Yankees Top Angels 5-2, Advance to 2009 World Series

Monday, October 26th, 2009 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Sports | No Comments

The World Series is finally back in New York.  The Yankees defeated the Angels 5-2 on Sunday night to advance to their 40th World Series in franchise history.  If the Yankees can defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 Fall Classic, it will be the Yankees 27th World Championship.

Andy Pettitte pitched a solid game in Game 6 of the ALCS – 1 ER on 7 hits and 1 walk in 6 1/3 innings pitched.  Pettitte struck out 6 Angels batters and he won his 16th career post-season game – a major league record.  Joba Chamberlain retired the only 2 batters he faced in the 7th inning to get Pettitte and the Yankees out of a “mini” 1-out, 1-on “jam” to preserve the Yankees 3-1 lead.  And Mariano Rivera came on for his “typical” 6-out save, although he did give up a run on 2 singles to Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero in the 8th inning.  But Rivera worked a perfect 1-2-3 9th inning, striking out Gary Matthews, Jr. to end the game and send the Yankees faithful into a tizzy.

After falling behind 1-0 on a Bobby Abreu RBI single in the 3rd inning, the Yankees rallied to take the lead for good with 3 runs in the 4th inning.  Two walks and a single from a patient Yankees lineup loaded the bases with just 1 out.  Johnny Damon delivered a clutch 2-run single to left, and then after a Mark Teixeira single loaded the bases again, Angels starter Joe Saunders walked Alex Rodriguez to force in a run.  Just like that, the Yankees led 3-1 and they could taste another AL pennant.  When the Angels cut the Yankees lead to 3-2 with a run off Rivera in the 8th inning, the Yankees answered right back in the bottom of the inning.  Robinson Cano led off with another walk just like he did in the 4th inning.  Then the Angels defense deserted them again.  Nick Swisher reached on a Howie Kendrick error and then Scott Kazmir threw away Melky Cabrera’s sacrifice bunt allowing Cano to score from 2nd base.  The Yankees had 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and after a Derek Jeter ground out and a Damon walk, Teixeira drove in the game’s final run with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Yankees 5, Angels 2.  Game over…

The Yankees will host the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.  The $201 million payroll – the largest in all of baseball – finally delivered a shot at a World Series to George Steinbrenner and the Yankee brass – it has been 6 years since the Yankees have played in the Fall Classic.  Alex Rodriguez – in his 16-year MLB career – is finally going to get to play in his 1st World Series.  After struggling in his post-season performance to date, A-Rod delivered in 2009 – .438 batting average, 5 home runs and 12 RBI’s in the Yankees 9 playoffs games in 2009. CC Sabathia – the Yankees high-priced ace – will square off against his former Cleveland Indians teammate Cliff Lee on Wednesday night.  Both pitchers have been “lights-out during the playoff in 2009.  Sabathia is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in 3 starts (3 ER, 20 K’s and 3 walks in 22 2/3 innings pitched).  Lee is 2-0 with a 0.74 ERA in 3 starts (2 ER, 20 K’s and 3 walks in 24 1/3 innings pitched).  Should be a classic battle – wouldn’t it be great to see these 2 duke it out in Games 1, 4 and 7?!  Can’t wait. We’ll have our predictions over the next 2 days leading up to Wednesday’s contest.

Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Derek Jeter, Joe Saunders, Johnny Damon, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, Scott Kazmir, Vladimir Geurrero

TOP 10 MLB Free agents

Thursday, December 18th, 2008 | MLB | No Comments

1

Mark Teixeira

POSITION: First base
AGE: 28 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Angels
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Nationals, and Angels

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	R	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG
157	102	33	121	.308	.410	.552

2

CC Sabathia

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 28 | BATS: L | THROWS: L
2008 TEAM: Milwaukee Brewers
STATUS: Agreed to deal with N.Y. Yankees (12/10)
TERMS: 7 years, $161M

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GS	IP	W-L	ERA	CG	SHO	SO
35	253.0	17-10	2.70	10	5	251

3

Manny Ramirez

POSITION: Left field
AGE: 36 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, Dodgers

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	R	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG
153	102	37	121	.332	.430	.601

4

A.J. Burnett

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 31 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Toronto Blue Jays
STATUS: Agreed to deal with N.Y. Yankees (12/12)
TERMS: 5 years, $82.5M

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	IP	W-L	ERA	BB	SO	WHIP
35	221.1	18-10	4.07	86	231	1.34

5

Derek Lowe

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 35 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Free agent

Teams talking to him: Yankees, and Phillies

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GS	IP	W-L	ERA	BB	SO	BAA
35	211.0	14-11	3.24	45	147	.246

6

Rafael Furcal

POSITION: Shortstop
AGE: 31 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Los Angeles Dodgers
STATUS: Signed $33 million, three year deal with Dodgers 12/18

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP
36	34	5	16	8	.357	.439

7

Adam Dunn

POSITION: Left field
AGE: 29 | BATS: L | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Arizona Diamondbacks
STATUS: Free agent

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	HR	RBI	BB	AVG	OBP	SLG
158	40	100	122	.236	.386	.513

8

Ryan Dempster

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 31 | BATS: R | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Chicago Cubs
STATUS: Re-signed with Chi. Cubs (11/18)
TERMS: 4 years, $52 million

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GS	IP	W-L	ERA	BB	SO	BAA
33	206.2	17-6	2.96	76	187	.227

9

Milton Bradley

POSITION: DH/Left field
AGE: 30 | BATS: B | THROWS: R
2008 TEAM: Texas Rangers
STATUS: Free agent

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GM	R	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG
126	78	22	77	.321	.436	.563

And for 10 we have….

Oliver Perez

POSITION: Starting pitcher
AGE: 27 | BATS: L | THROWS: L
2008 TEAM: New York Mets
STATUS: Free agent

2008 SEASON STATISTICS
GS	IP	W-L	ERA	BB	SO	WHIP
34	194.0	10-7	4.22	105	180	1.40

Tags: A.J. Burnett, Adam Dunn, CC Sabathia, Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeria, Milton Bradley, Oliver Perez, Rafael Furcal, Ryan Dempster