Kuzul

This article is going to be more of a blog post than an article since I was talking on the telephone for the first five innings of the game.

Here are some of my exact thoughts as the game took place.

Cain in trouble. Gets strong and gets out of it.

Sanchez base hit. Nice. Huff strikes out, he’s really not locked in.

[Girl continues to chatter.]

Burrell yanks one. Holy sh*$! It’s outta here! Yes!! Yes!

[fist pumps in air]

What’s she saying? Three zip. We’re gonna win this game. The series is over! Damn, what did she say again?

[“my reception cut off, I didn’t hear you.”]

Ross, double. Nice hustle! Cain right back at the pitcher. Holy sh*&! Cain RBI.

Four zip. We’re gonna win this game! Yes!!

[not paying attention for awhile]

They scored? What happened? Well at least it’s only one run.

[flash forward to seventh inning] Cain out for Lopez. Smart. Heyward won’t hit him. Strike three. Sit down!

Giants still in control.

[top of eighth]

Sergio Romo. Uh oh. Not gonna handle the pressure. This is gonna be bad!

Hit one. Here we go. Hit two. I knew it.

Wilson in for six outs? This has disaster written all over it.

Pablo! No!!

Okay, one out. Second and third. Let’s see.

Gonzalez way behind first heater. He’s dangerous. Good fastball hitter. Hurt Giants earlier this year with long bomb. Don’t challenge him, Willy.

[crack!]

No! Damn you, Pablo! No. Why is this happening? Last night good luck. Tonight bad luck.

The baseball gods are mad at us.

4-4. Why does this game feel over, like we lost?

Who can save us? Burrell? He’s out! Huff. He’s not locked in. Are only hope is Uribe.

[bottom of the 10th]

Edgar, the Legend. Nice! There’s hope. Torres, good work. Sanchez, sh*& is he okay? Will he be ready Sunday? No! They’re chanting, “Freddy, Freddy!” He’s up. He’s okay. Thank God.

Okay, Huffy, let’s do this. I believe in you. You can do this. Ball four? That was close, but we’ll take it!

The stage is set. It’s Buster’s playoffs. The rookie hero! He’s gonna do it!

I believe in you, Buster. You can do it. I know you can do it. Just hit anything into the outfield. Come on.

Oh no! One out! No! I’m not seeing this! Out two. Nooooooo! Mother fu*#^ Glaus!! I wanna kill that guy!!

[top of 11th]

Does Ramirez have another inning? I don’t know. Wow, nice play Edgar. One down.

Ankiel. What’s he gonna do? He hasn’t had a clutch hit off the Giants in forever. Uh oh, he’s due. He looks ready. He looks due. Don’t throw him anything close. Just walk him if you have to.

2-2. Don’t give in.

[CRACK!]

I knew it. I knew that was gonna happen.

I wonder which kayaker is gonna get the ball? I wonder if it’s worth anything?

Damn it! Damn did he smack that one good.

Ramirez wasn’t ready to go two innings with this much pressure.

Rick fu&#%ing Ankiel. I don’t think he’s had a clutch hit off the Giants ever.

The baseball gods are mad at us.

Uribe. Maybe if I don’t hope he’ll hit a home run he’ll hit a home run. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Anything can happen. Base hit. Holy sh&#. That shot of the fans looks optimistic. Maybe we can do it.

What a comeback that would be!

[crack] Ishikawa got it! No, it’s a harmless fly. Damn, why did that look like a good crack? My eyes are playing tricks on me.

Ross. He looks defeated. One out left. These swings don’t look good.

Pop up. Damn it. We lost. Wait, maybe he’ll drop it. Nope. Three outs. Game over.

One game to one game. Two in Atlanta. Turner Field. Best home team in majors. It’s over. Hudson owns us. Lincecum on short rest? It’s over. The series is over. 3-1. Braves got it.

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The Atlanta Braves couldn’t get anything started against the San Francisco Giants‘ vaunted pitching staff, so the home-standing Gents took an admittedly unorthodox approach.

They decided to start the Bravos’ offense themselves—not the wisest thing to do for your World Series aspirations, but it sure makes for an exciting night of baseball.

And another significant challenge for emerging southpaw Jonathan Sanchez.

A Pat Burrell bobble in left field helped give Atlanta its first run in 14 divisional-series innings, though Bobby Cox’ squad would have to wait a little longer for its first earned run. That rally two innings later was also aided by an error as a wayward throw from Pablo Sandoval allowed Melky Cabrera to reach and eventually cross the plate as the tying run.

Extra innings were needed to settle the affair, a feat accomplished in the 11th inning when Rick Ankiel exorcised his personal playoff demons with a Bondsian blast into McCovey Cove off of Ramon Ramirez. The former St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, who infamously disintegrated in Game 1 of the 2000 National League Division Series with five wild pitches, obliterated a solo home run that only needed to be heard.

The sound alone told you it wasn’t staying dry.

And that the series was going back to Hotlanta tied at one game apiece.

Somewhat lost in all the shuffle was a blinder from Matt Cain in his postseason debut.

He picked up right where Tim Lincecum left off; though Cainer didn’t match the Freak, he twirled a fantastic ballgame. The 26-year-old tossed six-and-two-thirds innings while tolerating seven hits, two walks, an unearned run, and whiffing six.

Alas, the big right-hander’s defense and bullpen let him down as two regular-season strengths turned into playoff albatrosses in front of the appalled AT&T Park crowd.

Brian Wilson was up from the start of his appearance and that never bodes well for any pitcher, even one of the best door-slammers in the game. The colorful closer got bruised a bit when Alex Gonzalez scalded a ball to the left-center gap, but the only run that crossed home plate belonging to Wilson was unearned thanks to Sandoval’s E-5.

The two earnies belonged to the real bullpen goat, Sergio Romo.

The normally reliable eight-inning man faced two batters (Derrek Lee and Brian McCann), allowed them both to reach on singles, and each would come around to score when Romo’s bearded compadre took a few batters to find his postseason legs.

Meanwhile, the Braves late-inning crew was pressed into early duty by a mediocre playoff debut from Tommy Hanson.

The youngster had a rough first frame that saw Burrell’s three-run jimmy-jack create an early deficit and wouldn’t make the fifth, but a parade of Atlanta relievers stifled the Giants‘ lumber. Southpaw Mike Dunn, righty Peter Moylan, lefty Jonny Venters, and right-hander Craig Kimbrel torched San Francisco‘s lineup with five scoreless innings that saw only three baserunners and eight strikeouts.

Then Kyle Farnsworth did his best to deliver Game 2 on a silver platter after Braves’ closer Billy Wagner left with what looked like a serious injury to his side. Of course, los Gigantes’ season-long nemesis—the dreaded double-play grounder—knifed them in the back again.

Buster Posey was the culprit this time, grounding into a 5-4-3 twin-killing in the bottom of the tenth with the bases loaded.

Ankiel would hit his moon ball two Brave batters later and Farnsworth would put the finishing touches on his win.

Now, Jonathan Sanchez must continue his recent spate of effectively wild outings in order to save the Giants’ tortuous 2010 season. A loss in Game 3 would either require a start from Lincecum on short rest or a horrifically unfavorable predicament for 21-year-old Madison Bumgarner’s first taste of playoff baseball.

All is not lost, however.

True, the lefty did issue 19 free passes in September and October. But he suffered a mere18 hits and half of those were singles i.e. you better hope he walks you because the league “hit” Jonathan to the tune of a .151 batting average and a .261 slugging percentage in 35.2 frames spanning those two months.

The faithful will also recall that he started and won the NL West clincher against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He set a suffocating tone with the pennant hanging in the balance, a pressure-packed turn on the bump if there ever was one as 161 games culminated in a single contest.

The San Francisco Giants and their fans must hope Jonathan Sanchez is up to the challenge once again.

Because, this time, 164 games depend on it.

**Click here to learn more about the Paralyzed Veterans of America**

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Four errors, three hit batsmen, two innings where the seams came off the baseball, and one massive implosion.

That pretty much sums up the Cincinnati Reds’ performance in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds lost to the Phillies 7-4 and now are on the brink of elimination.

This was a game of two halves.

Before the Reds’ implosion, they actually led 4-0 in this game. They got a leadoff HR by Brandon Phillips, they capitalized on two Chase Utley errors in the second, and then got a rocket shot off of the bat of Jay Bruce to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.

Bronson Arroyo on the mound was mixing up his pitches and keeping Philly batters really off balance. I thought Arroyo was pretty good. Did he get lucky on occasion like when Jimmy Rollins ripped a one-hop line drive to Phillips, which turned into a double play? Sure, but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

Everything seemed to be going their way. Then the fifth inning happened.

With two outs and a runner on first, Shane Victorino hit a groundball into hole between first and second and for some odd reason, Phillips tried to smother the ball. I am not sure what he was thinking there. The ball bounced off his chest and Victorino reached.

The very next batter, Placido Polanco hit a sharp groundball to Scott Rolen, which he proceeded to boot as well. Back to back errors and the Phillies were set up with the bases loaded for Utley. If you give the Phillies extra outs, they are going to make you pay and that’s exactly what they did.

Utley ripped a single to right and the Phillies cut the deficit in half to 4-2.

If Reds fans thought that was bad, then the seventh inning was a nightmare.

After the Phillies tacked on another run in the sixth thanks to Red pitchers hitting two batters and walking two batters in the inning, Dusty Baker went to Aroldis Chapman to hold the lead. Yeah, that didn’t quite happen.

Chapman hit Utley to lead off the inning. In Chapman’s defense, it didn’t appear Utley actually got hit. Derek Jeter was vilified for faking getting hit a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if their will be the national outcry over Utley’s acting job? I am guessing no.

After striking out Ryan Howard (Howard had no chance), Jayson Werth hit a slow roller up a long third, which Rolen proceeded to throw to second. Utley was called safe and the whole dynamic of the inning changed.

Why Rolen decided to throw to second is beyond me. All his momentum was headed towards first. To try to throw across your body to nail a fast runner at second is very hard to do. Rolen would have easily gotten Werth at first.

If the dynamic of the game changed on the Rolen play, the dynamic of the series changed on the next AB.

Rollins hit a little flare to right and Bruce lost the ball in the lights. Utley scored and when Phillips dropped the relay throw, Werth scored, the Phillies took a 5-4 lead and never looked back.

Game. Set. Match.

There are some games where teams get beat and there are games where teams lose. The Reds got beat by Roy Halladay on Wednesday night. On Friday night, the Reds lost.

This loss was a disaster and really showed why the Reds are about two years away from really contending for a World Series. World Series contenders don’t lose games like that. They win games like that.

One thing lost in this game was how mediocre Roy Oswalt was for the Phillies. He really didn’t have much tonight. His fastball was flat and he couldn’t get his change or curve over for strikes.

I am sure he will be better the next time out, but he really wasn’t good in Game 2.

The Reds will be game playing in front of their home crowd for Game 3 on Sunday night, but the Phillies will find a way to pull it out in the end. World Series contenders usually do.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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They say things come in threes right?

Well, things certainly came in threes on Thursday. We saw three divisional round games with three bad umpire calls that lead to three victories.

We had the Michael Young check swing incident in the Texas Rangers–Tampa Bay Rays game. We then had the missed third strike call in Lance Berkman‘s at-bat in the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins game. Then for the hat trick, we had another blown call that led to the game’s only run in the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves game.

In the bottom of the fourth, with Buster Posey on first and Pat Burrell at the plate, Posey attempted to steal second. Burrell swung and missed and Braves’ catcher Brian McCann came up firing.

It appeared that Posey was out by at least a half a step, but second base umpire Paul Emmel called him safe. Naturally in the same inning, Cody Ross singled to left on a ball that Omar Infante should have had and Posey scored.

It turned out it was the only run of the game and the Giants defeated the Braves 1-0 to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five NLDS. While the blown call was pivotal in this game, the story of this game was Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

After allowing a lead-off double to Infante, Lincecum settled down and pitched one of the all time great playoff games. He allowed only one more hit the rest of the game as he went distance and struck out 14.

While his fastball was very good last night, I thought it was his slider that was off the charts. He threw 20 of them and threw 16 of them for strikes. The slider to strike out McCann in the top of the first was unhittable.

I give credit to Bruce Bochy for leaving Lincecum in the game in the ninth. Many managers in that situation would have immediately gone to their closer and played it safe. The feel of the game called for Lincecum going out to take the mound in the ninth.

Of course, I am almost certain that if Lincecum allowed a runner on base, Bochy would have turned to Brian Wilson, who was warming up in the pen to end close things out.

As for the Braves, Lincecum’s dominance really exposed them offensively. Where is the offense going to come from in this series?

Bobby Cox had Alex Gonzalez batting fifth? Let me repeat that. Alex Gonzalez was batting fifth in a playoff game! He might be a nice guy, but the reality is that he hit .240 with a .291 OBP with the Braves.

If McCann or Jason Heyward don’t do damage, who is in this lineup? I have a hard time answering that question right now.

The Braves will try to get even tonight with Tommy Hanson. Game 2 is scheduled to start at 9:37 PM est.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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The Yankees have been waiting a long time for Lance Berkman to do something. Actually, they’ve been waiting for him do to anything.

Before yesterday, his most notable achievement in pinstripes was hitting Alex Rodriguez in the shin with a line drive in batting practice. That happened in early August, and in all the time that followed, one of the greatest sluggers in Houston Astros history managed a single home run in New York.

The Big Puma was suddenly an endangered species. That’s not a clever pun. I literally worried a bleacher creature was going to straight-up try to murder him, The Fan style.

But that’s the beautiful thing about postseason baseball—you can wipe away months of bad faith with one good series. Or in Berkman’s case, one good game.

Berkman had the two biggest hits in the Yankees’ Game 2 win over the Twins on Thursday, a long opposite-field homer in the fifth inning, and a booming RBI double in the seventh.

It had to be sweet vindication for Brian Cashman, who brought Berkman aboard to fortify the Yankee lineup and instead got Triple-A production out of a lavishly-paid veteran.

Berkman wasn’t the only player who made Cashman look smart on Thursday.

Curtis Granderson continued his resurgence with three more hits, while Kerry Wood officially put Joba Chamberlain’s face on the side of a milk carton with a dominant eighth inning.

It’s been a tough year for Cash, who watched the acquitions of Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez blow up in his face as A.J. Burnett’s contract quickly morphed into one of the worst in baseball.

He’s no doubt feeling good this morning, as is Andy Pettitte. He won the 19th postseason game of his career, and few were more impressive given the circumstances.

The Yankees didn’t know what they were getting from Pettitte coming into this series. The groin injury that wrecked his second half had turned the left-hander into a serious question mark, albeit one on a successful journey to comfort.

Pettitte was dominant for seven innings and 88 pitches, and probably could have went the distance if Joe Girardi wasn’t correctly protecting the veteran’s health.

I received a couple of texts from friends after the game saying this was the game that makes Pettitte a Hall of Famer. I tend to disagree, because it’s the ALDS and I thought he already was. I will say that if the Yanks go deep into the playoffs, he may finally get his proper national due as one of the great postseason performers in the game’s history.

But of all the positives Cashman took out of Thursday, perhaps most fulfilling was the sight of Carl Pavano, the man who had swindled the Yankees out of $40 million, walking off the mound a loser for the second straight ALDS. I would’ve paid anything to be able read Cash’s lips as the American Idle trudged off.

“Nice mustache, d*ck.”

Stray thoughts

• John Sterling is on a roll. His Berkman home run call last night was bananas. “SIR LANCELOT RIDES TO THE RESCUE! C’EST LUI! C’EST LUI!” This was the most outrageous radio I’ve ever heard, just ahead of Dan the Farter (no relation) setting the world flatulence record on Howard Stern.

• Epic fail is in order for Ron Gardenhire, the Twins manager who told the media before Game 2 that he buried his uniform after the Game 1 loss. Since that didn’t work, I say he knocks off a convenience store next. If that fails, assassinate Fidel Castro. Let’s see how far we can take this.

• Give Minnesota Twins fans this: They care. My God, do they care. Some serious depression shots by TBS in the late innings. Look at the bright side guys, at least your football team’s quarterback isn’t a gray-haired old fool who walks with a limp. Oh wait.

• Funny A-Rod quote on Berkman over at the LoHud Blog: “You know these games are important. I actually saw him in the weight room a couple of days ago. I almost had a heart attack.”

• I can’t tell you how much more I enjoy TBS’ incessant Conan promos over last year’s incessant Frank TV ads. I still can’t believe Frank TV ever existed. Dude got his own sketch show because he could do a bad John Madden impression.

• Mariano Rivera is the greatest of all time. In shorthand, you can call him the G.O.A.T. Just a friendly reminder.

Dan Hanzus writes the Yankees blog River & Sunset and can be reached at dhanzus@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danhanzus.

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The Yankees entered Game 2 on Thursday looking to continue their momentum from defeating the Twins in Game 1 the night before.

On the mound for New York was Andy Pettitte, looking to brush aside the rust and any side effects of a groin injury that kept him on the disabled list for two months. For the Twins, it was Carl Pavano, pitching against his former team and looking to try and split the series going back to New York.

The Twins got on the board first in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly by Danny Valencia to right that put Minnesota up 1-0.

In the top of the fourth, Curtis Granderson continued his hot hitting by ripping a double, got to third on Mark Teixeira’s single and came home on Alex Rodriguez’s sac fly to right and tied the game at 1-1.

In the top of the fifth, Lance Berkman took a Pavano fastball to left center and over the wall for a home run that put the Yankees up 2-1.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Orlando Hudson crushed a Pettitte breaking ball to left for a solo home run and the game was tied at 2-2.

This game was just as competitive as the first one, with both sides not caving in and both pitchers fighting to keep their team in the game.

Then, the Yankees struck with the knockout blow.

In the top of the seventh, Jorge Posada started out the inning by drawing a walk. Berkman then came up again and during the at bat, it looked as if he struck out, but on a questionable pitch, a strike three was called a ball.

On the very next pitch, Berkman drills a pitch off Pavano to dead center over Denard Span’s head, which allowed Posada to score all the way from first and gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire came out to calm Pavano and his players down, then engaged in an argument with home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt that got the Twins manager tossed from the game.

Brett Gardner then dropped down a bunt trying to sacrifice Berkman over, but Valencia couldn’t pick the ball up and Gardner ended up with a bunt base hit setting up first and third for Derek Jeter.

Jeter was able to hit a bloop single to right scoring Berkman and extended the Yankee lead to 4-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Pettitte finished strong, striking Michael Cuddyer out, getting Jason Kubel to foul out to third and struck out Valencia to finish his night.

Kerry Wood came in the eighth to pitch a scoreless frame which included two strikeouts.

In the top of the ninth inning, Gardner continued to play extremely well by leading off with a single. Jeter’s ground out moved him over to second, then was able to steal third with Granderson up at bat.

Granderson then provided the Yankees with more insurance with an RBI single to center scoring Gardner and the Yankees went up 5-2.

Mariano Rivera came into the ninth looking to close out another playoff victory for the Yankees. The Twins were trying to find some magic in their ballpark.

Joe Mauer led off with a single to right, which got the Minnesota fans back into the game with some hope still left in them.

Delmon Young quickly ended that hope by grounding into a 6-4-3 double play and just like that, there were two quick outs and a stunned crowd.

Jim Thome flied out to left to end the game and the Yankees took Game Two over the Twins 5-2 at Target Field.

Pettitte went seven strong innings, allowed five hits, two runs, walked one and struck out four and picked up his 19th career postseason victory, which is the most in baseball history.

Any doubts the Yankees could have had about Pettitte from the groin injury or his layoff from the DL were brushed away as he simply dominated the Minnesota lineup.

The Twins had their chances to get runs off Pettitte early in the second inning with the bases loaded and one out, and all they could get was one run. Other than Hudson’s home run in the sixth, the Twins did absolutely nothing against him.

The Yankees bats continue to heat up. Granderson continues to have a great ALDS against the Twins with three more key hits, the final one being an important RBI in the ninth inning.

One bat that finally got going for the Yankees when needed was Berkman’s. His home run was so important considering when he was traded for back in July, he only hit one home run all year for the Yankees.

But by hitting that home run, then hitting that go-ahead double in the seventh, it made a lot of the naysayers of Berkman, myself included, forget how poorly he might have been in the second half, especially if he continues to get big hits for the Yankees.

Pavano, just like Francisco Liriano in Game 1, started out well for the Twins, then just ran out of gas. Pavano went six innings, allowed 10 hits, four runs, walked one and struck out three in taking the loss.

The Yankees will return to New York with a commanding 2-0 lead into Saturday night’s Game Three, where Phil Hughes will take the ball and make his first ever playoff start for the Yankees where he will face off against Twins lefty Brian Duensing.

So far, the Yankees as the Wild Card, took Minnesota’s home field advantage and immediately shattered it with two important wins. On Saturday night. Hughes and the Yankees can close out this series and move on to the American League Championship Series.

Some may even wonder if the Yankees winning the Wild Card instead of the division and getting to play the Twins, and not the Rangers and Cliff Lee in a short series, was a blessing in disguise.

Two down, nine to go until No. 28 for Yankees Universe.

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Game 1 of the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants set up to be a tight one. We headed into this series thinking that pitching would reign supreme and offense would be something of a luxury for either team. Needless to say, Game 1 certainly met expectations.

Derek Lowe pitched arguably his best game of the year only to be outdone by his paper-thin counterpart in Tim Lincecum. Lincecum had, as they say, “Roy Halladay stuff” on Thursday night and he was almost as unhittable. 

Timmy went the distance, striking out 14 and allowing just three runners to reach base. Lincecum’s dominance comes as no surprise given the level at which he has been pitching lately. Combine that with a slumping Braves lineup and you get nine innings of near perfection.

The lone run came as a result of a blown call on a steal at second base on what turned out to be a busted hit-and-run attempt as Pat Burrell swung and missed on a 3-2 pitch. Posey later scored on a two-out base hit by recently acquired Cody Ross. 

The first game went off without much surprise, but Game 2 sets up to be an interesting one. The Giants will be starting their other young ace Matt Cain. Cain nearly sent the Giants into a one game playoff with the San Diego Padres for the division after a poor outing on the second to last day of the season.

He will match up against Atlanta’s young right-hander Tommy Hanson, who is making his postseason debut—but then again who isn’t in this series?

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With a gem of a shutout by Tim Lincecum, it’s hard to look at game one of the NLDS through anything but rose colored glasses for Giants fans.

The Incredible Hulk (Lincecum) pitched a two hitter, struck out 14, broke a Giants postseason record for Ks in a game, and tied a major league record for most Ks in a postseason debut.

But as great as Lincecum was, Lady Luck was even greater because Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe was also dealing.

Buster Posey led off the 4th inning with a single.Then, Pat Burrell swung and missed for strike three on a hit and run.

Posey slid into second base and tried to dodge the tag of 2B Brooks Conrad. Posey joked after the game, “I’m glad we don’t have instant replay.”

It was his first stolen base at the Major League level. And probably his last.

After Uribe struck out, Braves Manager Bobby Cox intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval so Derek Lowe could square off against Cody Ross.

Lowe would try to dance around Ross with Lincecum on deck and an open base.

But Lowe made a mistake and threw a 2-0 pitch too close to the plate.Ross smashed it to the left of third baseman Omar Infante.

Lady luck took over as Infante misplayed the ball.

Even though it was scored a single, anyone watching the game could see it was a misplay and should have been ruled an error.

So the Giants tripled up on luck in the inning to score the only run of the game: Posey’s stolen base, Lowe’s mistake, Infante’s error and Cox’s gamble in not intentionally walking Ross.

You may recall the reverse happened to the Giants earlier in the year versus Colorado when Bochy let Lincecum nibble at Clint Barmes.

Barmes got a hit and Colorado won the game, so maybe the Giants were owed one.

In any event, this game was decided in the tiniest details.

Most of the Giants postseason games probably will be.

Which makes the other managerial blunder so hard to take.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Posey led off with a double and got to third on a fielding error.

After Burrell struck out, Juan Uribe walked to give the Giants runners on first and third with one out.

This was the nail in the coffin moment. If the Giants put another run or two on the board, that was it.

Cox knew it, so decided to turn Pablo Sandoval around by making a pitching change to lefty Jonny Venters.

It was Bochy’s turn to return serve.

He could have pinch hit Aaron Rowand or Edgar Renteria, and in case Cox fired back he had lefties Fontenot, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz ready as well.

But with several options, he just let Cox’s serve go right by him.

Giants fans all knew what the most probable outcome was: Pablo Sandoval would ground into a double play. It would probably be a first pitch swing, and out of the strike zone.

It doesn’t take any statistical analysis or a PhD in probability theory to know it was a terrible, terrible move by Bochy.

It was like torturous slow motion as the exact thought in the back of every Giants fan manifested itself on the field.

So on a night that might inspire cautious optimism, it’s important to remember reality.

Thank Lady Luck and hope the Braves keep playing bad defense.

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The Yankees gave the ball to veteran lefty Andy Pettitte in Game 2 of the ALDS. On the mound for The Twins, was former Yankee Carl Pavano. The Twins needed Pavano to come through for them but the Yankee offense was too much for Pavano.

Pettitte went seven innings giving up five hits while allowing just two runs, and just one walk. Pettitte delivered as he always does, earning his 19th victory during the postseason, which is the most all time. 

The Twins got on Pettitte in the second inning when rookie Danny Valencia hit a sacrifice fly to score Delmon Young, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Yankees responded in the fourth inning off an Alex Rodriguez sacrifice fly, scoring Curtis Granderson. The Bombers got one more in the fifth from an unlikely Lance Berkman. Berkman belted an opposite-field home run, giving the Yanks a 2-1 lead.

Pettitte continued to pitch well, and allowed his only other run in the sixth inning on an Orlando Hudson home run. The Twins tied the game at two, but it was only a matter of time before the Yankee lineup came alive. After a controversial pitch that was called a ball, Lance Berkman hit an RBI double, scoring Jorge Posada. Derek Jeter then singled in Berkman, extending the Yankee lead to 4-2.

Pettitte pitched a scoreless seventh, which would be his last inning of work. Kerry Wood entered the game in the eighth inning, resembling the Kerry Wood from his early days with the Chicago Cubs. Wood pitched a scoreless eighth, setting it up for Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees tacked on one more run in the ninth inning off a Curtis Granderson single. Granderson continued his hot hitting going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Mariano Rivera relieved Wood and gave up one hit in the ninth inning, but got out of it without allowing a run. Mo earned the save giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the series. 

The Yankees head back home, where 18-game winner Phil Hughes will go head to head with Brian Duensing.

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When the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim finally beat the Boston Red Sox in last year’s postseason after years of getting their butts kicked, they needed to exercise their demons in dramatic fashion. They swept the Red Sox in the ALDS and did so by coming back against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

Not only did they beat him, they really pounded him into the ground. If the Minnesota Twins are finally going to beat the New York Yankees, they are going to need to do the same thing. They are going to need to walk into the lion’s den and spit into the face of the lion.

Until that happens, the Yankees will continue to beat on the Twins like they did in Game 2 of their series. The Yankees once again beat the Twins, this time by a score of 5-2, to take a 2-0 series lead in their best-of-five ALDS.

This game turned for the worse for the Twins in the top of the seventh inning.

After Orlando Hudson tied the game at two in the bottom of the sixth, Carl Pavano had to come out in the seventh and shut the Yankees down. It was a must. Pavano did anything but.

Needing a shutdown inning, Pavano walked Jorge Posada to start the inning, which was an absolute no-no. Then the Yankees-Twins karma, luck, whatever you want to call it kicked in.

On a 1-2 pitch, Pavano threw a two-seam, tailing fastball right over the inside corner to Lance Berkman. It was a strike to everyone except home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. Berkman would have been struck out, but of course he got another chance.

You just knew that Berkman was going to do something good. That’s how it worked for the Yankees in the ’90s and last year. They get those magical breaks that they always seem to get and then they capitalize on them.

On the very next pitch, Berkman ripped a double to center, the Yankees had a 3-2 lead, and they never looked back. Classic Yankees’ postseason magic right there.

Here are some observations from Game 2…

Andy Pettitte is as automatic in the second game of series as any other pitcher in postseason history. Five hits, two runs, and just one walk over seven innings of work. The Yankees will miss him just as much as they will as Mariano Rivera when he retires.

Mauer is two-for-nine in two games for the Twins. He needs to do better than that if the Twins are going to win.

Curtis Granderson continues to rake. Three-for-four and hit four bullets. Yankees’ hitting coach Kevin Long deserves major kudos for turning Granderson around at the plate.

Berkman’s HR off of Pavano in the fifth inning to left-center field is further proof that when a lefty makes solid contact to the opposite field, it’s the sweetest swing in the game.

You could see Ron Gardenhire’s ejection after the missed called strike to Berkman coming a mile away. I would say that was more egregious than the Michael Young missed check swing in the Rays–Rangers game.

Lost in this game will be the amazing job Jon Rauch did in the top of the seventh. He came in with the bases loaded and one-out and had to face Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano. Rauch got A-Rod to strike out and Cano to pop out to Hudson at second. It was really an impressive outing.

Ever since Kerry Wood learned how to throw a cutter from Rivera, he looks as dominant as ever. Twins had no chance against him in the eighth.

Jason Kubel has two hits in 25 career postseason at-bats. He killed the Twins last year and he is doing the same again this year.

Game 3 will be Saturday night at 8:37 PM est.

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