Yanks in (more than) a sentence: Tigers 5, Yankees 4 (Tigers lead series, 2-1)
1. If you’d told me before the game that Sabathia would walk six batters (one intentionally) in five-plus innings and that I’d be yelling at the TV and other inanimate objects in my living room for Girardi to yank him, I would not have expected the Yankees to head into the ninth inning down only a single run.
2. Girardi still screwed up massively by sending Sabathia out there for the sixth. When we’re writing the 2011 season obituaries tomorrow morning, it will be noted that Rivera, Robertson and Soriano should all be well-rested heading into spring training.
3. Nice job by Soriano in the sixth. Slightly less than nice job by Soriano in the seventh. Here’s the Delmon Young scouting report: “He will swing at the first pitch, no matter where it is. Do not throw it anywhere near the strike zone. Throw it at the mascot. Throw it into the dugout or into the stands. Do not throw it over the plate. Just don’t.” But gee, Soriano met with the media after the game, so expect many a paean to his “accountability.”
4. Obviously I viewed the game through lenses of a certain tint, so to speak, but it sure looked like there was a Verlander strike zone (vast, warm, inviting) and a Sabathia strike zone (floating, subatomic). Reasonable minds may disagree.
4a. To be fair, Valverde’s best pitch of the night, the 1-2 change-up (I think it was a change) to Jeter, was somehow called a ball. And Sabathia couldn’t slip a fastball past Brandon Inge or Ramon Santiago, so it ain’t on the umps.
5. Kelly’s bunt that started off the bottom of the sixth provided ample evidence that CC’s ample torso prevents him from completing tasks that require ample athleticism. Whether or not he was a multisport star in high school, he’s grossly overweight now. Why are we ignoring the possibility that conditioning has something to do with his late-season swoon? Somehow, we’ve chosen to blame it on the disturbance in his routine (six-man rotation, last start skipped, etc.). If A-Rod looked like that, the New York Post would Photoshop the outline of a girdle onto his uniform.
6. Valverde didn’t blow a save this season. That doesn’t mean he’s been anything remotely approaching dominant; 34 walks in 72 innings is unacceptable. But he sure untucks a shirt like a champ.
7. Is Phil Hughes still alive? How about Jesus Montero?
8. Justin Verlander’s 10-pitch, strike-out-the-side bottom of the fifth was one of the most dominant innings I’ve ever seen thrown. That said, the Yankees nicked him. In particular, Posada, A-Rod and Brett Gardner each had some smart, patient at-bats. Verlander was very, very good. He wasn’t godly.
9. A coping tip for Yankee fans: Don’t waste your time worrying about Burnett. Just hope that if he comes up huge - say, 4 runs in 5 innings - Girardi doesn’t try to milk a few extra outs from him. And hope that the hitters put up 12 runs or so. They’ve done it before.
