Yankees Ace Trumps Angels
CC Sabathia dominated the Angels again, and they are now on the brink of elimination.
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ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 20: Torii Hunter #48 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim looks dejected in Game Four of the ALCS against the New York Yankees during the 2009 MLB Playoffs at Angel Stadium on October 20, 2009 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
It’s an old baseball adage because it’s true: Good pitching will beat good hitting.
The Angles were the deepest, best hitting team in baseball this season. But Yankees ace CC Sabathia has twice shut them down in this series, the latest in an easy 10-1 win that puts them ahead three games to one in the American League Championship Series. And it puts the Angels' backs up against the wall, needing to win three straight.
Tuesday night's pitching matchups showed two different managerial strategies: The Angels went with a fourth starter, the Yankees brought back CC Sabathia in a three man rotation. The results showed why you want your best pitcher on the mound.
Los Angeles’ mid-season pickup Scott Kazmir did not have his best stuff, allowing the leadoff runner on base in all five innings he pitched, but like Houdini he escaped trouble in the first three. Then the fourth, Alex Rodriguez singled and eventually scored on a Robinson Cano’s fielder’s choice to second. Melky Cabrera singled after another walk by Kazmir and two more runs scored.
It could, and maybe should, have been worse in the fourth, due to one of several poor calls by the umpires in this game (something the Fox announcing team liked to dwell on). New York’s Nick Swisher was on third when Johnny Damon flied out to center field. Swisher tagged up and scored but was called out for leaving third base before the ball was caught. Except that replays showed it was a bad call, Swisher did not leave early and should have been safe. (Although, to be fair, replays also showed he was picked off first on another bad call, so the bad-call karma evened out.)
To continue the trend for the Yankees, the leadoff runner got on again in the fifth -- Mark Teixeira walked -- and that was the end of Kazmir. Jason Bulger came in and promptly gave up a two-run home run to Rodriguez that had the Angels down 5-0.
Angels fans got a little hope in the fifth when Kendry Morales hit a solo home run. But that was about it against Sabathia. He threw eight innings, giving up five hits, one run and striking out five. He has dominated the Angels in his two starts (in the other two games the teams split extra-inning affairs) and has been the difference in this series.
The Yankees scored a couple more times, in part because they were the aggressive on the base paths, taking a page out of the Angels playbook for a night. With each run, a little more wind left he sails of Angels fans.
Sabathia has been the Yankees ace. And that has trumped everything in the Angels hand. The Angles have until Thursday to figure out how to trump the Yankees in three straight games.
