Yankees 7, Orioles 2: CC and the Ninth Inning are Awesome and I Love Them

CC was brilliant and a big ninth inning gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the ALDS.

Yankees Win; Andy Pettitte Rides Again Tomorrow

CC Sabathia and His Elephantine Command: The big man scared us a few times this season, especially around the time he came off the disabled list, but he was in vintage form tonight. The strikeouts speak for themselves, but it was the near-perfect command that really impressed. Since 2006, Sabathia has walked about two batters per nine innings, but tonight he halved that number and consistently hit his spots. Home plate umpire Tony Randazzo helped a bit, giving him a little extra off the plate, but Sabathia didn't take advantage of that so much as continually hit spots at the edge of the strike zone.

Coffee Joe Watch: I suppose pulling Sabathia with two outs and a 7-2 lead in the ninth qualifies, but we know Derek Jeter bunts on his own; we can't blame him for that.

Come Back Tomorrow: When one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time takes one more turn in the spotlight. His opponent, Wei-Yin Chen, was 0-4 with 5.05 ERA in September, allowing eight home runs in 35.2 innings. Simply put, he looked gassed. He's a major league rookie, a postseason virgin, and he's tired. Even though left-handed pitchers work against the Yankees' best hitters, if Andy Pettitte is who he traditionally has been, if Chen is what he was in September, this one could be over quickly.

Of COURSE Russell Martin is the Hero/Top of the 9th

Beleaguered Catcher Russell Martin Puts the Yankees On Top with Solo Homer: It was little noticed because he had been so bad to that point, but Martin had a terrific September, hitting .258/.347/.539 with four doubles and seven homers in 89 at-bats. In the end, there was almost no difference between his 2011 and 2012 performances.

Driving a Truck Through It: A little earlier, I said I expected the Yankees to take one of these opportunities the Orioles had given them and drive a truck through it. We saw that this inning. The only odd question is why, once he had failed, Buck Showalter left Jim Johnson in to be abused. He's going to need him again in this series, and you'd think he would like to (a) keep his pitch count down and (b) preserve his confidence.

CC Sabathia and the War of Attrition/Bottom of the Eighth

J.J. Hardy Leads Off With a Double: I don't recall the exact percentage of lead-off doubles that score, but it's high. I am seeing the decision to push Sabathia into the eighth being questioned already, but he's CC Sabathia. This is what you have him for, these big spots where it takes a big man to hang in and win the war of attrition. He was just cresting 100 pitches as the frame began, was still locating well in the seventh, and there was no reason to pull him.

Two Outs Now: After a strikeout of Adam Jones and a foul pop from Wieters. As I type these words, Mark Reynolds, one of the strike-out-iest hitters in history is down 1-2. Sometimes we overreact to a ball in play, something that happens to be hit hard to the right spot. It's one pitch of 100 or 110 on the night. It doesn't necessarily indicate fatigue.

...And Reynolds grounds out 6-3. Sabathia holds the bridge. As they say in "The Longest Day," "Hold until relieved... Hold until relieved."

Yankees vs. Orioles ALDS Game One Overflow II

The Trouble With Lefty Specialists, Bunting, and Other Discontents

Left-handed specialists, like all left-handers, are often wild. As such, they often end up passing the batters you want them to pitch to and pitching to the batters you want them to avoid -- as Troy Patton just demonstrated. Now the Yankees get Darren O'Day, a pitcher the Mets threw away long ago. His side-arming has been very tough on right-handed hitters.

Derek Jeter shows bunt: Back in the day, the writers used to mock Ted Williams for taking walks with runners in scoring position, claiming he was ducking the RBI situation and passing it off to the next guy. In this case, Jeter might have done a defensible thing given how O'Day being tough for same-side hitters to pick up. The only problem with giving up an out there is (a) you've given up an out there -- not so tautological a statement as you might think given how the sac bunt is akin to a self-inflicted wound, but Jeter still doesn''t get it, and (b) if Ichiro doesn't do it -- and he didn't -- A-Rod is unlikely to do it either. I wrote that as Rodriguez was coming to the plate, and I will leave it there regardless of what the former MVP/centaur does...

A-Rod Update: And no, he didn't.

A note from the previous frame: Derek Jeter took a tough error on the hot smash by Manny Machado. But then, I didn't think Coco Crisp deserved an error earlier today, after he broke back, then ran six miles to attempt a basket catch. You don't give errors on bad judgment, just misplays, and Crisp so much misplay the ball as fail to catch it.

The Yankees Sleep With Danger/Top of the Sixth

Sabathia pitches in and out of a first and third, one-out situation thanks to a perfect pitch to Nate, Son of Louth, on the outside corner, not to mention a tight 2-3 play to retire Lew Ford -- it sure is nice of Buck Showalter to put the team mascot in the starting lineup -- a little earlier in the frame.

Meanwhile, Hammel can't be much longer for this game. The Yankees have three hits and four walks and he's going to finish this inning well over 110 pitches. The man is pitching with some kind of science-fiction knee armor, a sentient computer that is beaming pitch trajectories to his brain. That's the only explanation for the way he's dodged his way through trouble in this game. That and a couple of unnecessary outs on the bases.

Just as I finished typing those words, Nick Swisher singled and Hammel was gone. Now Showalter gets to deploy his team's best asset, starting with spot lefty Troy "General" Patton.

Yankees vs. Orioles ALDS Game One Overflow

Yankees tied the game in the 4th inning.

Yankees' Fourth At-Bat Update

The Yankees are making Hammel work, taking their walks, and that patience paid off when Mark Teixeira drilled a liner off the right-field wall for the tying run. Yankees baserunning errors have mitigated some of their key hits, but you get the sense that they could drive a truck through one of these openings at any moment.

Against a normal regular-season opponent, getting into the bullpen this early would be a good thing, but the Orioles are strong there and getting Hammel out of the game might actually work in their favor.

Teixeira's coming alive in this series would be a terrific omen for the rest of October. Meanwhile, I'm wondering why Alex Rodriguez is in the field, Raul Ibanez is at designated hitter, and Eric Chavez is on the bench.

Sabathia No-Jinx Zone

Six up, six down, and Sabathia is doing what he's expected to do. Things can chance for a pitcher in a hurry, of course, and Yankees defensive shortcomings will always put pressure on their hurlers. He also reminds us that Jason Hammel, as good as he was for the Orioles when healthy, is just Jason Hammel, not a future Hall of Famer.

UPDATE: 2-1 Orioles at the end of three. Please disregard the words above. They were written in a moment of irrational exuberance.

Game Actually Starts, Yankees Actually Score

After 40 days and 40 nights of rain, sleet, hail, fire, rabbits, baby carriages, and tiny dinosaurs no bigger than a chicken, the Yankees took a 1-0 lead on a Derek Jeter seeing-eye single followed by an Ichiro Suzuki RBI double, the same time-honored combination that the Yankees have been using all these... days. Tinker to Evers to Chance to Jeter to Suzuki to, I don't know, Josh Hamilton. Now it's up to CC Sabathia to form the next length in the chain.

ALDS Game 1: Yankees @ Orioles

Let's play baseball like it's 1996.

Lineups Announced for ALDS Game One

New York:

Derek Jeter SS

Ichiro Suzuki LF

Alex Rodriguez 3B

Robinson Cano 2B

Nick Swisher RF

Mark Teixeira 1B

Curtis Granderson CF

Russell Martin C

Raul Ibanez DH

Baltimore:

Nate McLouth LF

J.J. Hardy SS

Adam Jones CF

Matt Wieters C

Mark Reynolds 1B

Chris Davis DH

Lew Ford RF

Manny Machado 3B

Robert Andino 2B

Yankees Announce Division Series Roster

There shouldn't be any big surprises on here after a few players revealed whether or not they made the roster yesterday. The regular bunch is there, plus Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner, Jayson Nix, and Derek Lowe. No Andruw Jones or Cody Eppley.

ALDS Preview: New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles

The official Pinstriped Bible guide to what is sure to be an intense Division Series against the Yankees' biggest division rival in 2012, the surprising but dangerous Baltimore Orioles.