Chien-Ming Wang will start game 1 of the ALDS. I think that's the right call. He is the ace of this team. Here is the schedule (along with probable starters):

Game 1: Yankees at Indians, October 4 on TBS (Wang vs. C.C. Sabathia)
Game 2: Yankees at Indians, October 5 on TBS (Andy Pettitte vs. Fausto Carmona)
Game 3: Indians at Yankees, October 7 on TBS (Roger Clemens vs. Jake Westbrook)
*Game 4: Indians at Yankees, October 8 on TBS or TNT (Mike Mussina vs. Paul Byrd)
*Game 5: Yankees at Indians, October 10 on TBS (Wang vs. Sabathia)

* - if necessary. Times are yet to be announced.

Bryan Hoch reports that Matsui will be getting fluid off his right knee drained. He isn't expected to miss any of the ALDS, but he will miss today's season finale.

Pettitte got pounded in this one, allowing 8 earned runs (and 1 unearned run) on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. And, yet, he picked up victory number 15.

The reason for that? Mainly, the Yankees half of the 4th inning where they scored 10 runs. Here's how it went:

Jorge Posada singles.
Shelley Duncan singles, moving Posada to 3rd.
Bronson Sardinha singles, scoring Posada and moving Duncan to 2nd.
Alberto Gonzalez reaches on an error by the shortstop, scoring Duncan and moving Sardinha to 3rd. Gonzalez advances to 2nd.
Melky Cabrera doubles, scoring Sardinha and Gonzalez.
Wilson Betemit singles, scoring Cabrera
Betemit advances to 2nd on a passed ball.
Bobby Abreu walks.
Jason Giambi doubles, scoring Betemit and moving Abreu to 3rd.
Robinson Cano singles, scoring Abreu and Giambi.
Posada (the 10th hitter) strikes out for the first out.
Shelley Duncan homers, scoring Cano.
Sardinha walks.
Gonzalez grounds into a double play ball for outs two and three.

Besides that inning, the only other Yankees run was scored on a Posada RBI single (scoring Cano) in the 2nd. The other 7 innings were zeros. The Orioles scored 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, 3 in the 5th and 1 in the 8th. The 1 run came off of Ron Villone, who pitched 2 innings of relief. Edwar picked up a scoreless inning as did Veras, who picked up his 2nd save of the season.

It's been a long season, folks. The regular season comes to an end tomorrow. Your starting pitcher? The one - the only - Kei Igawa! He'll face Brian Burres. If the Yankees could find it in their heart to start Posada, A-Rod, Jeter and Matsui, my fantasy team would certainly appreciate it.

After last night's loss and the Red Sox victory, everything is set in stone. The Red Sox have won the American League East and the Yankees will face the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS.

Congratulations to the Red Sox and their fans.

Mariano Rivera didn't have it on Friday night in Baltimore. He entered in the bottom of the ninth with a 9-6 lead. He loaded the bases and got two outs, but Jay Payton hit a three run game tying triple which resulted in the Orioles tying the game.

In the 10th, the Yankees got a leadoff double from Jeter and he got to third with one out. A-Rod and Matsui were walked intentionally to load the bases. Molina and Giambi were retired without the Yankees scoring and the game went to the bottom of the tenth.

The Orioles got a one out double and the runner got to third. The Yankees returned the favor in loading the bases. Edwar Ramirez struck out Kevin Millar for the second out, but Melvin Mora laid down a perfect bunt to score the winning run.

Earlier in the game, the Yankees benefited from a four RBI night from A-Rod. He hit a two run homer, a run scoring double and a run scoring single.

Mike Mussina started for the Yankees and was ineffective. He gave up six runs in five innings and left leading 7-6. The Yankees would add two more runs with a Damon homer and an RBI single from A-Rod.

As a team, we've put together our postseason roster for the first round. Without further ado, here it is:

Hitters

C - Jose Molina
C - Jorge Posada
1B - Doug Mientkiewicz
2B - Robinson Cano
3B - Alex Rodriguez
SS - Derek Jeter
IF - Wilson Betemit
IF - Alberto Gonzalez
LF/DH - Hideki Matsui
CF - Melky Cabrera
RF - Bobby Abreu
OF/DH Johnny Damon
DH/1B - Jason Giambi
UT - Shelley Duncan

Pitchers

SP - Chien-Ming Wang
SP - Andy Pettitte
SP - Roger Clemens
SP - Mike Mussina
SP/RP - Phil Hughes
CL - Mariano Rivera
RP - Joba Chamberlain
RP - Luis Vizcaino
RP - Kyle Farnsworth
RP - Ron Villone
RP - Chris Britton

22 of the 25 spots were unanimous. The other 3 made the roster based on receiving votes from 3 out of 4 of us - they were Alberto Gonzalez, Jason Giambi and Chris Britton. There were 2 players who received votes who did not make the roster - Edwar Ramirez (2 votes) and Jose Veras.

There are a lot of folks out there who are quick to assume that the Yankees would be better off with the wild card considering their 6-0 record against the Indians and their 3-6 record against the Angels.

But remember...in 1997 the Yankees were in a similar situation, only this time futilely trying to stage a comeback against the divison leading Orioles. The Yanks were "better off" because they had a winning record against Cleveland and were 4-7 against the Mariners (according to baseball-reference.com), who would have been their opponent had they won the division. Sure enough the Yankees lost the ALDS in 5 games to the Indians, while the Orioles manhandled Seattle in three games.

I still want to see the Yanks pull this one off, as I'm sure most every Yankee fan still does, first-round matchups aside. Two games out with three to go. Certainly stranger things have happened...

Move over Frank Sinatra. The Board of Directors of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC announced today that Harold Z. (Hal) Steinbrenner has been elected as Chairman of the Board. This used to be Steve Swindal's spot and he was the heir-apparent (before the divorce) so it looks like Hal is the go-to guy now.

Mark Feinsand and Peter Abraham have good write ups on the celebration that followed the Yanks clinching a playoff spot. Worth a read.

Game 159 looked to be a fairly uninteresting game going in. The house money/rest everyone line-up was in as six of the regulars got a rest. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Doug Mientkiewicz and Melky Cabrera were not in the line-up. Still, there was two big reasons to watch this game and they were both under the age of 24. Scott Kazmir was and starting and in need of 6 strikeouts to pass Johan Santana as the K leader for the majors. Phil Hughes was looking for a solid start against a good hitting team (Tampa Bay was 5th in the AL in scoring after the ASB - .276/.346/.443/.788 line for the team) to solidify his role on the postseason roster.

For the first 6 innings, the story was definitely the pitching. Hughes and Kazmir matched zeroes until the bottom of the fourth when Carlos Pena took Hughes deep for his 44th homerun and 119th RBI of the season. Anyone who expected that from Pena, raise your hands. Now hit yourself with that hand because you're lying.

Bronson Sardinha did get his first hit in the Majors in the third but it wasn't until the sixth that the Yankees even made Kazmir really work. Alberto Gonzalez hit a one-out single and was brought home on a Johnny Damon RBI double. Kazmir got out of the inning but that was it for him, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER and 10 Ks. Wow - I'm sure that somewhere, there were some Mets fans watching that performance (against a very good hitting AL team) and wondering whatever happened to Victor Zambrano.

In the very next inning, the Yankees broke the tie against the (much maligned) Tampa Bay bullpen. With one out, Shelly Duncan singled and Robbie Cano doubled him over to third. It was Cano's 40th double of the year and he's now hit that mark two straight years. With Jose Molina up and one out, the Rays brought the infield in and it immediately burned them and Jose punched a soft single right past the drawn-in field for 2 RBIs. 3-1 Yankees.

Phil pitched through the 7th and was effective, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks (5 Ks) on 102 pitches. Joba Chamberlain came in (yes, he was used on back-to-back days) and was his usual effective self over on inning, giving up one hit but striking out 2 on 20 pitches. Righty Jose Veras came in for the ninth and nailed the door shut for his second career save (he's 2-2 now). Yankees win.