That sucked. Chien-Ming Wang gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and couldn't get an out in the second inning, forcing a switch to Mike Mussina. And while Moose wasn't great (2 ER, 4 H, 4 BB in 4.2 IP, plus he allowed two of Wang's inherited runners to score), he kept the score reasonable. The final score, 6-4, makes it look like it was a nailbiter, but it really wasn't. It was a frustrating, slow, agonizing game. The Yankees had 12 hits, including three home runs and a double, plus 3 walks, but left 10 men on base. Bleh.Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with an RBI, but killed us in the bottom of the 6th, grounding into a 4-6-3 double play. The Yankees had runners on the corners and one out; just a fly ball would've made it a three-run game with three innings yet to play. Alex Rodriguez also went 2-for-5 with an RBI (a solo home run in the 7th), but he also came up empty in a big spot, striking out with two on and one out in the bottom of the 1st.
The Yankees teased you a little bit in the bottom of the 9th, as the Indians went to Joe Borowski. After Jeter popped out, Bobby Abreu hit a shot into the upper deck to make it 6-4. "A bloop and a blast" as John Sterling says, incessantly. But no bloops were to be had. A-Rod flew out to right, and then it all came down to Jorge Posada, who in any other year would be every Yankee fan's MVP candidate. Posada drove one down the right field line and Sterling gave us a classic "It is high! It is far! It is... foul!" Then Posada struck out swinging to end it.
Inning over... game over... American League Division Series over... the Indians win, the Indians win.
There's plenty of blame to go around. The list is shorter of guys you can't blame: Robinson Cano (.333, 1.175 OPS), Johnny Damon (.278, .927) and Bobby Abreu (.267, .886), and Andy Pettitte (0 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 5 K in 6.1 IP), Phil Hughes (1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K in 5.2 IP) and Mariano Rivera (0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K in 4.2 IP). You can add Moose in there if you want. Joba Chamberlain has ugly numbers (2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K in 3.2 IP) but he deserves a pass as all the damage happened in the freakish bug bowl of Game 2 and in his second inning in Game 3, when the game was already won.
So, who's the goat? The two obvious candidates, as always, are A-Rod and Torre.
Blame A-Rod! He didn't come through in the clutch in a couple big spots. But his overall line isn't bad (.267, .820), and considering how much worse some of the other hitters are, it's a real stretch to blame him. Yankee haters always have something to say about Rodriguez -- no matter what he does, they try to talk about him. If he has a horrible night, they kill A-Rod; if he has a great night, they kill Yankee fans for not loving A-Rod enough. But for this particular series anyway, there's just not that much to say. He got some hits, and he made some outs. He's not the story, but some people will try to make him the story anyway.The rest of the lineup? The Yankees collectively hit .228 and stranded all those runners on base, so let's blame the batters. But which one? Melky Cabrera hit just .188 but he did have the only big hit against Fausto Carmona, and he was great in the field. Matsui had only 2 hits in 11 at-bats, but he also drew 5 walks, so who's going to fault a .438 OBP. Doug Mientkiewicz went 0-for-6 but if you're relying on Minky for offense, you're doomed. Jason Giambi only had 1 hit, but he also had just 4 ABs.
No, if you're going to blame a batter, it's got to be Jeter or Posada. After having great regular seasons, each was really awful in the playoffs. Jeter went 3-for-17 with 3 GIDPs and probably should have been charged with an error in Game 3, but the Yankees won that game anyway. Posada went 2-for-15 and was charged with one passed ball and probably deserved another that went down as a wild pitch to Joba. But you might have a hard time finding a Yankee fan willing to pin anything on either Derek or Georgie, who are not just True Yankees, but were two-thirds of the foundation of the 1996-2001 dynasty.
Blame Torre! Sure, why not? Maybe he could have pulled Wang earlier in Game 1, after the 4th inning, when the Yankees were down 4-3 and had just missed an opportunity to regain the lead (bases loaded, one out, no runs). Maybe he could have delayed Game 2 long enough for the bugs to disperse, or switch to a less tasty reliever. Or I can be a total hypocrite and say he was wrong for starting Wang in Game 4. Hey, I didn't want to bring him back last year so I'm certainly not advocating he be brought back for next year, but in this series, I don't think you can blame Torre.And how can you fault Torre for how he handled Wang, but not Wang himself? I'm not sure if he's hurt or wore down or if the Indians just had his number, but Wang looked flat-out awful out there. Hell, the Yankee team ERA with Wang was 5.89, without him was 3.48. The Indians team ERA in the series was 3.41. Wang's pre- and post-All-Star break numbers suggest something happened over the second half (3.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP vs 4.07 ERA, 1.40 WHIP). But again, Wang, as a True Yankee, might not catch a lot of flak. You can try to blame Roger Clemens (3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 K in 2.1 IP), but the Yankees won that game anyway. Luis Vizcaino blew Game 2, but how do you blame him and not Joba? Ross Ohlendorff coughed up some big runs in Game 1, but again, you can't blame him but not Wang.
The bottom line: Ah, what the fuck. Blame A-Rod and Torre anyway. They won't be here next year.
