tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Look Into October: Yanks 0-2 vs Angels

For the past several months I have been saying that the way things were going I could see the American League representative in the World Series being a team other than Boston or New York. Well, over the course of the last two games in Anaheim the recipe for my prediction was borne out. Jered Weaver and Dan Haren shut the Yankee offense down, Weaver outdueling Bartolo Colon and Haren slamming the door on the Yankees when CC Sabathia struggled through 6 innings and the worn out Yankee bullpen blew up.

The Yankees are in tough straits right now as ARod is out for 4 games, Nick Swisher is hurting, Francisco Cervelli has a concussion and now Russell Martin has a badly bruised right thumb. By the way, word comes out that Andruw Jones has been playing all year with a slightly torn ligament and will need to have fluid drained from his knee. The bullpen has been overused since Labor Day, with Freddy Garcia getting lit up on the holiday and two extra inning games against the Orioles. Last night their were more bullpen pitchers unavailable than available. The only thing keeping the Yankees in first place is the fact that Boston is struggling just as mightly, as they lost again last night in extra innings against Tampa. The Rays are now only 4 games back in the loss column behind the Red Sox.

Last night's Yankee lineup was brutal. Eduardo Nunez in right field. Jorge Posada back behind the plate. Yet, there is still enough there to generate some offense. The Yankees have scored 1 run in the last 25 innings. Mark Teixiera, Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano need to carry the load. The only guys who have been hitting is Derek Jeter and Jesus Montero. Today its Freddy Garcia against Ervin Santana, who has been pitching very well as of late. The Yanks are in tough again today and the type of pitching they are now facing is what they will see come October. Unless the walking wounded can come back strong, there is no way this team makes the World Series, let alone the ALCS.