Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte.....thanks for the wonderful memories you gave all Yankee fans these last 18 years. When the both of you first came up, the Yankees were still looking for their first championship since 1978. Little did we know you would become among the all-time Yankee greats.
Mo's awards and plaudits this season have been duly noted. I'm glad that Andy, in his last time on the mound, summoned back the magic to throw his first complete game as a Yankee in ten years. Going out on top as befitting his wonderful career.
This season was a disaster for Yankee fans on all levels but the dignity and class in which Pettitte and Rivera said goodbye will always be remembered.
Last year in APRIL I predict the tigers would go to the world series, This year in APRIL I predict the tigers would go to the world series. Let me see if I am JIMMY THE GREEK JR[HA-HA]
Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte.....thanks for the wonderful memories you gave all Yankee fans these last 18 years. When the both of you first came up, the Yankees were still looking for their first championship since 1978. Little did we know you would become among the all-time Yankee greats.
Mo's awards and plaudits this season have been duly noted. I'm glad that Andy, in his last time on the mound, summoned back the magic to throw his first complete game as a Yankee in ten years. Going out on top as befitting his wonderful career.
This season was a disaster for Yankee fans on all levels but the dignity and class in which Pettitte and Rivera said goodbye will always be remembered.
I was proud of the way the Mets handled their tribute to Mariano Rivera when they hosted the All Star Game at Citi Field this year. Mariano's last All Star Game. The greatest closer the game has ever seen. It was a nice ceremony for a player who certainly deserved it not only for what he did on the field for the last 20 years but for the selfless work he does off it as well. Mariano spent time with families in the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at the ballpark before the game was played and he brought joy to all those around him. He made all baseball fans proud of the game we love. A class act all the way. He will be missed.
The Pittsburgh Pirates advanced last night after beating the Cinncinati Reds in their wildcard playoff game. I caught most of this game and was impressed with the way the team went about their business. Russell Martin has anchored their catching position and he and former Mets catcher John Buck have been working with the Pirates pitching staff both before and during games. Buck won't strap on the gear much over there with Martin as the starter, but in getting him as a solid backup the Pirates have added another very experienced hand at handling and evaluating a pitching staff. Both Russell Martin and Marlon Byrd hit key home runs last night. Byrd has been a perfect fit in their lineup since the trade and he has delivered line drive and home run power production. Liriano gave them a solid effort on the mound in the victory.
The Pirates fans have been packing the ballpark and they are excited. It's been 21 years since the Pirates last playoff appearance, but it's a franchise with a rich history going way back to the days of old Forbes Field. The Cinncinati Reds will now go home for the winter. A bitter pill for any team on the losing end of a sudden death one game playoff. The Reds simply stopped hitting. One of the worst things that can happen to a ballclub going into the playoffs is falling into a prolonged collective hitting slump. And to make matters worse, pitcher Johnny Cueto did not have it last night when the Reds needed him to hold the line and keep the game close. The Pirates are motivated and are firing on all cylinders right now. They wanted that victory badly last night and they got it. Next up for Pittsburgh will be the perennial playoff contending St. Louis Cardinals. It should be a fun series to watch.
Dusty Baker has become the latest managerial casualty of of 2013. The Cincinnati Reds have fired Baker after the Pirates eliminated the Reds in their wildcard playoff game. Baker couldn't hit for his slumping players, and that combined with the Reds poor showing in that game probably sealed his fate.
The Cleveland Indians were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Rays in their one game playoff. Yankee fans probably shook their heads watching Nick Swisher's bat once again go ice cold in the playoffs. The knock on Swisher has always been that he doesn't produce in the postseason. Unfortunately for the Indians they found this out first hand. It was a big reason why the Yankees did not offer him a contract extension to stick around at the end of the 2012 season.
The Cardinals offense lit up another former Yankee, A.J. Burnett, who took the mound for the Pirates in game 1 of that best of 5 series. No surprise that former Met Carlos Beltran was smack in the middle of the Cardinals hit parade against Pirates pitching. The Pirates need to step it up big time today to avoid going down 2 games to 0. The Cardinals are old pros at the postseason now, and they'll be looking to bounce back from the knockout punch they took last year in the playoffs.
The Dodgers behind their ace Clayton Kershaw shut down a feast or famine Braves offense last night in game 1 of their best of 5 series. Kershaw was magnificent once again through 7 innings while striking out 12. The Braves are a team that lives and dies with the long ball. They were no match against Kershaw last night.
And the Tigers face elimination as the power outage in the line-up continues. This is typical post season Tigers swoon. They couldn't hit against the Giants in last year's World Series or against the Cards in 2006. Sure Cabrera is hurting, but Austin Jackson has turned into the swing and miss kid, Hunter is suddenly toothless, and Fielder has never hit well in the post season. Where is Delmon Young when we need him?
The Oakland A's are a tough bunch. They come to play hard each and every game and are as scrappy a group as they come. I give them and their fans a lot of credit. Detroit has to hit. Pure and simple. It's got to be absolutely maddening to be a Tigers fan and watch a lineup that beats opposing pitchers to a pulp with regularity during the regular season continue to run on empty and sputter out in recent postseason play. Dombrowski has to be banging his head against the wall at this point watching this happen yet again as it did last year. What more can he do to get this team over the top? He's spent the money to put a quality team on the field. He's put together teams that should not only win, but dominate. Not get eliminated in the playoffs. It's World Series again or bust with this team. I'd be going nuts if I were a Tigers fan right now. I feel for you Gary.
Put a fork in them the Tigers are done. Toothless and unable to hit. It astounds me that they can make no name pitchers look like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax. 3-0 A's lead in the fifth.
All is forgiven with Peralta for now I guess. Without that home run the Tigers would be facing elimination square in the face. Oakland pulled ahead 4-3 against Max Scherzer. Victor Martinez just hit a huge home run for Detroit to even it up. It's nail biting time in Detroit. It's do or die today to keep this series alive. I missed most of this game as I just got in from work and switched it on. It's turning into a good playoff ballgame. It's all hands on deck today, so no surprise seeing Scherzer come on in relief from the bullpen.
Oakland has loaded the bases with nobody out against Max Scherzer in the 8th. Scherzer tough as nails comes back to strike out two and get a fly out to end the threat! Gutsy performance by Scherzer out of the pen to snuff out a possible huge inning by Oakland. Scherzer is on his way to winning the American League Cy Young Award, and this performance to hold the line in a tight spot for Detroit just reinforces how good he's been all season long.
Detroit loaded the bases against Anderson and has now broken the game wide open going to the 9th. It's now Detroit 8 Oakland 4. The bats came alive late in this game for Detroit, and if their bullpen can hold it in the 9th they will live another day to extend this series to a game 5. Scherzer is gone, Benoit is now pitching for Detroit hoping to lock this one down.
Oakland has touched up Benoit for two runs in the 9th to make it 8-6 Detroit, but Benoit closes the door right there. Detroit wins. It will all come down to a 5th and deciding game. Some good news today Gary. You can breathe a little easier tonight. Good game.
Good question. It might be Sonny Gray or Bartolo Colon. Both would be available for Oakland at this point.
The odds are pretty good that Scherzer could come out of the pen again in game 5 if needed. I hope we have seen the last of the once amazing Al out of the pen in this series as he cost us game 2.
Verlander was the ace again last night and shut down the A's again. On to Boston, which has me nervous as the rotation is out of sync for this series we start off with Sanchez. (OK he did have the lowest ERA in the AL this year. Then again he got lit up by the As in game 3)
Justin Verlander did not have a typical Verlander type of year, but when the bell rang in the postseason he showed why he's an ace. He had Oakland off balance all night. Unless you are an A's fan, it was a pleasure to watch if you admire good pitching. An outstanding effort against Oakland to seal the deal in game 5. All his pitches were working and he was once again a master of his craft on the mound. I'm sure Verlander wanted to finish. As Buck Martinez said during the broadcast, "The A's have had enough of Verlander."
The A's at that point were grateful to see Benoit brought in. Or anyone else in the Tigers bullpen for that matter. Leyland obviously did not want to push Verlander any further as he was already well over 100 pitches. As much as we may or may not like pitch counts in the game today they do become a factor in a managers decision. Even for an old school guy like Leyland. He'd seen enough and thought it was time. And with the ALCS looming, he knows he will need a well rested Verlander to pitch every bit as effectively when they have to face that Boston Red Sox offense.
Sanchez is obviously going to have to give Detroit a much better effort than he did in game 3 against Oakland. The Red Sox will be licking their bearded chops if he doesn't settle in early. The upside going in is that Detroit finally has the bats going now. And they can more than match Boston offensively if they can keep it going. If Detroit can manage to capture game 1, that would set them up nicely for the big guns in the rotation to follow. But that's jumping way ahead. Nobody expected Boston to be in postseason play in 2013, but here they are and this series should certainly be an interesting one.
Just for accuracy, Benoit gave up 2 hits last night, not 2 runs. The final score was 3-0. Benoit gave up 2 runs in game 4, which cut the Tigers lead to two runs.
