Yankee Banter

After exploding for six runs in the seventh, who didn’t think the Yankees were on their way to clinching the ALCS Thursday night?

It turns out the clincher, if it ever does happen, has been delayed until this weekend as the Angels rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to force Game 6 with a 7-6 victory.

Some thoughts on Game 5:

I actually have no problem with how Joe Girardi managed the bottom of the seventh. The right move, in my opinion, was to bring A.J. Burnett back out for that inning.

After allowing four runs before you could blink in the first, Burnett composed himself and then pitched five terrific innings. It’s going to get lost in the headlines today, and he did end up allowing six runs, but Burnett deserves credit for last night. I fully expected him to melt down even further after the disastrous first inning. But he settled down and held the Angels to four runs, a deficit this Yankee offense can come back from in their sleep.

We’ve seen Burnett self-destruct in similar situations (remember the infamous blow up at Fenway on that Saturday afternoon?) and it was nice to see some mental toughness out of him.

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You have to be concerned about Phil Hughes. He was outstanding out of the bullpen in the regular season and I don’t know if it’s fatigue or if he’s overwhelmed by the moment, but he hasn’t been the same in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Joe Girardi handles the late innings if the Yankees have the lead in Game 6 or 7. Don’t be surprised to see Mariano Rivera for two innings.

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I think it’s time to move David Robertson ahead of Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen rotation. It’s clear we will not be seeing the Joba we used to know out of the bullpen this postseason.

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You know someone is not hitting well when a pitcher, holding a one-run lead with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, willingly throws an 89 mile-per-hour fastball down the middle to that hitter. Nick Swisher couldn’t have gotten an easier pitch to hit from Brian Fuentes. Where’s Xavier Nady when you need him?

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Seriously, what was Mike Scioscia thinking in the seventh inning when he took out John Lackey? Mark Teixeira has been awful at the plate in this series as a left-handed hitter and the only good swings he had up until last night were from the right side against Scott Kazmir in Game 3. Putting the season in Darren Oliver’s hands instead of your ace is just asking for trouble. Scioscia is lucky the Angels are alive to see another day.

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It looks like you may need to hop on Noah’s Arc if you have plans to attend Game 6 Saturday night in the Bronx. The early forecast is calling for a 90 percent change of precipitation with 14 mile-per-hour winds. I am going to the game and would hate to see it rained out, especially since the makeup would go against the Giants-Cardinals game over at Giants Stadium.

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I believe it’s imperative for the Yankees to win Game 6. If they don’t, CC Sabathia would have to pitch the seventh game and if they win Game 7, CC would not be available for Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday. They are going to need him available to pitch three games against the Phillies’ potent lineup.

I would still be surprised to see the Angels to win this series. The only way I see that happening is if they blow out the Yankees in both games, something I don’t see happening because the Angel lineup is just not that deep. And if the games are close, I can’t see Brian Fuentes getting out of the Bronx alive.

I’ll be back after Game 6 with an in-person account. Thanks for reading.