Saturday, October 1, 2011

Yankees Take ALDS Opener After 24 Hour Rain Delay

The Good

Ivan Nova pitched incredibly in relief of CC Sabathia, giving the Yankees 6.1 innings and allowing only two runs (granted, he didn't really allow them, Ayala did). Cano had 6 RBI, tying a franchise record for RBIs in a single postseason game. Four of those RBI came on a grand slam in the sixth.

The Bad

Nova came apart in the ninth after being hit in the @$$ with what would've otherwise been a ground ball for the second out of the inning. We asked Nova whether the ball that hit him played a role in his struggles during the ninth. "No," Nova responded. "But when Girardi came out, it was weird. He didn't ask me whether I was hurt. He asked me if I knew Kung Fu. I told him 'no' and he went back to the dugout. But then Geno was like, "What if you know Kung Fu and you don't even know it? I mean, what if you're a secret agent and, like, your memory got erased but you really know Kung Fu and one day you'll be attacked and it'll all come out from instinct and muscle memory? What about that? Did I just blow your mind?" And you know what? He did blow my mind. After that I couldn't pitch.

The Ugly

Luis Ayala. Why? Because Rob B said so. Also because he came in and couldn't lock down two outs, forcing Girardi to use Mo, who needed all of three pitches to close out the game. In fact, I'm not even sure Mo's eyes were open while he pitched. Neither were Ayala's, but Mo can do that, Ayala can't.

B-52s

Cano hit a monster shot into space. Not outer space, but third dimensionality, where the game took place.

Robinson Cano 1 hr

3 comments:

Rich Mahogany said...

There's an outstanding recap of this game on LoHud. However, as usual, RJG scooped LoHud on some key details.

Rob B, you don't have to worry about seeing too much of Ayala. Girardi knows he's the garbage time guy, that's why he came in with an 8-run lead. Girardi then went to Rivera over a setup guy just to give him some work, only he didn't feel like working very much.

That was a really important game because we essentially beat both Verlander and Fister while using our best two starters. Now we go into today's game with all of our top setup guys fully rested and Rivera ready to go.

Rob B said...

I got a shout out! Thanks Roberto. That made my day.

But you did it just because we share the same name. Sort of. Admit it!

My word verification for this comment is "dorkiest". I'm wondering if that isn't a coincidence....

Roberto E. Alejandro said...

That was partly my motivation, but you were also right about Ayala, who was a $#!% sandwich last night.