Yanks in (more than) a sentence: Yankees 10, Tigers 1 (series tied, 2-2)
1. A.J. Burnett earned 10 True Yankee points last night, which catapults him ahead of Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright and into the Hideki Irabu/Denny Neagle pantheon. Huzzah!
2. Other awards/demerits: Jeter gets 5 True Yankee points for his run-scoring double and the commonplace play up the middle that he made look difficult. Granderson gets 12 True Yankee points for the two catches and his own double. A-Rod loses 35 True Yankee points for failing to consider the effect his breakup with Cameron Diaz would have on the team’s emotional equilibrium.
3. The game was a pitcher’s duel for seven innings. Think about that for a second. Burnett and Porcello in a pitcher’s duel, dueling as they pitched. It doesn’t compute.
4. From my inning-by-inning Burnett notes: “very, very lucky,” “pretty quiet,” “please do not give back the lead,” “so much for the no-hitter,” “double play = double YAY!!!!” and “house money now.” With any other pitcher, a solo HR in the fourth inning of a playoff game wouldn’t be cause for concern. With Burnett, it’s reason enough to fire up the bullpen and deploy a strike team of therapists and accident reconstructionists.
5. Good work by Girardi yanking him when he did. Maybe Burnett could’ve finished the sixth inning. I’m glad we didn’t have to find out.
6. Granderson’s first-inning catch saved the game; Burnett would’ve retreated into a fetal curl on the mound had Kelly’s liner gone for an inside-the-park grand slam, which appeared to be its destiny. But he increased the degree of difficulty tenfold by misreading it off the bat.
7. The Tigers gave the Yankees lots of help: Starting Wilson Betemit, gifting Burnett a bunt out during the S.O.S. first inning, letting the Yankee switch-hitters turn around against Coke, etc. They had the one-game cushion, so these offenses against reason are slightly more justifiable. Slightly.
8. Promising signs for the Yankees, beyond the banana-kaboom 8th inning: the high fastball that Hughes pumped past Cabrera, Posada’s OBP goodness, A-Rod’s fielding. Bad signs for the Yankees: Teixeira and Swisher swinging left-handed, Jeter’s bunt, Gardner’s bunt attempt, bunt bunt bunt bunt bunt bunt bunt.
9. It’s been waaaaay too clean a series so far. My prediction for Thursday night includes two punted grounders and a wayward throw or three. They’ll all get blamed on nerves, naturally.
10. Other games: Cards fans must be getting sick and effin’ tired of Tony La Russa outmaneuvering himself. He let Garcia hit in a situation that begged for a pinch-hitter and then intentionally walked Ruiz ahead of an obvious pinch-hit situation. There’s your ball game… Ron Roenicke got in on the hoTTT issue-intentional-walk-ahead-of-three-run-homer action, too. These guys must attend the same off-season seminars… Their season might not have ended in a confettigasm, but kudos to the Tampa Bay Rays for sticking around as long as they did. That’s one well-run team, Fuld fixation notwithstanding.
