Liveblog 8: ALDS Game 1

Playoffs! The Yankees couldn't catch Boston in the end, but they still played well enough to grab the wildcard. Boston picked the 8 game series, leaving the Yankees playing their first game today in Cleveland. The Yanks killed the Indians this season, but they didn't have to face their ace, CC Sabathia, who's starting tonight. Chien-Ming Wang is making his second consecutive Game 1 start in the playoffs, and hoepfully he can overcome his road woes and pitch well enough to give his team a shot. The big story is going to be if A-Rod can finally get it done in the playoffs. Apparently it doesn't matter that he's the biggest reason they're there, if he has a bad few games and they get bounced in the LDS again, he's a choker. I hate the media. I'm not terribly confident for this series with two geezers pitching in Game 3 and 4 (if that one happens), but I'm very hopeful. So let's go with the liveblog.

Top 1 - Damon leads off against Sabathia. He has bad career numbers against the Yankees, but he hasn't seen them since 2004 and has rounded into a Cy Young favorite this season. Damon works a 3-1 count before smacking a ball JUST foul down the right field line. Or was it? The umpires reconvene and call it a home run! I'd like to see a replay, but they don't seem to have a good angle. They of course bring up the discussion about instant replay in baseball. Most against a change can only cite the "human element" of having umpires make the calls, but I don't see why tradition is more valuable than being correct. If nothing else, they should be definitively right or wrong on home run calls. Jeter works a 2-2 count before popping up. Despite the vast weight difference, CC reminds me of Randy Johnson; big, tall left-hander with mid-nineties heat, good control, and a good slider. Abreu does his thing by drawing a walk. Apparently Froemming isn't giving that outside corner just yet. A-Rod draws a walk as well. They're following their game plan to the letter - make CC work for every out. He has 24 pitches already. He throws two balls to Posada before striking him out with three more pitches. Matsui up with two outs. Froemming starts giving that corner, two called strikes. Matsui grounds out weakly to end it. Would have liked more runs, but they did work CC for 33 pitches.

Bottom 1 - Wang hits Sizemore with his first pitch. Terrific. Cabrera smacks a grounder to Jeter who turns the double play easily. Actually terrific. I didn't liveblog any of Wang's starts this year and I don't talk about him much, but he might be my favorite Yankee at the moment, although my man-crush on Phil Hughes is challenging that. He's a hard worker, doesn't complain, seems friendly and composed, and gets the job done. Wins are an overrated statistic for pitchers, but it's still impressive he's won 38 games in his first two full seasons. I don't think he has the dominance in him to be a true ace, but he's definitely the team's number one starter right now and should be a good workhorse for a long time. Hafner's already seen more than twice as many pitches as the first two batters combined. He walks. Martinez hits a single. Without Posada, he'd be the best catcher in the league. Garko lines a single up the middle, and Hafner scores easily. Wang hung a slider, even though Mr. Gwynn called it an elevated sinker. The sinker's 95 Tony, not 85. Full count to Peralta. This inning would be a disaster without those first two outs on three pitches. It's still pretty bad anyway. Peralta walks, bases loaded for Kenny Lofton. If he gets a hit, I might just kill myself right now. He gets a single, driving in two, but Peralta is picked off on the bases to end the inning. This is why sometimes it's good to be able to get strikeouts. 3-1 Indians.

Top 2 - That was very bad, but there's still plenty of time. Cano walks on four pitches from Sabathia, which is hard to believe. Seriously, why are there outfield umpires if they can't make those calls? Froemming saw Damon's home run clear as day in the first, but the guy who's entire job it is to see it missed it. Cabrera pops up, which is much easier to believe. Eye Chart's up. He pops up as well. Damon works it 2-2, but Cano is thrown out easily attempting to steal. Not sure why they tried that, he's not fast at all. Just throwing away outs early. At least CC has 49 pitches already.

Bottom 2 - Gutierrez pops out to A-Rod. Wang strikes out Blake on four pitches, back to the top of the order. Sizemore singles, but gets caught stealing on the next pitch. That was better. I'm going to grab some food.

Top 3 - While I was gone, CC struck out Damon and Jeter before walking Abreu again, but then A-Rod popped out the first pitch. What a choker! 68 pitches. At least they're doing well on that front.

Bottom 3 - Cabrera clubs a home run to right-center after starting 0-2. Crap. Pronk grounds out weakly. Martinez flies out in similar fashion. Garko flares a duck-fart single. Peralta flies out to left, and the Yankees need to start hitting now.

Top 4 - Posada loops a liner to right for an out on the second pitch. That's not getting it done. Froemming's definitely giving that outside corner now. Matsui K's on 3 pitches. Also not getting it done. Cano hits a dinger, two run ball game. That's how you get it DONE. Cabrera pops out again because he's not a very good hitter. 80 pitches. The count doesn't matter as much any more, he's gonna get enough rope to go two more innings and get to Cleveland's two dominant Rafaels. Unless they light him up, which would just be fantastic.

Bottom 4 - Lofton pops out. He walks Gutierrez, bringing Blake to the plate, who grounds to Alex who gets the out at second. Wang strikes out Sizemore looking, and we're on to the fifth.

Top 5 - Shelley Duncan leads off, taking over for Mientkiewicz. Apparently the old ankle injury he aggravated earlier today has caught up with him. Duncan works the count full before smacking a single. He's pretty awesome, I have to say. I don't see how he stayed in the minors until age 27 before getting a chance. CC stays outside on Damon and walks him. Five walks tonight, very uncharacteristic for him. It's probably nerves. The Yankees should knock him out in this inning. Sweep the leg. Jeter flies out harmlessly to right, but CC has 99 pitches now. Abreu swings at the first pitch, which is surprising, but lines it for a double the other way, a run scores, and here's a big spot for A-Rod - runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. They walk him intentionally. If someone says he didn't get the job done, I'm gonna punch them in the mouth. Bases loaded for Posada. The first three pitches are balls. The next two are strikes. He gets him swinging. HUGE out. Now a long fly ball doesn't tie the game. This would be a good time for Matsui's first hit against Sabathia. He pops out to Peralta. God damn it.

Bottom 5 - That could be the difference in the game and the series - tying run on third base with one out and they don't get it done. Wang has to hold down the fort. Unfortunately he walks Cabrera. Hafner flies out to center. Victor Martinez hits a two run homer. Wang is not getting it done at all. Garko grounds out to second. Peralta bloops a double to short right field. Fact: this is the most annoying hit in all of baseball. Lofton with another single, and a run scores, exacerbating the irritating nature of the dreaded bloop double. 7-3, Indians. Wang's night is over, and he'll be lucky if his season isn't. Ross Ohlendorf is coming in to put out the fire. Or so we hope. Unfortunately he walks Gutierrez after Lofton steals second. You have a fastball, Ross, it's okay to use it. Blake doubles down the line to score two runs. The commentators are going back to Jeter's at bat, thinking that if he had bunted instead of swinging away, they would have tied the game on Abreu's double. I guess they're ignoring that the Yankees have given up 5 runs this inning. Sizemore pops out, but the game is over. No way the bullpen blows this. I'll watch the rest of the game, but I'm done typing up everything that happens. Hopefully Pettitte can do well tomorrow and the Yankees can head back to New York with a split. Back later with the wrap-up.

Wrap-up - The Yankees managed nothing in the rest of their at bats, losing 12-3. It was a damned if he does, damned if he doesn't situation for A-Rod. He didn't get any hits so he'll probably get criticized again, but if he had it would have been dismissed as meaningless stat padding. Never mind that he was intentionally walked in his only high-leverage at bat, he can't win until he does something really big. Ohlendorf struggled as he started the next inning, and had to be relieved by Veras who finished it. Phil Hughes pitched two innings, which is annoying, because it seems like his talent was being wasted in a game that was already over. Besides another solo home run, he looked pretty sharp, commanding his pitches well and getting two strikeouts. I guess he could still pitch in a meaningful game this series, but I wouldn't count on it with Joe managing. Wedge made a couple questionable moves too, throwing his two best relievers a total of three innings with the game already in hand. We'll see if that's a factor tomorrow.