10/20: ALCS Game 3: Questionable Managing Dooms Yankees
Posted by: Seamus
Well, it all started off well enough. Derek Jeter led the game off with a home run, the Yankees led the game 3–0 halfway through, and Andy Pettitte had the Angels scoreless through the first four innings of the game. The Yankees even got some more timely extra inning pitching and defense that made it look like they might be headed for another tight postseason victory. This time, however, it wasn't meant to be as some over-managing by Joe Girardi cost the Yankees a chance at a 3–0 ALCS lead.
The Yankees went ahead early as three solo home runs (Jeter in the 1st, A-Rod in the 4th, Damon in the 5th) had the Yankees up by a score of 3–0 after four and a half at Angel Stadium.
The Halos would begin to claw back as Howie Kendrick crushed a pitch from Andy Pettitte and took it deep over the left field wall to pull the Angels to within 3–1. The Angels would tie it in the next inning after Vladimir Guerrero launched a ball over the left field wall for his first home run in over a month. Pettitte would leave the game after 6 and 1/3, allowing 3 runs and 7 hits.
Joe Girardi would summon Joba Chamberlain with one out in the 7th. Joba did not fair well in this one, as Kendrick got ahold of another one, taking the first pitch from Chamberlain the other way and launching it off the right field wall for a triple. Maicer Izturis would bring him home in the Angels' next at-bat, as a deep fly ball to right would score Kendrick on a sacrifice fly to give the Angels a 4–3 lead.
The Yankees tied the game in the 8th on a solo blast to center from Jorge Posada. The fact that the home run only tied it was unfortunate, as the shot came just after Brett Gardner was caught stealing second base.
The game was still tied after nine innings, and the Yanks and Angels went to extra innings for the second straight game. The Angels looked like they might be able to end it in the bottom of the 10th as they had runners at the corners with just one out, but back-to-back ground balls served up by Mariano Rivera and some excellent defense at first base by Mark Teixeira prevented Jeff Mathis from scoring the winning run.
The Yankees failed to score in the 11th, giving the Angels another shot to win it in the bottom of the inning. The inning started off innocently enough, as David Robertson retired the first two batters in order. Enter Joe Girardi, who comes in and pulls Robertson in favor of Alfredo Aceves for no apparent reason to face Howie Kendrick (Aceves had never faced Kendrick in his career and Robertson had faced him twice). Kendrick would hit a ground ball up the middle for a base hit, and what followed was a double from Jeff Mathis into the left-center field gap that scored Kendrick all the way from first, giving the Angels a 5–4 victory and keeping them alive in this series.
I couldn't for the life of me tell you what Girardi was thinking in that situation, but the folks over at NoMaas say that it was perhaps because Robertson is a predominantly fastball pitcher and Kendrick is predominantly a fastball hitter. Either way, it was probably unnecessary especially with two outs and nobody on base. Besides, this game could have gone on forever. If Girardi didn't think Robertson could come in and pitch a full inning, why would he even go to him in the first place?
Whatever the case, the Angels are now within one game of tying this series and they'll have a chance to do so tonight. CC Sabathia and the Yanks will try to shrug this one off and look to take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Scott Kazmir will be going for the Angels. Game is slated to start at 7:57 ET.
The Yankees went ahead early as three solo home runs (Jeter in the 1st, A-Rod in the 4th, Damon in the 5th) had the Yankees up by a score of 3–0 after four and a half at Angel Stadium.
The Halos would begin to claw back as Howie Kendrick crushed a pitch from Andy Pettitte and took it deep over the left field wall to pull the Angels to within 3–1. The Angels would tie it in the next inning after Vladimir Guerrero launched a ball over the left field wall for his first home run in over a month. Pettitte would leave the game after 6 and 1/3, allowing 3 runs and 7 hits.
Joe Girardi would summon Joba Chamberlain with one out in the 7th. Joba did not fair well in this one, as Kendrick got ahold of another one, taking the first pitch from Chamberlain the other way and launching it off the right field wall for a triple. Maicer Izturis would bring him home in the Angels' next at-bat, as a deep fly ball to right would score Kendrick on a sacrifice fly to give the Angels a 4–3 lead.
The Yankees tied the game in the 8th on a solo blast to center from Jorge Posada. The fact that the home run only tied it was unfortunate, as the shot came just after Brett Gardner was caught stealing second base.
The game was still tied after nine innings, and the Yanks and Angels went to extra innings for the second straight game. The Angels looked like they might be able to end it in the bottom of the 10th as they had runners at the corners with just one out, but back-to-back ground balls served up by Mariano Rivera and some excellent defense at first base by Mark Teixeira prevented Jeff Mathis from scoring the winning run.
The Yankees failed to score in the 11th, giving the Angels another shot to win it in the bottom of the inning. The inning started off innocently enough, as David Robertson retired the first two batters in order. Enter Joe Girardi, who comes in and pulls Robertson in favor of Alfredo Aceves for no apparent reason to face Howie Kendrick (Aceves had never faced Kendrick in his career and Robertson had faced him twice). Kendrick would hit a ground ball up the middle for a base hit, and what followed was a double from Jeff Mathis into the left-center field gap that scored Kendrick all the way from first, giving the Angels a 5–4 victory and keeping them alive in this series.
I couldn't for the life of me tell you what Girardi was thinking in that situation, but the folks over at NoMaas say that it was perhaps because Robertson is a predominantly fastball pitcher and Kendrick is predominantly a fastball hitter. Either way, it was probably unnecessary especially with two outs and nobody on base. Besides, this game could have gone on forever. If Girardi didn't think Robertson could come in and pitch a full inning, why would he even go to him in the first place?
Whatever the case, the Angels are now within one game of tying this series and they'll have a chance to do so tonight. CC Sabathia and the Yanks will try to shrug this one off and look to take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Scott Kazmir will be going for the Angels. Game is slated to start at 7:57 ET.
