Angels Freeze Up in New York
It was cold, and the Angels froze up in game one.
Friday, Oct 16, 2009 | Updated 9:30 PM PST
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NEW YORK - OCTOBER 16: Derek Jeter #2 of the New York Yankees scores when Alex Rodriguez #13 hits a sacrifice fly to center field against of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Game One of the ALCS during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium on October 16, 2009 in New York, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Apparently it was cold enough in New York for the Angels to have a brain freeze. The good defense, pitching and hitting that got the Angels to the playoffs and swept them past the Red Sox disappeared in the cold of Yankee Stadium.
The result: a 4-1 Yankees win, giving them a 1-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.
Maybe the biggest stunner was the fundamentally sound Angels committing three errors — and if it wasn’t for generous scorekeeping it could (should) have been five.
The prime example was in the first inning. After a solid leadoff single by Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon got a fluky broken bat single that became an ugly double on a bad throw back into the infield from Juan Rivera (error number one). Alex Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to score Jeter. But then with two outs Hideki Matsui hit a high pop up between Angels third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Eric Aybar — they both called for it, they both backed away and it landed between them, allowing the running Damon to score and make it 2-0 early.
It was such an off night that Torii Hunter, the best defensive center fielder in baseball and a guy with one error all season, had an error.
And the Angels had no room for error because Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia was on his game. In a dominating performance, he gave up just four hits and one run while striking out seven in eight full innings of work. That’s a particularly impressive game against an Angels lineup that normally hits.
But the Angels brain freezes even extended to the offense. In the fourth inning, Vladimir Guerrero got a hold of Sabathia pitch and crushed it to center, then started his home run trot. But the wind held the ball up and kept it in the park, and by the time the slow-running Guerrero realized it, he only got a double. Fortunately, Kendry Morales drove him in for the lone Angels run on the night.
Meanwhile, the Yankees were having better luck against starter John Lackey and the Angels pitchers. In one game the Yankees had more base runners than the Red Sox did in the first two games of that series.
For Angels fans, there are two silver linings to the clouds that hang over the Bronx (and if the forecasts are correct may rain out Saturday’s game). One is that the Angels will not play that bad again, they are a good team that had an off night.
The other is that in 2002 and 2005, when the Angels knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs, both times they lost game one of the series but came back. This year’s comeback is scheduled to start at 4:57 p.m. Pacific tomorrow (if the clouds don’t get darker).
