Yankees vs. Twins in the ALDS

Assuming the Yankees don't clinch the division, they will face the Minnesota Twins. Which might be a good thing for Jeter who's mere ten home runs are appalling. Except for that 414 foot shot off of Duensing earlier this year. Or Gardner, who hit one of his five against Scott Baker. Baker has been lowering his ERA since his August 22 start against the Angels. Liriano on the other hand has not allowed the Yanks a home run this year.
For Yankee pitching, CC hasn't faced the Twins since last years ALDS. But there is no doubt in my mind that he won't be as sharp as he was against them last year. If not better. The extra rest will certainly allow CC to come into Game 1 with fire. Assuming that Joe Girardi hears our prayers and allows Pettite to start Game 2 over Burnett, the Twins will find it hard to manufacture anything against him. Pettite has allowed only two RBIs by the twins this year. For Game 3, I'd take Phil Hughes and then let Nova start the 4th. By that time, the Yanks will be facing the back end of the Twins rotation. Who you might ask? Nick Blackburn!! Nick likes to trade wins and losses like he's on the floor at Wall Street. He's 10-11 this year with a 5.55 ERA. Hopefully, he'll be trading only once and it will be for a loss against the Yanks in October.

What else is there to say? If A-Rod hits his 30th home run in the next 4 games, he'll have another 30-100 season. With Teixeira already there, Cano could join him with two more. Three infielders with 30-100? Potent.

Mariano shakes off the dust and gets back to form. CC and Pettite shut down both sides of the plate. And my man Phil shows that the Yankee farm system is still great!

AH, baseball in October. Here we go!

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Post Season Preview

The Yankees enter their last nine games uncertain on who they will face in the playoffs. For the fans, we enter uncertain if they will compete at the level we expect. Something is different than last year. There is no guarantee that the Yanks can come back. All those walk-off wins spoiled us, as we were able to stay tuned to the last out because you never knew if A-Rod was gonna hit another 9th inning home run so easily. But now, more often than not, with the Yanks down in the ninth inning, top or bottom, we've seen runners in scoring position with one out only to be followed by a double play game ender. Most unfortunate, most disappointing. But there's no reason to lose all faith just yet. CC didn't look so sharp last night but he was sharp enough to win 20 games this year. And A-Rod isn't as headline grabbing clutch, yet he still batted in 113. If you give them a chance, I think the Yanks are gonna take us back to the fall classic once again.

Let's look at the possible match ups. 

Yanks vs. Texas Rangers

With Texas all but wrapping up the West, we should expect to see Cliff Lee, Tommy Hunter, Nelson Cruz, and fan favorite Vlad Guerrero. And yes, that last series was saddening. But I don't see the division series getting too close.

Although Yankees fans are probably gonna have to wait a few more months til Lee is in pinstripes, and undoubtedly Cashman wants him here, we'll get a great preview of his post season fire one more time. As if the Yanks could only think of one person they'd like not to see in the playoffs while those World Series games replay on Yankees Encore, CC Sabathia poses the same threat to the Rangers. Of the three infielders that have faced him before, they are a combined 1 for 7. Kinsler, who hasn't seen CC before is batting .378 against lefties this year. The outfield isn't looking too sharp either, especially as Hamilton tries to recover in time. Even if he does play, there is no assurance he'll hit at the .361 pace he had going until September.

With Pettite back, you can expect him to perform almost if not as well as he did this year. He's getting old true, but that only guarantees that what he's doing is the same thing he's been doing all year. Too old to tweak his stuff or to develop problems with his pitches. If I were a betting man, I'd have to put the line down on 7 innings at least with sparse hits and leaves the game with only allowing 2 or less.

Burnett! Ah, can we have Nova start in place of him? I know his last outing looked great but he's so unpredictable. The only thing I hate watching more than him pitch is Javier Vazquez hitting three batters in a row. Nova, on the other hand, is sharp through the first half. I suggest Girardi pull him at the first sign of trouble. And trust me, you'll know when trouble comes. But if you can save the bullpen the first few games and have them cover the second half of a Nova start, we'd be in better shape than a Burnett Bummer. Of course that won't happen, but we're all allowed opinions.

Batting should offer a little more assurance. Against C. J. WIlson, the Yanks infield is hitting .286 against him. Unfortunately, the outfield can't say the same. But this was before Granderson found his groove. And I am confident in Gardner pulling it together. Though I should say, if he worked on his bunting a bit more, he'd be a much threatening player.

Tommy Hunter's last outing against the Yanks rendered a no-decision after 5 innings. He gave up 2 earned runs but struck out 8. That last number is daunting. Imagine if he had pitched another 2 innings? Then what, his SOs are up to 10. 

Overall, Yanks take the series 3-1. 

I'll get to the Twins scenario later.