Macier Izturis
5-4 Walk-Off Wins in Each League Championship Game on Monday
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Alex Rodriguez, Alfredo Aceves, Andy Pettitte, Carlos Ruiz, Casey Blake, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Derek Jeter, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Girardi, Johnny Damon, Jonathan Braxton, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Macier Izturis, Matt Stairs, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Sports, Vladimir Geurrero | No Comments
MLB has gotta be loving this – two walk-off wins for the home team; two 5-4 scores; one series just about done and the other heating up. I live for October baseball!
I am most excited about the Angels rallying to beat the Yankees 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday afternoon. The Angels had struggled all game against Andy Pettitte as the Yankees built a 3-0 lead on solo homers from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon. Despite blowing some chances early, the Angels hung in there. They cut the Yankees lead to 3-1 on Howie Kendrick’s HR in the 5th inning (that was the 1st home run given up by a Yankees pitcher in the playoffs this year) and then tied it up on Vladimir Guerrero’s 2-run bomb to left in the 6th inning. And after Manager Joe Girardi pulled Pettitte with 1 out in the 7th inning, the Angels immediately capitalized with a triple by Kendrick and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Macier Izturis off Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain. Just like that the Angels had a 4-3 lead and needed only 6 outs to get the series back in their favor. Jorge Posada’s solo home run to center field put a slight damper on the Angels’ celebration, but the Angels gutted it out in the bottom of the 11th inning. Girardi’s “over-managing” could be called into question with his decision to pull David Robertson (who had recorded the 1st 2 outs of the inning) for Alfredo Aceves. Kendrick came through in the clutch with a single to center field and Jeff Mathis ended the game with a walk-off, 2-out RBI double to deep left field that plated Kendrick with the winning-run. Props go to Kendrick for winning the game for the Angels on Monday. On his triple in the 7th inning, Kendrick hustled right out of the box to get all the way to 3rd base with only 1 out. And in the 11th, even though there was 2 out, Kendrick’s speed enabled him to score all the way from 1st on Mathis’ double.
The win breathes new life into the Angels, and Girardi’s decision to go with a 3-man rotation in the ALCS will be in the spotlight tonight as CC Sabathia gets the nod in Game 4 on only 3 days rest. Sabathia pitched well on 3 days rest for the Brewers in 2008 (2-1, 0.83 ERA), but if he has an off-night, look for the critics to hand Girardi out to dry post-game. Scott Kazmir has had a lot of success against the Yankees (6-5 record and 2.66 ERA in 14 career starts), so it should be a great game to watch on Tuesday night.
The NLCS game was also a back and forth game – a 1st inning Ryan Howard home run gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. But then the Dodgers answered with 4 runs during the 4th through 6th innings on RBI singles by James Loney, Russell Martin and Casey Blake and a solo home run by Matt Kemp. After a Chase Utley RBI single cut the Dodgers lead to 4-3 in the 6th inning, it looked like the Dodgers would even the series as closer Jonathan Broxton entered the game in the 9th inning. Broxton (who had converted 36 of 42 save chances with a 2.61 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, but struggled on the road with an 5.81 ERA) even got lead-off hitter Raul Ibanez out, but laid an egg by pitching around Matt Stairs (Stairs had homered off of Broxton in the NLCS in 2008) and allowing him to reach on a walk. Broxton made matters worse by plunking Carlos Ruiz to give the Phillies 1st and 2nd with only 2 outs. Broxton got Gregg Dobbs to line out to 3rd base, but Jimmy Rollins crushed a 99-MPh fastball to deep center field that plated both Eric Bruntlett (pinch-runner for Stairs) and Ruiz with the winning runs. Just like that, the Phillies had a walk-off win to take a 3-1 series lead. The Dodgers have a huge obstacle to overcome. They face Cole Hamels on Wednesday in Game 5 and if they are luck enough to win that one, they will have to beat Cliff Lee in Game 6 in Los Angeles just to get to a Game 7. It’s not looking good for the Dodgers…
Enjoy MLB playoffs action tonight!
I Hate Alex Rodriguez, Yankees Top Angels Again…
Monday, October 19th, 2009 | A.J. Burnett, Alex Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, CC Sabathia, Joe Girardi, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Macier Izturis, Mariano Rivera, MLB, New York Yankees, Sports | 1 Comment
It’s plain and simple – I hate Alex Rodriguez. I was so excited to watch Brian Fuentes close out the 3-2 Angels win on Saturday night. Fuentes even had lead-off hitter Alex Rodriguez right where he wanted him – 0-2 count with a confused look on his face after he guessed wrong on the first 2 pitches. Fuentes even had him off-balanced on the 3rd pitch, but A-Rod got just enough of the pitch to drive it a few feet over the right field wall to tie the game at 3. I would have rather had any other Yankees player tie the game instead of A-Rod. He annoys me show much – he is all show and he has not delivered in the clutch for the Yankees in his previous post-season at-bats. But for whatever reason, A-Rod keeps on delivering in October 2009. Please make it stop soon!
The rest of the game was moot. You knew the Yankees would ultimately beat the Angels at some point to take a 2 games to none lead over the Angels in the ALCS. The fact that it came on a Macier Izturis throwing error that allowed Jerry Hairston Jr. to score all the way from 2nd base made it even all the more frustrating. Once again, the Angels defense allowed the game to get away from them, and they now go back to California with their backs against the wall. Jered Weaver needs to show up big time against Andy Pettite in Game 3 this afternoon – there’s no way the Angels will be able to come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees.
Two other notes – A.J. Burnett threw another solid game for the Yankees. Burnett gave up just 2 ER on 3 hits and 2 walks in 6 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out 4. Sabathia and Burnett – 2 of the Yankees “Big 3″ free agent signings before the season – have really delivered in the clutch this season.
And how about Mariano Rivera – he conserved his pitches so well that he was able to give Manager Joe Girardi 2 1/3 innings from the bottom of the 8th inning through the 10th inning. He allowed just 1 hit with 2 K’s and kept the game going for the Yankees to have a chance to pull off the win.
Game 3 starts today at 4:13PM EST in Anaheim. The game will be televised on Fox…
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