Postgame notes: “A kid that’s blossomed into quite a player”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Oct 02, 2011 
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A few things to notice about the Tigers decision to go to Al Alburquerque to face Robinson Cano in the sixth inning.
1. Alburquerque is a right-handed pitcher, not a lefty.
2. In 43.1 innings this season, he’d allowed just 21 hits, not one of which was a home run.
3. The one time he faced Cano earlier this year, Alburquerque got one of his 67 strikeouts.
“I was surprised,” Cano said. “They have a lefty (and) righty in the pen, but he brings in the righty. So, it ended up in our favor. I mean, that’s the decision he made, but I was looking for something that Ic an drive. Not looking for the home run, something I can at least get one RZBi so we can put some more runs in the lead.”
By now you know the result. Cano clobbered Alburquerque’s second postseason pitch for a grand slam, the 11th postseason grand slam in Yankees history. Cano tied a franchise posteason record with six RBI in the game, all of which came with two outs.
“It’s not a guy that, when he goes up there and there’s a runner on, he’s just trying to get a hit,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s trying to do damage… You look at what he’s done the last two years for us, he has been big for us. What he did in the playoffs last year, he did a lot of damage. We talked about moving him up and we couldn’t seem to get all our guys in the lineup the same day for a while there. It’s a kid that’s blossomed into quite a player is what he’s done.”
In the last week of the season, Girardi’s decision to bat Cano third against right-handers and fourth against lefties was a clear indication that this is Cano’s team now. He talked about taking notice of what Alex Rodriguez did in the playoffs in 2009, and now Cano seems poised to have the same sort of singular impact. He’s that good, and he showed it tonight.
“Robbie’s been doing it all year,” Derek Jeter said. “Robbie’s a tough out. He can beat you with a home run, he can beat you with pulled balls, he can hit balls the other way. He’s tough to pitch to, and he showed that today.”
Here’s Cano.
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Ivan Nova’s first postseason inning lasted all of eight pitches. It was a quick start to an impressive playoff debut from the Yankees rookie.
“When you throw an inning like that, a quick inning in a situation like today, that lets you know that everything is the same,” Nova said. “It’s the same game. A little bit more pressure, of course, but it looked the same for me.”
Nick Swisher said Nova “controlled the game,” and Jeter said he was “as good as we could hope for.” A strong regular season earned Nova the No. 2 spot in the rotation, and tonight only solidified it.
“Robbie has been through the moment a lot already. Ivan has not,” Girardi said. “Ivan did a great job tonight. Our prayer is that it continues… I talked about if he was able to control his emotions, I thought he could pitch pretty well.”
Said Nova: “I was so excited, my first postseason start. I could not believe it. I was really excited. After the first inning, I came back normal. I was more confident, and I slowed down everything, so it was good.”
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• It wasn’t The Dive or The Flip, but Jeter made another big defensive play in a big spot. With the game still tied in the fifth, Jhonny Peralta singled to center, and Jeter’s relay from Curtis Granderson hit Russell Martin in the chest. “I’m not the cutoff man to the plate,” Jeter said. “But Peralta hit it hard and Curtis sort of had to wait for it and couldn’t charge it, so I thought if I step in, we might have a chance to get him. Fortunately we did.”
• Most of the credit for the play went to Jeter, but it was a nice play by Martin as well. He kind of caught the ball and applied the tag in one motion. “It was a good throw,” Jeter said. “In that situation you’re just trying to get rid of it as quick as you can. I thought we had an opportunity, I thought it would be close, and fortunately we were able to get him. At the time, it was, what, tied at the time? So it was a big play for us.”
• Nick Swisher went asked about Cano’s pair of doubles, home run and six RBI: “Sounds like Matsui.”
• In a five-game series, winning Game 1 is huge. “You want to win games,” Jeter said. “It was a little odd. We were a good team for seven innings today because it was a continuation game, but a lot of good things happened.”
• Cano in response to a question about whether fans should be chanting “MVP” for him instead of Granderson: “That’s something not in my mind. We have to give credit to Granderson the way he helped the team the whole year. Right now my focus is in the playoffs, so I’ll let you guys decide (the MVP). Like I said, my goal is just to win it all.”
• Nova said the only pitch that was really working for him early was his fastball, but eventually everything fell into place. “I think I got everything today for me,” Nova said. “That’s the way I feel. I only throw one changup, but everything for me was working fine.”
• Cano’s reviewed double was the 10th play reviewed by video replay at the current Yankee Stadium, and the second in the postseason. The first was last year when Lance Berkman had a home run overturned and ruled foul.
• The last Yankees postseason grand slam was Ricky Ledee in the 1999 ALCS. The only other Yankees grand slam in the division series came from Paul O’Neill in 1997.
• Nova is the first Yankees rookie to win his postseason debut since Orlando Hernandez in 1998.
• Jorge Posada tied Bernie Williamss for the second-most postseason games all-time. Posada has played in 121. Jeter is at the top of the list with 148.
• Russell Martin has hit safely in seven of 10 career division series games.
• Jeter has reached base safely in 28 of 31 Game 1′s.
• Girardi’s final word on his rotation situation: “Right now we’re planning on CC on Monday and probably A.J. on Tuesday.”
• Tonight’s attendance of 50,940 was the largest single-game attendance at the current Yankee Stadium.
Associated Press photos
gosh, I am still amazed by the throw from Jeter and the perfect position of Martin.
Awesome win to kick of the 2011 Post Season Run.
Somehow, Gardner’s clutch two on, two out, two strike, two RBI hit has gotten lost here.
Jeter is a terrific field captain.
Ed,
Good point. As well as Nova was pitching, that Gardner hit sort of broke the game open.
Not forgetting Gardner by any means. Turning point of the game.
Hopefully this series doesn’t go four games because if it does the Yankees just forefitted it by starting Burnett.
Best in the game.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sorta.....er+hitting
What about Tino’s World Series Grand Slam in 1998?
Ah division series, my mistake
Surely Girardi won’t leave Alex batting 4th? Surely…
UGH. Don’t read the Philly/Cardinals recap.
“This is their moment”
“They were “assembled for these moments, for these next four weeks, for these postseason baseball games that will define their legacy, this was it”
“for a team that was constructed specifically to play these games, and to win a World Series”
Gag. Build the Phillies up, espn. The bigger the hype, the harder they fall. Haven’t you learned your lesson with the Red Sox?
My favorite moment of the night that might be a bit overlooked was Tex’s double the other way.
I’ve been waiting all season for that.
BJK — wow, you’re so right. That slipped by me. He went the opposite way. Yes, TEX! I hope he keeps it up.
Before the series Tiger fans were screaming how much better Fister is than Nova.
In his last 10 games Fister faced:
Indians
O’s
Indians
Rays
Royals
Indians
Twins
O’s
Royals
Indians
I guess facing the Yanks in the postseason is a bit tougher then that lot.
Still have the morning afterglow.
Time to win this afternoon and have CC put it away on Monday.
Cano can make anyone look bad, but our guys all did well against him (minus Alex). Sure would love Garcia and CC to close this out.
I just don’t want AJ to factor into anything, frankly.
Banuelos given looks to compete at ML level but he wasn’t ready.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....WoYh1y5HaP
Last night’s win is #1, there are still 10 more for #28.
Baseball is a funny game-as Joe Torre and many others have said, ‘Momentum is tomorow’s starting pitcher’.
Freddy has been OK against the Tigers the past two seasons but hasn’t faced them at Yankee Stadium and Scherzer was hammered in Yankee Stadium in April and then shut them out in Detroit.
Today’s game could be very high scoring and come down to the bullpens and slugging-advantage Yankees.
Or it could be a close game with both teams scratching for runs, we’ll find out this afternoon. You can’t get too high or too low during the playoffs, things can change in a heartbeat (or in one game), just like the ALCS did last year after game 1.
I always think the Yankees will win every game and don’t get too upset when they don’t so nothing ever suprises me but the Yankees are much stronger than the Tigers, they should win this series.
Good morning.
I have to be honest and admit that despite Nova’s great season I had my doubts about weather or not he could handle the addtional pressure
of the PS.
Well he did, and he came thru with flying colors.
I am glad my concerns were unfounded. Should not have doubted him in the 1st place.
Nova seems to handle the big stage with the presence of a seasoned veteran. It’s really amazing for such a young kid. Extremely proud of him.
Bravo Ivan. Bravo.
MG-
5 game sets are particularly tricky.
Reducing Verlander to one appearance was a very lucky break.
Mother Nature must be a Yankee fan.
Tonight is a must win game for the Tigers IMO.
Nova coming up big gave us the option to rest CC the extra day.
W/o that win Girardi would have been forced to use him today.
Hope the Yankees go for the kill tonight.
MTU, CC wasn’t going to pitch today if the Yankees lost last night, you can’t turn a starter around in less than 48 hours unless it’s the last game of the WS.
There is too much baseball left to play to do that and possibly not have him at full strength the rest of the way.
We’ll just get the CC-Verlander matchup in game 3, the Yankees have the advantage against the Tigers with any other pitching matchup because their offense and defense are much stronger than the Tigers across the board-at this point in the season I’d rather have Cano than Cabrera and it’s just not even close when comparing the rest of the lineups.
A few more observations:
Posada should not be allowed to run bases except in an extreme emergency
.
The Yankees flashed some serious leather out there last night.
Jeter is like Fed Ex. Always reliable and on time. A knack for the big play. He delivers in key moments. That can’t be taught.
MG-
I disagree. I think he was. You can’t go down 2 zip and expect to win.
It’s rare.
W/o today there is no tomorrow.
Fortunately, we do not have to find out. Thanks to Nova.
Just my 2 cents.
MTU, we’ll agree to disagree, I’m fine with that.
I just don’t think pitching Freddy today is a death sentence and probable loss.
If it was, pitching CC today and getting a win just means the Tigers win game 3 without CC going and then the Yankees are also in a hole.
And we agree on Jeter, I want him at shortstop for as long as he wants to play, there is no advanced statistic that can define how great those two plays he made last night (the relay throw and the basehit behind Gardner, which wasn’t a hit and run, just Jeter recognizing what was happening while the pitch was being thrown) really were.
Jeter is like Fed Ex. Always reliable and on time. A knack for the big play. He delivers in key moments
~~~~~~~~~~
V. nice. And so low-key about it. Sports Center in Taiwan showed great plays and there was another guy gunned down by the Brewers. The guy who made the throw (Sorry, I don’t follow the Brewers AT ALL) threw up his arms as in, “touchdown”, focusing all the attention on himself.
Mr. Class did no such thing.
Martin was superb on the receiving end, as well.
So glad I follow a team that is a pleasure to cheer for.
Morning, just watched the replay of last night on the DVR, was out with friends seeing Moneyball of all things. Did the old FFW through all of the commercials and most of the Detroit batting. so you can really watch the game quick.
Thought we were off to a rocky start when Jorge my least favorite player did his brain drain off third and said I hope that’s not the way we are gonna take advantage of opportunites. Lucky we did later in the game. Great game by Nova and Cano.
Kind of bad timing for today’s game so it will be a repeat of yesterday. We don’t get the Giants here so off to the local sports bar to catch the Giants vrs the Cardinals and suspect the Yanks will be on wide screen also. Eye’s glued to both games.
Love to see ARod get going today. We need him to start hitting and with some power.
You know what I find amusing? The team’s smartest base runner is best friends with the team’s worst. I’d love to hear those convos which I’m sure are a hoot — considering Jeter is a master of teasing.
Funny play in the Illinois game, little unsportsman like, very unsportsman like Ouch
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/f.....aaf-wp7203
MG-
I’m fine with it also. Fortunately, we wont have to find out. I think Joe was bluffing by saying he wouldn’t use CC under that scenario.
My take is that if we win today it’s ovah for the Tigers.
They are not gonna take 3 straight from us. Ain’t happening IMO.
I’d rather we just broom ‘em though.
Wang-
Yeah. Those convos would probably be very entertaining. To say the least.
Good morning
Another key play that Chad didn’t mention was the DP turned by Cano on the hit and run by Ordonez with Jackson running to second and the ball hit up the middle right to Cano.
Besides A-Rod going 0-5, the only negative in the game was watching Ayala with men on base, allowing those two runs to score. He just seems to be all over the place with his release point. Expecting A-Rod to break out against Scherzer today.
Joe had the big lead so he didn’t bring in Mo right away. Know you don’t want to use your top guys if you don’t have to, but Ayala was a disaster pitching behind on every batter. Deju vu back to the eighth inning of the last game against the Rays. I was estatic when he went out there with the hook.
MTU-I think the Yankees are going to win the series, I just don’t know how many games it will take.
If the Yankees win today there is always the chance Verlander shuts them down tomorrow and sets up an AJ redemption win in game 4, that’s the beauty of baseball, right?
YT-
Girardi gave Ayala a chance for redemption and he just sank further.
This time Joe was serious and for real so he brought in the big Kahuna
to put a stop to it.
I hate to say it but A-Rod looks like he’s in ST up there. I too hope he gets it together.
MTU October 2nd, 2011 at 8:33 am
MG-
I’m fine with it also. Fortunately, we wont have to find out. I think Joe was bluffing by saying he wouldn’t use CC under that scenario.
My take is that if we win today it’s ovah for the Tigers.
They are not gonna take 3 straight from us. Ain’t happening IMO.
I’d rather we just broom ‘em though.
___________________________________________________________________________
Hope not, but we do have a couple of 0-3 stinkers in our past to Boston and Detriot. It is a key game today to maintain momentum. If they win again here they have Verlander in the next game and the memories of 2006. We would like to not give them that edge.
I would like to see Jones or Chavez today at DH.
MG-
Yes. That’s possible but IMO they are not gonna get past us 3 times in a row.
I hope it wont be necessary to find out though.
Gary-
You are letting a piece of our past decide your present.
I go by by the odds. Teams that win the first 2 in a 5 game set rarely lose the series.
And even more than that. This is the Yankees we’re talkin’ about.
Go Freddy.
Gary — I thought this line of the report was pretty funny. “If anything, Brown should be disciplined for poor sneaky cheap shot execution.”
As far as Ayala goes, I would hazard a guess and say we won’t be seeing him again unless there is a VERY lopsided score. I had forgotten his Rays fiasco.
I didn’t mind Mo coming in too terribly because his pinpoint accuracy leaves him when he hasn’t pitched in a while. But here’s hoping we don’t need him in every game that follows — I mean, REALLY need him. His 3-pitch strikeout was beautiful.
Gary-
Saw Moneyball Friday. I’m attaching an article about Art Howe who wasn’t happy with how he was portrayed in the movie, and was never consulted:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/bl.....lb-wp20913
Billy Beane, who was consulted, didn’t leave me with any warm and fuzzies. He appeared cold and calculated and meddlesome.
Thanks for the link, pat.
It was pretty enlightening. I had seen Banuelos pitch twice in Trenton this summer. My expectations were high, but it was obvious both times that he still had work to do. Flashes of excellence were definitely there. But his command was shaky. (He didn’t miss by much, but he missed nonetheless.)
Great game last night. So proud of Nova, who has nerves of steel. And Gardner’s hit was indeed the turning point with the GS by Robbie the exclamation point. So many good things in that game. Looking forward to today.
It’s hard to believe there’s rain in the forecast, since the sky outside my window is bright, brilliant blue, with nary a cloud in sight.
SSS but Scherzer has handled the Yankees pretty well.
http://www.baseball-reference......ubmitter=1
Hello, MTU
We are waiting for the SuperNova tribute, LOL
I would like to see Jones or Chavez today at DH.
———————————————–
Nobody on the Yankees has more than 15 ABs against Scherzer, however Posada two hits against him were both homers.
Attached all Yankee batters stats vs Scherzer:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/.....x-scherzer
Look further at his splits.
Jim Bowden just tweeted that, according to Girardi, Arod will DH one of the next 3 games.
jmv-
The Yankees are so good they are wearing me out.
They deserve them.
After Mo’s phenomenal achievement I am not sure there can ever be another but we’ll see.
I’m glad you enjoyed the Tributes.
Let’s just keep winning.
Pat-
Scherzer pitched 1 game this year at YS.
5 innings 9 hits[4 of which were homers] 6 runs BAA .360
YT-
If Garcia competes and we hit things should turn out well.
New thread—>
Nova’s mound composure for a 24 year old is amazing. He’s passed his test for postseason jitters.
MTU,
Glad to know there isn’t enough canyon to cover the Yankees, LOL. And yes, I’ve enjoyed all the tributes.
Like you said, let’s keep winning! I like our chances with Freddy.