TwitterBack To Texas
21 Oct 2010
Those three runs in the second inning were an alarm bell to the crowd yesterday. Yankee Stadium was a pretty quiet place and even after the Yankees started scoring there was an uneasiness in the crowd. A couple of fans near me talked about how the Yankees could win Game 5 and Game 6, but they would still lose the series because of Cliff Lee waiting in Game 7.
It’s a popular topic on the internet today, but it is a ridiculous one. It’s ridiculous because it doesn’t matter until the Yankees win Game 6. Cliff Lee would be something to worry about if the Yankees beat the Rangers Friday. Until then, there isn’t much point in even discussing it. I will make one comment though. If the Yankees were to beat Texas tomorrow night they would be in about as good a place mentally as possible to face Lee. That could matter a little, it could matter a lot, we won’t know until we get there.
And getting there is going to be tough. Obviously, it starts with Phil Hughes pitching a lot better than he did on Saturday. Assuming that happens, the Yankees will then have to hit Colby Lewis. Lewis wasn’t great last Saturday and I wonder how he would have done if the Rangers didn’t give him a 5-0 lead? In his three career starts before the ALCS against the Yankees he was 0-2 with a 6.89 ERA.
It really comes down to Hughes. Can he be the pitcher we saw in the first half? If so, the Yankees have an excellent chance of forcing a Game 7 and having to deal with the problem of Cliff Lee.
Oct 21, 2010 @ 17:16:08
Hughes has to show the confidence in his fastball that he showed against the Twins. He threw too much off speed stuff in his last start.
He’s got good stuff. Hopefully the “good” Hughes will show up.
I just want to get to a Game 7. That would be a victory of sorts, and, of course, anything can happen in one game.
Oct 21, 2010 @ 21:25:44
lets turn lewis back to bum he was, we score the most runs in hughes starts..we need to hit and early, take some heat off of phil..we will win this game..and you are right lee’s name should not be a subject….until saturday..
Oct 22, 2010 @ 10:50:08
I agree with Born… Hughes shouldn’t need to be perfect, we are not going against a stud tonight (if it’s not rained out). What we need is a lead going into the 8th. As for the possible game 7, Lee is great but he has been historically vulnerable pitching in Arlington. Pettite has shown he still has some playoff magic, so if we can make Lee throw a lot of pitches and get him out by the 7th we are in good shape.
Oct 22, 2010 @ 14:23:11
Hughes was quoted as saying he threw too many fastballs in Game 2. I thought that the second time through the order he was going away from his fastball.
In any event, just throw your best stuff up there and see what happens.
And yes, bornwithpinstripes is right — let’s put some runs up on the board early. Maybe A-Rod could finally catch fire.