Alex Rodriguez tied a Yankee record by making the last out of their last two postseasons. (AP) As a kid I was fascinated with the final out of a ballgame. I think it stemmed from Little League and the awkward feeling of making the last out myself, of being my team’s last hope and of letting everyone ...

The Yankees fell short of a championship in 2011, but they provided some pretty great times even as they did. (AP) “You may glory in a team triumphant… But you fall in love with a team in defeat,” wrote Roger Kahn in the seminal The Boys of Summer. Of course, Kahn was discussing those ...

The only part of the rotation that really worked. (AP) To my way of thinking, the Yankees were lucky to be in the postseason to begin with. After they failed to sign Cliff Lee in the offseason, Brian Cashman and his cohort had a choice: go young or gamble. Predictably, they chose to gamble. In came Freddy ...

Three of the greatest moments in the last half-century of Yankee baseball came in double-elimination playoff games. Left to right: Chris Chambliss in 1976, Bucky Dent in 1978, Aaron Boone in 2003. (AP) The Yankees as a franchise are no stranger to double-elimination games such as tonight’s decisive ...

It was indeed Grand! (AP) At Baseball Prospectus, I wrote about A.J. Burnett’s wobbly but ultimately redemptive performance. To me, one of the big keys to his night was his handling of Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez; only once did he face them with the lead in danger, in his messy first inning. After ...

It wasn’t always pretty, but ol’ A.J., who has caused so much ink to be spilled there is a massive shortage (even here in cyberland) came through. I know I am jaded, cynical, and prone to think in worst-case scenarios, but I’ll tell you something I think you long-time readers already ...

Justin Verlander is just one of many things the 2006 ALDS had in common with this year's. (AP) How important is Game 3 in a best-of-five series that’s tied 1-1? In the Wild Card era there have been 23 best-of-five division series that have started 1-1. The winner of game three won 19 of those ...

Was Freddy Garcia offering a preemptive facepalm in response to the moves Joe Girardi would make following his departure? (AP) Well, I was wrong about Max Scherzer, who kept the ball in the park and kept the Yankees hitless for five and a third innings on Sunday. Freddy Garcia didn’t pitch too ...

The upshot of today: no matter what happens in Game 3, A.J. Burnett will be starting an elimination game. I believe it was Karl Marx who said that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. I’m not sure where a crucial postseason start by Burnett lies on the spectrum, ...

Max Scherzer's home/road splits suggest that a start in the Bronx could work to the Yankees advantage. (AP) CC Sabathia threw 27 pitches over two innings, one of which ended up over the right field wall. Justin Verlander threw 25 pitches, one of which skipped away from catcher Alex Avila, allowing ...

Jay and I were each assigned previews of the Yankees-Tigers series yesterday, the results of which are now up. Over at Baseball Prospectus, Jay picks the Tigers to win in five games for the obvious reason: Why the Tigers Will Win Led by AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander, who won the league’s ...

The Yankees have just two more games remaining in which to evaluate the candidates for their Division Series roster. Joe Girardi has said repeatedly that some decisions may depend on how certain players, pitchers especially, match up against their first-round opponent, whose identity has yet to be determined, ...