You're right :wink: Great game. The crowd was absolutely crazy today from the first inning on. the Damon home run was pretty magical. The overall feel of the park even when it was 3-0 or 3-2 was that we were down 10 runs. It seemed that everyone was pessimistic. Also, I have a massive problem with Torre. For him to take out Hughes, and then burn Joba in a 5 run game and then have to use Mariano for the 9th is absolutely inexcusable with a game tomorrow. It's a 5 run lead. Keep Hughes in until he gives you a reason to take him out. I wouldn't be surprised to see this bite us in the ass tomorrow.
I agree about Hughes, I think the problem was he already told him he was coming out then the O broke the game opn so he wasn't going to go back to him at that point b/c mentally his night was done. I would have used someone else for the 7th at least.
Byth way, it was nice to see Alx get a couple of hits and finallycontribute a bit. Hopefully he carries that over to tonight and beyond.
I'm sure Mussina will be warming up early in case Wang isn't effective. I also think Wang will be night and day better at home and on short rest then he was in Cleveland. Good move by Torre even if it doesn't work out. I still think with a 5 run lead he should have used Farnsworth and Veras if necessary in the 8th. Even bring in Rivera early if he had to. Now Chamberlain is unavailable for tonight and you will so those two anyway. It could be a much closer game when we do. edit. Ok so I just read that Torre says Chamberlain is available today (although he looked pretty spent in the 8th last night) and that he only wanted to use Rivera one inning so he could use him multiple(?) innings tonight. Wonder how many that is. Finally, imo, he is managing like he cares. In the last few years he would have stuck with that 4 man rotation no matter what. He did in fact and we were going home early every year. This time he acts like he will do what is necessary to win. Maybe the George threat actually worked.
So, if we somehow pulled this out that would mean Kennedy would start against Beckett on Friday. Getting way ahead of myself but that would be an interesting matchup. I suppose he could also use Mussina in game one if he doesn't need him tonight and then start Hughes in game 2.
I think pulling Hughes and going with Joba long last night was actually pure genius by Joe, and everyone knows I don't blindly credit Torre. Hughes will be available tonight because he still had gas when he came out last night. Torre brought in a strong Joba who had the chance to prove the bug game was a fluke, and it worked, so his confidence will be fine once again. The thing I like most about the way Torre used guys last was that he played like the game was a must-win, which obviously it was. Joe for years has played for "tomorrow". There is no tomorrow right now, and Joe treated the game as such. He took no chances, and went with the guys who gave him the best chance to get the job done. I was pissed off when Eyechart PH for Giambi. I was thinking "WTF Joe? I'd rather have Giambi come up to try to get the hit." Then Dougie bunted! Play to win! Come on tonight Yankees!
Alio, I don't think Hughes will be available today. Look at how they treat their young pitchers. They pinch themselves for having Joba pitch an inning a day after pitching 2. Hughes pitched almost 4 innings last night, so there is no way he would pitch the day after. He has always been a starter and now he's coming out of the pen. I see no way they risk that. That's why I'm angry about how the pen was handled. If Hughes could've pitched 1 more inning of scoreless ball, all that is left is 2 innings to cover. In a 5 run game, Joba and Mariano wouldn't be used. They would try getting away with Farsworth or someone else, and if there was trouble coming, go to the big guys. I really really really couldn't make any sense out of this.
I'm with you on that. It could be that last year he started Jared F***ing Wright in the deciding game and in '04 started Kevin F***ing Brown. Both times he didn't come out of his coma until the game was hopelessly out of reach. He may be remembering that and figures if he uses his best now they shouldn't blow a lead. Also, for the same reason why he is starting Wang over Mussina tonight even on short rest. Mussina will be the long reliever if needed and I doubt personally that it will be.
I'm pretty confident with a Wang/Mussina vs. Byrd/Sabathia(?) matchup tonight. Game 5 would be a incredible with Pettitte and Carmona facing off again.
It won't be Sabathia. He is locked as the game 5 starter if it's needed. At least that's what they said last night. Carmona would start game 1 of the ALCS. I don't think they would use either in relief when there is still a game left. They would use both in a game 5 though if it became necessary.
I thought i heard reports that Carmona was going to start game 5 on normal rest over Sabathia. I can't find any confirmation though.
Here is where I read that it's Sabathia. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news...t_id=2256508&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy We killed Byrd when we faced him this year. Scored 7 runs in 2 innings. That's what I would like tonight. A big lead so we can use Farnsworh, Veras and Ohlendorf to finish and have Chamberlain and Rivera at their strogest for multiple innings in a game 5.
