's definitely raised an eyebrow.

          Still, somebody explain to me the significance of an umpire warning both benches.  They are allowed to use their judgment to kick someone out without warning, yet they can also use their judgment to not eject someone after there's been a warning.  So the point is...?  

Jorge, Come Back!

So Posada comes up with a clutch 9^th inning hit himself.  And... then where is he going?  In getting thrown out by 97 feet trying to get to 2B, I considered that maybe he was sacrificing himself by drawing the throw to ensure Arod scores from second, but... on a ball hit to the gap, Arod scoring is a no-brainer.  When and why did Posada magically morph into Manny?

Incoming 

It's moot, but Ryan Howard obviously never touched home on the run that scored early in the game.  Ump missed it, but so did the Yanks.  They may have deserved to have that run score after giving up a stolen base to Howard. Maybe shame is why they didn't protest. 

Also...

Is Matt Stairs really Charlie Manuel's best PH when he does not represent the tying run?  He's come up the last two games in instances where he can go ahead and launch a Broxton type 500 ft HR and the Yanks would still have a lead, so there's not been much drama to his ABs.  His OBP has been decent considering how low his average is, but when he's not representing so much as the tying run, no pitcher should be walking him.

Tex

Teixeira is still not hitting well in this post-season, but with the occasional big hit and stellar defense, his post-season is reminiscent of his early struggles in the regular season with the team this year.  He at least brings something to the table when not fully on his game.  Still, if Teixeira v.May-September shows up, the Yanks may be able to win without the smoke, mirrors and whatever voodoo they've been doing.

By the Way

Considering the way Joba is throwing vs the way Hughes is throwing, I liked Joba pitching the 8^th.  Temporarily heartbreaking HR to Feliz aside, he may yet loom large in this series.

Lee Waits

CC is clearly laboring, but tonight he displayed the type of performance I figured Cliff Lee could have provided, if not better.  When running your #1 out there three times in a series, it's a bit much to assume he'll be lights out each time, but if he's steady enough to keep it tight, that could be a huge boost.  We are left to wonder if Lee has been coddled too much. 

Short Rest

The next few days will tell if waiting until game 5 to start Cliff Lee was a wise move by Charlie Manuel, but I'm breathing a sigh of relief that he is not being pushed to start three games.  That said, there is immense weight on tonight's game to the point that tonight's winner might very well be the Series winner.  OK, I know there are only two teams left, so that doesn't sound like a strong statement, but I really think this one's a biggie.  Not to automatically concede a Cliff Lee game as a Phils win, but the Yanks could well find themselves down 3-2 going back to NY, and with all hands on deck, Lee would surely be available for part of game 7.  Being available for a short stint in 7 may not seem overwhelming, but considering the Yankee offense (when it's showed up at all) tends to start showing signs of life several innings into the game, Lee for a few middle-to-late innings could be a huge factor in that potential game 7.  And if tonight shows CC having little left in the tank, things can really get dicey.  Maybe I should take another hit of Theraflu so I can sleep through the game and spare myself the anxiety.

Always the Centaur of Controversy

It's from the Who Cares files, but still a mildly funny story that has been blurbed about an anonymous former girlfriend of Arod saying he had two paintings of himself as a centaur.  If the Yanks were playing Boston, it might have prompted some very craftfully done banners to the park.  But if Rodriguez takes a cue from his game three and continues hitting and getting on base, there might be a lot of commissions for other pinstriped centaurs in the works. 

It sure was a surprise to no one that, of course, the controversial video-replayed HR came off the bat of Arod.  It seems the proper call was made (chalk that up as a "yay" vote for video replay), but I was prepared for the umps to not overturn the initial call because I did not think the video evidence was 100% definite.  What is 100% definite is that it was asinine to have a camera actually hanging over the wall into the field of play.  It's like having an automatronic Jeffrey Maier erected right at the home run threshold just to confuse the umps.

So This Was Nice

Swisher's double and HR were huge in game three, so it was nice to finally get production from him.  Perhaps tonight will show whether that was an aberration.  Meanwhile, I see that Matsui has been practicing in RF.  This is a novel idea, but one that I'd like to think might have occurred many weeks ago.  Considering how he has had a few big hits of recent and that RF has been a vacuum for the Yanks, putting him in right (if he is in game shape to play it) could have paid off.  Not sure if the Yanks were having him cram at the last minute, but if so, that kind of reduces that as a viable option.  Would be nice to get his bat back in there.  We still don't see Swisher drawing any walks.

All Hands On Deck...Already

          I wholly appreciate Girardi seeing the gravity of game three, but with a four run lead and six outs to go and no major signs of trouble, I would have loved to see him work the bullpen to avoid using Rivera.  For certain, the World Series is not the time to coddle pitchers for a more important game that may never come, but could Chamberlain, who pitched an efficient, perfect 7^th, not come out for the 8^th?  OK, I guess Marte was able to faces two lefties.  But how about the 9^th - could Hughes not face just one more batter before Joe picked up the red phone?  A three run lead with two outs to go I would hope is just enough wiggle room to not potentially compromise the effectiveness of your stopper.  And the fact that Girardi gave Hughes NO room for error made it all but certain he was going to go to Rivera.  The good news was Rivera only threw five pitches for the last two outs, but the process of warming up in the bullpen is essentially as demanding as coming into the game -- and this after Rivera was taxed for two laborious innings just two days before.  With two more consecutive games in Philly, the next two days might show just how human or superhuman Rivera is. 

Am I getting carried away?  Reading the story that the Phils sent Greg Dobbs back to Philadelphia with the flu, the first image that came to my mind was Dobbs making himself at home in the Citizen's Bank Park visitor's clubhouse for a couple days, initiating germ warfare against the soon-to-arrive Yanks.  That would be one way to make the most out of the 25 man roster.  The Yanks should send someone in ahead of the team to disinfect the place.

Is this the kind of thinking that made Billy Martin tick?

It's nice when the gameplan actually plays out.  Burnett was able to keep it close while the Yanks waited for Pedro to tire, which he did juuust enough so they could push a few runs across.  I'm not sure how Burnett threw as many first pitch strikes as he did and still leave with a poor ball-strike ratio, but if he can get yips out of the way early without burying the team, then cruise for the next 6 innings, I guess we'll take that.  Given how many pitches he threw through 6, I was surprised he came out to pitch the 7^th.  It kind of reminded me of the Angel game when he came out to pitch the 7^th after cruising for several innings following an early shellacking.  The only difference was he did not languish for long on the bench this time around, and when he did after the bottom of the 7^th, his night was over.  Oh, there was the familiar baserunning gaffe by the opposition that helped.  Thanks Jayson Werth for keeping the streak alive!

Meanwhile, Pedro was still the same old Pedro.  He pitched a great game, but labored exactly when he should have -- at around 100 pitches.   Which is to say, he labored after he should have been lifted from the game by Charlie Manuel.  Pedro's a great pitcher, but he's not a horse.  Thanks to some goofy umpiring, the Yanks would only cash in a run after Pedro tired and left to the usual chorus.

The Evil Umpire

It's all fab that the Yanks held on to win the game, but the Yanks having the bases loaded with one out in the 8^th with Teixeira and Arod coming up while aiding a two run lead seemed like a good recipe for not requiring two innings out of Rivera.  But that didn't happen thanks to a very evidently wrong call by the first base ump.  I don't assume it was an easy call, though it was easy for Posada and even easier for Ryan Howard who played it like a grounder by throwing to 2B instead of just stepping on 1B.  Most damning: on the radio Joe Morgan said he thought it was a caught in the air and not a short-hop.  Apparently he brings the same what-game-are-you-watching perspective to radio as he does to television.  So the result of this botch is Rivera was required to labor through two innings, which can absolutely rear its head later in the series because he's more taxed and may not be as sharp on Saturday, and also it's greater exposure to the Phillies lineup.  That call may well haunt them.  But then again, Chase Utley was safe at 1B in a huge DP in the top of the 8^th, so if you screw up enough times things can even out.

DVRs Sure Are Permanent About Deleting Things

I'm having trouble pinpointing nuanced moments during the game because apparently "cancel a recording" is code for "delete a recording forever", so I ended up not seeing as much as I'd like.  This was an interesting development because A) for the first time ever I discovered and used the "keep" function, and B) any time I intentionally delete something it makes me jump through hoops and warning messages along the lines of "are you sure?" and "don't do something you'll regret".  Yet this time, without the word "delete" ever being used, it very cavalierly went VFWOOOP.  All I was trying to do was stop the recording process since it was going to record a couple more hours of Fox television and I don't want to accidentally have TMZ on my television.  Did Challenger the Eagle make an appearance and carry Arod's bat away into the night?  Did Morgana the kissing bandit make a return appearance and run out to right field to kiss Jerry Hairston just because he's not Nick Swisher?  If such moments existed, I'll never see them because my DVR went all "sorry pal, you'll have to fake your way through the water cooler conversations tomorrow". 

Picket Fence

The home runs are nice, and apparently necessary, but they are not being preceded by the single, the bloop, the walk, the catcher's interference - nothing.  It's just been the occasional solo blast and cling to the lead by the skin of your teeth.  Might have to diversify the offense a bit - and no that does not mean let Jeter bunt with two strikes on him.

Maybe the Steinbrenner Family Will Recruit Jay-Z to Play Before Every Game...

...in the same vein of the honorary batboy who followed the team around for the '98 World Series.  Keep your schedule clear Mr. Z!

Take Arod to the Video Room

OK boys, Rodriguez and the opposition's well-timed spasms have carried you far enough.  Anyone besides Jeter bring their stick? 

No crime to lose a game to Cliff Lee, but the alleged best offense in baseball should have been able to do to him what the Phils did to CC - make him look just remotely human and hope you can get a whiff of their bullpen.  Especially since it's the Yanks that have actually seen live pitching a few times in the past week.  I'm going to go ahead and assume the Phillies are not going to spontaneously start running the bases like their minds are on picking up their laundry from the cleaners, so it will actually take a little offense to win this thing. 

The requisite spastic baserunning play in this game was the double play cooked up by Matsui and Cano.  It's a tough read for Matsui to see that the bloop was caught on a fly, but if Cano hustles out of the box then Rollins catches the ball in the air rather than an inch above the dirt and Matsui would then know to hold first base.  If Cano doesn't want to run hard in a 2-0 World Series game, then when does he?  Should we release Mothra to chase after him every time he makes contact?

Backbreakers

Oh, all those two out RBI hits by the Phillies.  When trying to chip away to get to an unsteady bullpen, keeping the score 2-0 would have been peachy.  Maybe some time this October it'll be the Yanks who rack up a few 2 out run-scoring hits.  The only string that jumps to mind was that one game against the Angels in Anaheim in a losing effort.  Then it was back to their new version of normal.

Two Hands, Meat

Buck and McCarver may have enjoyed Cliff Lee's casual catch of Damon's pop-up, but that's just plum not smart.  If the Phils want to be that relaxed the rest of the series, they are cordially invited.  Maybe they'll start to look as sloppy as the Twins and Angels.

Game Six Backfire?

You would never want to send up a sacrificial lamb to go out and lose to Cliff Lee, but CC being spared of pitching a game 7 against the Angels may have backfired in that the Yanks lost what would have been a matchup of their big guy against a pitcher who does not make the Yanks look like a AA team.  Sabathia held it together, but seeing him labor makes you question if he has it in him to pitch three games of this series.  Watching the Yank bats, I don't think he has it in him to defeat Lee once, let alone thrice, should that match-up repeat itself.  Obviously sending someone like Gaudin up to face Cliff Lee is a recipe for disaster.  But I'm just rappin' about the baseball fates here.

We Haven't Forgotten About You, Tex

It's easy to say the Yanks shouldn't be swinging at the first pitch when down by six, but seeing Teixeira hack at his first offering in the 9th up at his eyebrows kind of encapsulates the team's offensive woes this post-season.  Teixeira's walk-off against Minnesota has served as a nice camouflage for his lack of punch this post-season, so if the Yanks don't pull this thing off, he might just play the role of scapegoat.  Too early?

Sartorially Speaking

Start Molina!
Uh, just kidding.  But some players never strand as many baserunners in a career as Posada stranded Sunday night.  Truly remarkable.  Given the outcome, we'll hope this is just a well timed in-game slump.  But he's not done that much and, combined with the fact that Teixeira has left his offense at the bus stop, Arod's ridiculous OBP is not bringing back as much return as it should.  Last night one of Arod's hits was actually bookended by double plays from Teixeira and Posada.  That's hard to do.  After nine post-season games, I still feel the Yankee offense needs some smelling salts if this team plans to host a parade this October... I mean, November.  Mid-November, even.  Maybe they can just glom on to the tail end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade?

What was previously slight hyperbole is now no exaggeration; there are no hot hitters on this team right now that are not dating Kate Hudson.  Arod is the only guy whom you can say is truly firing on all cylinders.  The bases loaded walk in the clincher was an excellent example of his newfound patience.  If the Fox box is to be believed (not to mention the ump, though that's dubious these days), the ball was indeed inside.  In fact, it was a perfect pitch save the fact that Arod seems to be exercising a perfect knowledge of the strike zone now.  If the count was full, he should probably have given it a hack.  But with only one strike on him, let it pass.  This ain't live blogging, so you may call "malarkey!" on me for saying that my reaction to seeing Arod come to the plate with bases loaded and one out with Posada on deck was not that the Angels should walk Arod, but if they did walk him it might well yield the best possible result. Posada's subsequent first of 36 DPs on the night would support that notion.  You can't go wrong giving the ALCS MVP to CC, but Rodriguez had him edged out in my mind.

Jeter is rock, Rivera is paper
That was a typical Rivera run Sunday night to cut the lead to one.  A bloop and a bleeder, though the hardest hit ball was right at the curiously positioned Cano behind second base.  But Jeter may have passed on another fine post-season moment that would have saved the run and left his detractors nauseous.  The bloop by Figgins looked catchable with a dive, and I'm not talking about a spastic, injurious dive into the stands.  I think it was
close enough that Jeter should get dirty on that.  At least that's how it looked from my really cozy chair, with my feet up, nervously sipping a stout.

I Guess This is Considered Progress
A couple slick defensive plays and the first good AB I've seen from Nick Swisher this post-season.  The good AB didn't yield anything, but his next AB resulted in a grounder in the hole -- a pitch that looked possibly off the plate outside that he pulled for a worm-killer that somehow made its way to the outfield.   Not pretty, but it's a start I suppose.  And it proved to be an important cog in the three-run inning.  I still don't recall seeing him hit a ball hard the last couple weeks.  The reason his prolonged slump looks so bad is it does not seem like the law of averages evening out.  (Evening out what? His April, I guess).  Rather, his knowledge of the strike zone has looked off, so his 3-0 count early in the game was more encouraging than anything, even though it would eventually lead to a weak fly out.

Oops, Book 1 & 2
Kendrick should have held on to the ball he dropped, BUT... Kendry Morales made a bad throw.  The ball almost went into the runner, which hangs the fielder out to dry.  Howie Kendrick is not the first person manning 1B to go all alligator arms on a throw that dances a little too close to the baseline.  And Scott Kazmir, whose presence on the mound ahead of Jered Weaver was surprising considering how shaky Kazmir looked a few nights ago, choked his throw plain and simple.  You think this game ain't mental?
Maybe Met fans felt good watching that.

Wake Up the Babe

As of now, it looks like Charlie Manuel may start Pedro in the Bronx for game 2.  Sure, it'll lead to entertaining "Who's Your Daddy" chants, but it's probably a wise move in that he'll probably need a few innings out of the bullpen, which can rest the next day.  So we fans will be robbed of what we've wanted to see for years: to see Pedro back up his headhunting by stepping into the box.  I admit, I've not seen him in action that much since leaving the Red Sox, but I've not actually seen any video of him throwing at anyone anymore.  Is this an amusing coincidence or have I not been watching closely?

On the subject of pitchers hitting, too bad CC will only have one start on the road in this series.  He could have been the next slugger to call his shot in the World Series.

Swisher Should Sit!, pt 2...
...Swisher should sit!... except when it's AJ Burnett's turn in the rotation, in which case Swisher should take the mound.

The upside of seeing the Yanks clinch was a strong enough lure to try to shake myself  loose of a Theraflu-induced coma and trek through the usual brick wall of LA and Orange County traffic to go catch the game in Anaheim (located about 1.5 light years from Los Angeles).  My "angry traffic mood" would give way to my equally familiar "angry AJ mood" by seeing Burnett get lit up for four runs before people even had their thundersticks inflated.

Not Blaming the Ump, I'm Just Sayin'
I was sitting in section 523, close enough to where I could bounce a tennis ball off the Goodyear blimp, and I could tell without question that Damon was safe on the play at first base.  I know that sounds bogus, since, for instance, I don't actually believe the guy sitting in front of me could actually see anything while he kept screaming "Where was that, blue?!!" on every ball called for the Yanks.  But really... the Damon call was that clear, which is what is so inexplicable about this bad umpiring.  Both for and against the Yanks, no replay is needed on any of these erroneous calls.  Only reason I'd like to see a replay is to check if the ump sneezed while Damon was hitting the bag.

If I Only Brought a Pin

Beyond that, most of what I saw at the game was the silhouette of those insidious inflatable clappers, evil not just because of the dopey notion of artificial noise they create on par with the stadium stereo system (which itself is on par with takeoffs from LaGuardia), but their very design does nothing but create obstructed views for everyone at the game.  It's like if they have "free banner night" for all fans as a promotional date at the Big A.  Or "free oversized novelty ten gallon hats to the first 50,000 fans".   

And the big A should be really be renamed "The Big C" ("the big clusterflip"), as it took longer to find our car as it did for Burnett to record the first out hours earlier.  After 25 minutes of cursing the lack of marked poles in the lot, circumnavigating all the Hummers and SUVs and finally finding our car, it would be another 45 minutes of inching our way the 40-50 yards to the exit.  You get the feeling they're not used to capacity crowds, especially ones that leave at the game's conclusion.

Additionally, many of the fans seemed to be honoring Nick Adenhart's memory by lifting a few in the backs of their titanic trucks before turning the ignition (clearly a practice not unique to the O.C.).
The whole experience made me wish the enemy territory I was in was Boston.  No monkeys, no cars, no thundersticks, and the drunks don't do much harm to anyone but the pavement.

Girardi May Live

I actually did not have a problem with Girardi bringing Burnett back out to pitch the 7th.  The way he was cruising and as low as his pitch count was, I wanted him to get through the 7th, then hand it over to Hughes in the 8th.  As wrong as I apparently am, theoretically because of the long half inning that preceded Burnett going back out there, Hughes got hit badly himself, so I don't feel like any decision is a no-brainer in this situation.  I still prefer to blame Burnett's fear of success. 

"Here's the ball for the potential pennant clincher", to which he responds by getting pounded while half the stadium is still in line for churros. 

"Hey, we picked you up and scored 6 runs for you - just one more inning and we're sitting pretty", and he coughs it back up with a single and then a walk to the #9 hitter, prompting immediate visions of heading back to the Bronx. 

It's one thing for a .211 hitter like Jeff Mathis to be on fire in the post-season, and good on him for it, but walking Figgins (he of the .067 post season BA) to start his night and later walking Izturis, representing the tying run (after having him 0-2) to end his night, is precisely what sunk Burnett and the Yanks.  See?  AJ can be equally wretched with Molina OR Posada behind the plate.

And speaking of Mathis, this is the equivalent of Jose Molina hitting over .500 --and with authority-- in the post-season.  But Molina is not, which is why Burnett's sketchy work is more galling.  The key AB in the Yanks six-run 7th?  Posada's walk.  Good battle, long, full count, foul-off-a-few-pitches AB.  He earned the walk, then Lackey didn't come close to Jeter and thus got yanked from the game.  That was a huge cog in the rally and I'm confident it does not happen with Molina.  Maybe even the lunkhead sitting in front of me in 523 could see that.

It's a shame the only stream of clutch hitting in the entire Yankee post-season not done by Rodriguez went for naught.  Who knows if we'll see this again the rest of the season, be it two games or nine. 

IF...

...the Yanks clinch in game six, this will probably be a blessing so the bats don't have too much time to get cold...er.  But if they lose CC for game one of the World Series (he says, ASSUMING they at least clinch this thing), things might look pretty good for them Phillies.