The LoHud Yankees Blog

Any time Brett Gardner hits the ball on the ground, he believes he has a chance to reach base. He’s fast enough to force an error or beat out a routine play. Last night, he got the Yankees started in that five-run eighth inning by beating out an infield single. The play became little more than a race to the bag, and Gardner got there just ahead of C.J. Wilson.

“He’s a good athlete,” Gardner said. “He got over there pretty quick. Most lefties, I’m able to beat them over there by a step or two but this one was really close.”

Why the headfirst slide into first base?

“Everything is going so fast, I don’t even know what I’m thinking,” Gardner said. “I just feel like sometimes I can get there quicker depending on how my body’s leaning and how my steps pan out when I’m getting closer to the bag. It’s just kind of an instinct thing.”

Maybe the slide made a difference. Maybe it didn’t. Either way, it worked.

“As a manager, you hold your breath,” Joe Girardi said. “Because a lot of times, that’s where you see hands get hurt or shoulders get hurt diving into first base. But he felt it was the right move, and it worked out well for us, and Gardy always plays extremely hard. We love the way he plays the game.

Superstitions are big in the big leagues and guys will do whatever they have to do to keep the baseball gods on their side. After the Yankees win last night, Joba Chamberlain was asked where he was when the Yankees were ripping through the Texas bullpen during their five-run eighth-inning rally.

Chamberlain, who made his first appearance of the postseason in relief of CC Sabathia, said he was up in the clubhouse. As Brett Gardner reached on his infield single and Derek Jeter followed with a RBI double, Chamberlain and some of the Yankees support staff were watching on TV. Once the rally started, it was decided that no one would move from their positions until the inning was over. To do otherwise might throw off the Yankees karma.

There was only one problem. “I had to pee really bad,” Chamberlain said. “It was getting to the point where” – he paused for a second, searching for the right words – “I was going to have to figure something out,” he finally said without an ounce of apology.

You know the rest. Joba stayed put, the Yankees finished off their comeback and the power of the baseball gods was reaffirmed once again.

Associated Press photo

Tonight was a reminder of everything the Yankees have done, and everything they’re capable of doing again. This stadium was loud, a rowdy Texas crowd celebrating the first ALCS in franchise history. The Rangers were young team that had knocked out CC Sabathia after four innings and had C.J. Wilson dealing against the mighty Yankees. Why shouldn’t this stadium have been rocking?

In all of that bedlam, the visiting dugout was calm. The Yankees knew the situation. They’d been in this hole before, and they knew the way out.

“Coming over here from spring training on and them talking about going to the World Series last year and winning it, one of the things they talked about was just never giving up,” Dustin Moseley said. “Always playing every out, playing the game the right way. We came out and did that today.”

The Yankees reestablished themselves as the team to beat in these playoffs. They did it with Robinson Cano, their MVP candidate, driving in the tying run. They did it with Derek Jeter, their veteran shortstop, putting to bed an early 0-for-3 to double in his last two at-bats. They did it with Marcus Thames, their last man on the roster in spring training, driving in the game winner on a broken-bat single.

And they did it with Moseley, the Triple-A call-up, getting the win on his wife’s birthday.

“I know the attitude in there,” Joe Girardi said. “They stay on each other about grinding out at-bats. That’s what they talk about, and chip away. You know, there’s a talented group in there that plays the game with a lot of passion. So like I said, I’m never really surprised, but I am thrilled sometimes.”

As Thames said, this stadium “got a little quiet” after his go-ahead single. It was the end of seven straight Yankees reaching base, more than had reached base in the first seven innings combined. The game changed and the series changed, but the Yankees never did.

“You don’t concern yourself with one or two at-bats or any given play,” Alex Rodriguez said. “You’re looking for one or two moments to make an impact in the game, and for me, that was bases loaded, no outs. You obviously wanted to keep the line moving. We had three or four good at-bats before me, and we talked about keeping the line moving… They have got to get 27 outs. And until that last out is recorded, we have the utmost belief that we are going to win every game.”

• The play that jump-started that five-run eighth was Brett Gardner’s sprint and dive on an infield single. Gardner’s hand paid the price, and he was OK with it. “I knew when he stepped on my hand that my hand was on the base and his foot got there after the hand,” Gardner said. “So that was a good feeling.”

• Speaking of paying the price, Thames guessed that he broke three bats today, none bigger than the one that cracked on his go-ahead single. “My bat died a hero,” he said. “I’ll take that any day.”

• CC Sabathia was not sharp. He said he felt strong, he just couldn’t throw his fastball where he wanted. “I just had no command,” he said. “You have a game plan that you have a way that you want to attack the team, and you can’t even get to it because you can’t throw the ball over the plate.”

• Ultimately, that play at the plate in the first inning made a huge difference. “When it comes up and he’s got dirt all over, you worry,” Girardi said. “But if there is a collision at home plate, CC is going to win most of them.”

• Sabathia on the Yankees rally: “I think I was more nervous in here watching that eighth inning than anything. The way these guys came back and battled was incredible.”

• Big game from Moseley, who pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts. “I don’t know the last time I struck out four batters in two innings, if I ever have,” he said. “I had a good fastball working. I had command of all four of my pitches, so it worked well.”

• Of course, the win was kind of the icing on top of the cake for Moseley. “It’s my wife’s birthday today, so what a great gift for her. And I haven’t seen my son in about a month. I got to see him last night, so this has been wonderful.”

• Girardi said pulling Sabathia in the fourth inning was not a decision based on a possible Game 4 start: “Not necessarily, no,” he said. “I think he had 92 or 95 pitches through four. He worked extremely hard, so we thought, I had Joba up (for) if I needed Joba to get him out of the fourth inning, and that’s why I went to Joba in the fifth because he was hot. I wasn’t going to sit him down and not use him. Mo did a good job, Woody did a good job, big pick off move with Kinsler. Our bullpen was great.”

• In 40 previous ALCS matchups, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win the series 24 times. In six of the past 10 ALCS, the losing team in Game 1 has gone on to win the series.

• The Yankees have won 10 straight playoff games against the Rangers, tied for the second longest winning streak of one team against one opponent behind Boston’s streak of 11 straight wins against the Angels, a streak that ended in 2008.

• This was the largest deficit the Yankees had ever overcome in an ALCS game. The last time the Yankees overcame a five-run deficit in the playoffs was Game 1 of the 1997 ALDS against Cleveland.

Associated Press photos. The bottom two are Teixeira and Cano.

On the verge of a stunning Game 1 loss, the Yankees rallied through a five-run eighth inning to beat the Rangers 6-5 tonight in Arlington. The game ended with a fist pump from Robinson Cano, who homered to put the Yankees on the board and drove in the game-tying run. The game-winner belonged to Marcus Thames, who was the seventh straight Yankee to reach base without recording an out in the eighth.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (0-0)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF

LHP CC Sabathia (1-0, 4.50)
Sabathia vs. Rangers

RANGERS (0-0)
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz LF
Ian Kinsler 2B
Jeff Francoeur RF
Matt Treanor C
Jorge Cantu 1B

LHP C.J. Wilson (1-0, 0.00)
Wilson vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 8:07 p.m. ET / TBS

UMPIRES: HP Gerry Davis, 1B Tony Randazzo, 2B Jim Reynolds, 3B Angel Hernandez, LF Fieldin Culbreth, RF Brian Gorman

WEATHER: It’s beautiful outside. Temperatures in the 70s. Big blue sky. No real chance of rain. A perfect way to start the LCS.

FEELING YOUNG: As a team, the Rangers have not hit CC Sabathia very well. There’s only one player on their ALCS roster who has a better than .222 career average against the Yankees ace. That one exception is Michael Young, who leads the team in Sabathia at-bats and has a .316/.325/.421 slash line against him.

GIVE AND TAKE: Combined, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson, Brett Gardner and Jorge Posada are 0-for-19 with eight strikeouts in their careers against C.J. Wilson. On the other hand, Derek Jeter, Marcus Thames, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano are a combined 20-for-59 with four doubles and two homers against him. This season, Wilson has held lefties to a .144 batting average.

A GOOD START: The Yankees have won the World Series every time they’ve swept a division series (1998, 1999 and 2009).

JETER AND BERNIE: Derek Jeter needs one run to tie Bernie Williams for the most ever scored in the LCS round of the playoffs. He needs one hit to tie Williams for the second most LCS hits. As for the playoffs in general, Jeter needs two doubles to tie Williams for the most postseason doubles of all time. He needs two home runs to tie Williams for the second-most postseason homers… With one run, Jeter would also become the first player to ever score 100 runs in the postseason.

OTHER MILESTONES: With one double, Jeter would surpass 15 players and tied Jorge Posada for the thrid-most LCS doubles of all-tiem. He needs one home run to tie Steve Garvey and Albert Pujols for the fourth-most LCS home runs… Tonight Posada will tie Kenny Lofton for the sixth-most LCS games ever played. Posada needs two doubles to tie Williams and Hideki Matsui for the most LCS doubles of all time… Alex Rodriguez needs one home run — like Jeter — to have the fourth-most LCS homers of all time.

UPDATE, 8:22 p.m.: Walk. Single. Home run. It’s a 3-0 Rangers lead before Sabathia has recorded a single out. Would have been tough to predict this kind of start.

UPDATE, 8:34 p.m.: Yankees might have caught a break there. Either way, Sabathia just had one of his most un-Sabathia innings and the Yankees are in an early hole.

UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: Cruz looked safe on the first replay shown here in the press box, but he definitely looked out on the second. I’m going to take credit for being one of the few people up here who said he was out after seeing the play live.

UPDATE, 9:10 p.m.: Another wild inning from Sabathia, but he got out of it with a ground ball from Kinsler to strand a runner at third. Sabathia is already approaching 70 pitches after three innings.

UPDATE, 9:42 p.m.: Two more runs and a 5-0 Rangers lead after four innings. The Yankees had Joba Chamberlain getting loose that inning.

UPDATE, 9:53 p.m.: Here comes Joba. Sabathia is finished after four innings. That’s his shortest outing of the year.

UPDATE, 10:06 p.m.: Dustin Moseley getting loose for the Yankees. Wonder if the pitching plan beyond this inning depends on whether the Yankees get on the board against Wilson.

UPDATE, 10:27 p.m.: Robinson Cano has put the Yankees on the board. It’s 5-1 in the top of the seventh.

UPDATE, 11:01 p.m.: Better late than never for the Yankees, things have gotten interesting here in Texas. RBI single by Jeter, two-run single by Rodriguez. It’s now 5-4 with no outs and runners at first and second in the eighth inning.

UPDATE, 11:06 p.m.: Is everyone finding their way back up from the bottom of the ledge? Robinson Cano’s RBI single has tied the game, the go-ahead run is at third base and the Rangers are up to their fifth pitcher in this inning. That matches an LCS record. Does Ron Washington know it’s not September?

UPDATE, 11:11 p.m.: Washington’s choice is to go to the right-hander to almost certainly face Lance Berkman, or bring the lefty in to face Marcus Thames. He took his shot against Thames, and Thames delivered the go-ahead single. Yankees are up 6-5 and there are still no outs in the eighth.

Apparently, at some point yesterday, Mark Teixeira told Marc Carig* that CC Sabathia is the best free agent signing in Yankees history. It’s a bold statement two years into a seven-year contract, but Teixeira likes to back his guys and Sabathia has been awfully impressive.

As luck would have it, Brian Cashman was in Joe Girardi’s office this afternoon when the beat writers got their private pregame session with the Yankees manager. Carig asked Cashman about Teixeira’s statement, and Cashman knew exactly what to do with it.

“Just to piss Reggie off, yes, he’s definitely the best free agent signing,” Cashman said.

It was, as you might expect, hilarious.

Truth is, it’s a little too early to judge the Sabathia signing as a whole. It’s been very good so far — “We probably don’t get to the postseason without CC a couple of times,” Girardi said — but it’s hard to put two years of Sabathia up against Reggie Jackson or Catfish Hunter.

“There’s a long way to go,” Cashman said. “A lot of those free agent signings that (George Steinbrenner) did back in the 70s went back-to-back.”

Eventually focus of the pregame session moved back to Girardi, but at some point Cashman jumped back into the conversation.

“I’ve got a free agent for you,” he said. “The best free agent that I was involved with signing was El Duque. Because he didn’t cost us any money and he won a ton of games.”

• Girardi said he expects to use his regular right-handed lineup tomorrow. There likely won’t be any surprising changes at any point, unless Francisco Cervelli catches a game. Given C.J. Wilson’s success against lefties, there was some talk of starting Austin Kearns tonight. “We talked about it a little bit,” Girardi said. “But you could say that about a lot of left-handers we’ve faced. We feel like Grandy is a different guy and Gardy puts (together) a tough at-bat. Gardy’s not like a guy who hits .200 off lefties. Gardy puts some tough at-bats in there, and there are a lot of different ways Gardy can get on.”

• In terms of catching Jorge Posada, tomorrow does not count as a day game after a night game. Girardi said he expects Posada to be out there.

• The Yankees still haven’t decided whether Posada will catch A.J. Burnett in Game 4.

• Speaking of Game 4… If the Yankees are down 0-3 heading into that game, Sabathia would seem to be an option on short rest. “It’s not even something we have discussed yet,” Girardi said. “Your plan is to try to win every day.”

• Alex Rodriguez is going to get booed — a lot — in tonight’s game. “Alex is used to coming into environments like this. I don’t think Alex makes too much of it. He’s had to go back to Seattle a number of times. He’s had to go back to Texas a number of times. Wherever you go in our division (he’d booed). I wouldn’t think Alex would get caught up in it. I think he’ll just go out and play like he always does.”

• Someone asked Girardi how many at-bats makeup a large enough sample size to be meaningful. He said 15 to 20 at-bats carries weight, but it also depends on how recently those at-bats happened. “We also have statistics that tell you how good of an at-bat it was,” Girardi said. “You can have a 4-for-5 and have four dribblers. We have statistics that tell us that.”

• You might remember that Julio Borbon had that great bunt play in the last Yankees series here in Arlington. “He could do it again,” Girardi said. “Their grass is thick here, so the chances of the ball getting to a first baseman really quick really isn’t great.”

* Speaking of Carig: There are times when you hear another reporter’s line of questioning, realize what they’re writing and think it’s a good idea for a story. As an ALCS preview, Marc wrote about a group of Yankees could be emerging as their next core. Check it out.

Associated Press photos of Girardi and Cashman

Before tonight’s ALCS opener, the Rangers made two changes to their roster.

Left-handed relievers Clay Rapada and Michael Kirkman were added to the bullpen, replacing infielder Esteban German and right-hander Dustin Nippert. Neither has faced the Yankees very often. Curtis Granderson is the only Yankee with more than one at-bat against Kirkman, and Granderson is 1-for-2 against him. Robinson Cano has the most at-bats against Rapada. He’s 0-for-3.

The Rangers are carrying four left-handed relievers this series. They have three right-handers.

“It allows them to do a lot of matchups,” Joe Girardi said. “Against right-handers (starters) we separate out lefties more, so that makes it more difficult. They might bring in one lefty to face Robby, then go to a righty and bring in the lefties to face Grandy and Gardy. We’re OK with that.”

Girardi said there are “probably not” any pinch hitting moves he would make to compensate for the lefties. The only change would likely be Marcus Thames pinch hitting for Lance Berkman at some point. Otherwise, Girardi has become pretty comfortable with his left-handed hitters facing left-handed hitters. If necessary, he has the righty Austin Kearns on the bench.

I’ll have full pregame notes when I finish transcribing. Pretty funny stuff from Brian Cashman this afternoon.
Elvis Andrus SS
Michael Young 3B
Josh Hamilton CF
Vladimir Guerrero DH
Nelson Cruz LF
Ian Kinsler 2B
Jeff Francoeur RF
Matt Treanor C
Jorge Cantu 1B

No sense getting fancy. The Yankees are sticking with what worked in the division series.

And I’ll be perfectly honest, this lineup might have been posted three minutes earlier, but I stopped at Steak ‘n Shake for some frozen goodness on my way to the park. It’s the little things in life.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF

One quick observation: This city is pretty excited about baseball. I have a great friend who works as a producer for a television station here in Dallas, and the past two times the Yankees were in town, Laura and I talked about how much this has remained a football town even with the Rangers playing pretty good baseball.

At lunch today, Laura was saying the opposite. The town is caught up in baseball. There are claw and antler t-shirts everywhere. I listened to some of the craziest sports talk radio on my way to the park — there was a remake of New York, New York that rhymed the lyrics, Hamilton’s bat with Bengie’s kind of fat — and every person I’ve greeted at the stadium has been thrilled about playoff baseball. There’s excitement here. It’s going to be a good atmosphere tonight.

 
There are a lot of strange things to see during a postseason simulated game. The one I didn’t expect this week was Brett Gardner going to third base to work on his reads. He never picked up a bat and never ran more than 40 feet away from the bag, but he reacted to pitch after pitch as if it were a real game.

“That’s not something you can work on any other time,” Gardner said. “You’re never out there with a pitcher throwing — except for one intrasquad game in spring training — the pitcher’s never throwing from the stretch or from the windup with a live hitter, maybe he’s going to swing, maybe he’s not. Sometimes you’ve got a coach on a mound throwing BP and a guy swinging at every pitch. Just over there trying to work on my footwork, trying to work on my contact reads. Just trying to work on little things that might come up that I might get better at.”

Base running has become part of the ALCS buzz this past week. It started when the Rays scored three early runs in Game 5 of their division series, all by being aggressive on the bases.

“I don’t see the team changing their philosophy from last series to this series,” Curtis Granderson said. “I also think it’s been their philosophy all season.”

The Yankees don’t stand out as a running team, but with Granderson and Gardner, they have two everyday players who can create some havoc with their speed. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will run from time to time, and Ramiro Pena and Greg Golson are available to run off the bench in the late innings.

“Still be aggressive but you’ve got to be smart,” Gardner said. “People all the time want me to run more and talk about me running more, but with the guys that I’ve got coming up behind me, the last thing I want to do is get thrown out with Tex or Swish or whoever at the plate… I don’t like getting thrown out so maybe I don’t run in a situation that might call for me to run in. This time of year, it’s important to try to take the extra base and when you have the opportunity try to steal second.”

Associated Press photo of Gardner with Mark Teixeira

When the Rangers came to New York back in April, the team had yet to form its identity. Josh Hamilton wasn’t hitting. The bullpen wasn’t in place. Cliff Lee was in Seattle.

When the Yankees went to Texas late in the year, they were a partial team. For the August series, Mark Teixeira was away for the birth of his son and Curtis Granderson was on the bench going through his mechanical adjustments. For the September series, Nick Swisher, Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira were banged up and not one of the Yankees top three starters pitched.

Obviously this series is different in many, many ways. The American League Championship Series is only hours away. at last, it’s time to play baseball.

On the Rangers offense
“They’re more of a right-handed power lineup where the Twins were more split up. They’ve got a huge left-handed bat in Josh Hamilton. They’re going to throw a lot of big, powerful right-handers at you. They’re a much more aggressive club than the Twins are.”
-Joe Girardi

On Rangers starter C.J. Wilson
“He’s a kid that’s got a good arm. A good fastball. Fastball. Cutter. Slider. Good breaking ball. I would say he challenges. He throws a lot of fastballs and he comes after you… We are a patient team. Hopefully we can get to him and get him from the stretch.”
-Jorge Posada

On Rangers closer Neftali Feliz
“He’s got a live arm and he knows how to pitch and he knows how to hold runners late in games. He seems to be pretty relaxed out there. And for a 22-year-old, your first post-season, with this organization, that’s pretty neat. And an All-Star this year. When I look at him, he appears to be a veteran, and I think he has grown up in front of the Rangers fan’s eyes.”
-Joe Girardi

On the Rangers defense
“Defensively they were not playing well at the beginning of the year, and that has been a trademark of Ron Washington’s teams. They play extremely good defense. They were not playing good defense (when the Rangers came to New York in April) and they turned that around, and I think that’s one of the reasons that they’re here.”
-Joe Girardi

On Rangers Ballpark
“The infield is probably more thick than Wrigley. That’s probably the thickest infield I’ve ever been around. The outfield is like lightning. Two different playing surfaces.”
-Nick Swisher

On building the Rangers
“Dallas and the whole Metroplex area deserves a winner. I went there many years ago with the intention of being in the position they’re in today. I think Nolan Ryan and their general manager and their manager have done a terrific job of bringing that great team to where it’s at today.”
-Alex Rodriguez