2011 ALDS YANKEES VS. TIGERS GAME 5 PREVIEW

It’s one win down and one win to go. The Yankees won their first must win game on Wednesday in Detroit behind AJ Burnett, some spectacular defense by Curtis Granderson, and hot bats up and down the lineup to the tune of a 10-1 final. But tonight is another night, and another must win game for the Yankees. But, it's the same for the Tigers who had their chance to close it out at home. Almost everyone counted AJ Burnett out and thought he'd pitch poorly, while Rick Porcello would pitch well. We all know what happened, thankfully. But it's time to move onto the next game. It's a winner take all (Or at least advance to the ALCS.) It’s Game 5 in the Bronx tonight...where’s your big mouth now Valverde?

Ivan Nova will make his second appearance in the series (his first came in relief because of the crappy weather). He went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five. Yesterday Nova said he won't be nervous. Read that story HERE.

I'm not sure I buy that, he's pitching the most important game of his life in Yankee Stadium, but I like his thinking.

Doug Fister will make his second appearance in this ALDS. Like Ivan Nova, Fister also pitched the resumption of Game 1. He pitched well for awhile, but ran into serious trouble in the sixth inning. He allowed six runs in the sixth, with three of those runs scoring on Robinson Cano's grand slam served up by Tiger reliever Al Alburquerque, who hadn't allowed a homer all season up to that point. Anyway, Doug Fister finished with a line of 4.2 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits while striking out six.

Let's face it, although Game 4 was a huge win, it won't mean jack if the Yankees don't win tonight. I hate to burst that bubble, but that's the reality of it. As Alex Rodriguez said in Entourage “We’re trying to win a ring around here.” It’s true.

And anything short of that would be a failure. That's just how it is in New York, and the next step to accomplish that goal is to win tonight. Like Game 4, tonight's Game 5 will be a team effort by the pitching staff, the offense, and the defense and no one is rooting hard tonight than Bleeding Yankee Blue… and that’s just not us, it’s all of us, true Yankee fans!!!

Let's Go Yankees!!!

--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

2011 ALDS YANKEES VS. TIGERS GAME 1 PREVIEW

Mother Nature has been a pain to the Yankees all season long. With the postponement of yesterday's Game 1 due to rain--the Yankees 22nd game this season affected by rain by the way, the Yankees and Tigers will go at it again. The game will resume tonight at 8:37 PM Eastern Time with the Yankees batting in the home half of the second inning and the game tied at 1-1.

The starters for Game 1 were originally CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander. But now that Mother Nature is playing a role, both starters won't pitch again until Game 3 in Detroit on Monday. So, Ivan Nova (16-4, 3.70 ERA) will oppose Doug Fister (11-13, 2.83 ERA) later tonight.Ivan Nova doesn't have much experience against the Tigers. He didn't pitch against Detroit at all this season, and has only pitched against them once in his career, which in fact was his first career major league appearance. He pitched in relief on May 13, 2010 in Detroit against the Tigers while going 2 innings, allowing two hits, no walks or runs with one strikeout. The only two hitters in the Tigers' starting lineup that have a hit against Nova are Delmon Young and Magglio Ordonez who are a combined 2 for 4. Wilson Betemit has one hit in one AB against Nova, while Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Austin Jackson are all 0 for 1 against Nova. Obviously, those are all extremely small sample sizes against Nova, so you can't make any conclusions.
(Photo: Getty)
Doug Fister, on the other hand, has faced the Yanks in a bigger sample size compared to Nova against the Tigers. Fister has faced the Yankees three times in his career going 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA while allowing 24 hits in 18 innings pitched. He faced the Yankees once this season while he was still with the Seattle Mariners. He went 7 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and five strikeouts on July 26 at Yankee Stadium. There are some hitters in the Yankees lineup who have had good success against him in his career. Derek Jeter has gone 4 for 10 with two RBIs against Fister. Mark Teixeira has gone 3 for 9 with a homer and four RBIs.

Also, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher have each hit a homer against Fister while combining for 3 hits in 10 AB's with three RBI. As a team the Yankees are hitting .302 in 63 AB's against the Tiger right-hander.

Although the weather forecast doesn't look to promising, (it's actually worse than it was last night) hopefully we can get this one in. The Yankees and Tigers have lost their travel day on Sunday because of last night's rain out and another rain out tonight may force them to lose their Wednesday travel day--if necessary--to New York for a possible Game 5. This game will be a big test for both Nova and Fister as the two are making their first career playoff appearances. Hopefully Nova and the Yanks can come out on top.

Go Yankees!!!

--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

WHY SATURDAY NIGHT IS A YANKEE GUY'S NIGHT

Yes, Friday night the playoffs began, and while rain washed it away, it makes tonight even sweeter. Tonight after a day of following the Honey-Do list, my wife has plans with her family and I will be with my little guys who will all be dressed to play for the New York Yankees, minus the eye black. It’s playoff’s time after all and over the past few years, my older guys have started getting into baseball. After all, their old man is obsessed and it’s always easier to root for a winner and let’s face it, that’s what the Yankees are...winners.

My 9 year old already has it all planned out. We’ll start off with some chicken wings and eventually we have a few hot dogs…like we’re at the ballpark. At about the 6^th inning, we break out the Ice Cream with Hershey syrup. It’s got to be Hershey’s, anything else would be Un-American. Early on though, I’ll have a couple Corona chilling on some ice next to the couch. For the boys, Capri sun…it’s got to be Wild Cherry. That will be substituted with some water bottles… you got to pace yourself. No pictures can be taken. It’s best that men are men and no stories of a wild night leave that room…kind of like Vegas. Plus, I don’t want to get yelled at for an ice bucket next to the couch…bottom line, I’m protecting myself from my wife…she’d kill me.

Ivan Nova will be on the mound against Doug Fister tonight. It will be intense and I’ll be nervous at every pitch. I’ll be writing for all of you when I can, Tweeting and Facebooking. My kids will be asking me a lot of questions about players I probably won’t know the answers to, but I’ll do my best, after all, I’m the dad. After the 2^nd inning, by 7 year old will move to the computer and play a little Club Penguin. By the 4^th inning, he will tell me he’s “so bored” and most likely by the 5^th, he’ll fall asleep snuggled next to me.

My 9 year old will probably be up late tonight and probably do what I did as a kid; he’ll have his baseball cards out, reading the stats and facts from the back of the Topps cards as the players come to the plate. He’ll rattle off useless information that will actually fascinate me, because I’m a baseball nerd and he knows it. After all, this is a guy’s night. “We’re men. That means a few things. We like to shit with the door open, we talk about pussy, we go on Riverboat gambling trips, we make our own beef jerky. That’s what we do.”


(This post would not be complete if I didn’t have a quote from Step Brothers.) The reality is, we wouldn’t do any of those things, but being with my sons during the playoffs is a lot of fun. My younger guys will be sleeping, too young to understand any of this, but don’t worry, I’m teaching them the “Let’s go Yankees” chant early. They’ll have it cold by the age of 4.

The playoffs and a guy’s night. It’s truly the sweetest night of my life. Although, we all know what would make it sweeter, ALDS Champs… Let’s go YANKEES!

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY

Obviously, you know by now tonight's game was rained out. The game was tied 1-1 and the Yankees were to come up to bat in the bottom of the second inning. This game, according to Joe Torre, will be resumed tomorrow evening where the game left off.

First pitch of the new Game 1, will be tomorrow evening at 8:37pm ET. Both managers will go with their Game 2 starters. Ivan Nova vs. Doug Fister.

Then, Game 2 of the series is now scheduled to be played at 3:07 p.m. on Sunday, Freddy Garcia vs. Max Scherzer.

Game 3 would then be Monday... CC Sabathia vs. Justin Verlander.

One final thing, the rain is supposed to fall all day tomorrow. Tom Verducci just said that there was possible discussion that if it rains all day tomorrow, there could even be a double header on Sunday to get the games in. But we have to just take it one day at a time.

WTF.

By the way, my personal observation... TBS doesn't do baseball too well. during this whole mess tonight, I found myself longing for Craig Sager, at least I could chuckle at his outfits. My guess is he refused to have any rain get on his blazers so he bailed. That's a joke Mr. Sager... don't get upset.


Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

BYB YANKEE TRADE RUMORS: PART 3

New day and a new list of updates and names of players the Yankees may or may not interested in and my thoughts on some as well. Cashman has already stated that he expects the Yankees to have a quiet deadline, and if I know may man Cash, and I feel like I do, he may be right, but you know what happens, right? Sometimes these deals get done after the deadline, and believe me, the Yankees may be acting quietly, but I strongly believe that some type of move can be and will be made.

Erik Bedard: Bedard seems to be drawing some interest from the Yankees. Apparently they are scheduled to scout him today. This is a guy that had some injury in his career, but has some potential in the Yankees roster. Now, in my opinion, he really doesn’t offer what a number 2 starter needs to do, and to me, that's what the Yankees really need right now. The Red Sox like Eric Bedard too, according to Ken Rosenthal. Bedard is a lefty. The one issue with Bedard is he has not pitched since June 27^th because of the strained knee, yet another injury. We should watch this one, but I don’t like Bedard and I’m not so sure I want him in New York. His record this year though is a 3.00 ERA with a 4-6 record. Is he really any better than what we have already? Read about Bedard HERE.

Bill Hall: For the San Francisco Giants to make room for newly acquired Carlos Beltran, they needed to designate Bill Hall for assignment. Hmm, a thought. The Yankees were attached to Bill Hall on and off all year, perhaps there is something to this and perhaps, this is the extra bat help the Yankees are looking for. Hall can play second base and has a power bat. I’d be curious to see if the Yankees try pursuing Hall. It makes sense.

Ubaldo Jimenez: The Yankees are still attached to this kid, but I would not unload the farm for him like I would for the Mariners Felix Hernandez. The Rockies are being ridiculous asking for all they are for Jimenez; it’s just not a fair trade. One thing is for sure though, much like a said about Zambrano (see below), if they were to lure Jimenez to New York and unload a few farm guys that wouldn’t hurt us in the future, Jimenez would be a number 3 guy in the Bronx, in my opinion. Jimenez is 6-9 with a 4.20 ERA this year. Read about Ubaldo HERE.

Hiroki Kuroda: Terrible record for Hiroki and I am not understanding the appeal of him to the Yankees. In my estimation, Kuroda is another pitcher that is no better and no upgrade to what the Yankees already have. Now, if the Yankees have a plan to help stabilize the bullpen with Freddy Garcia and move Kuroda in the rotation, that may make sense, but again, I’m thinking we need a number 2 guy in the rotation and to me, Kuroda is no number 2. Read HERE.

Carlos Zambrano: Buster Olney says the Cubs are doing everything they can to get the Yankees to take Zambrano, even offering money so they can take him off their hands, but the Yankees are not biting, yet. To me, I say work out a deal for Zambrano. He has potential and passion even if he’s no longer a number 2 guy, he is a number 3 guy in the rotation the Yankees have. You could easily have CC Sabathia 1, AJ Burnett 2, Zambrano 3, Colon 4, Hughes or Garcia 5. Yes, it’s true, this year Zambrano’s ERA is a high 4.70, but for this guy, maybe a change of scenery would help. Who knows.

Doug Fister: He’s a Mariner who pitches well, he’s in every game but his record isn’t too good, probably because he’s on the Mariners and their dropping like a rock right now. 3-12 with a 3.33 ERA. I like the ERA and if he was a Yankee starter, that record would improve because he’d have better run support. I don’t have an opinion on him yet, but I can tell you that many teams are looking at Fister and the Yankees should as well.

More rumors coming, and so is the deadline. Continue reading on Bleeding Yankee Blue.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.