I decided to start my night off right, which meant getting a good luck hug from Mickey Rivers outside Stan’s Sports World, where he was autographing. I don’t think he actually remembers me from one year to the next, although I’ve interviewed him many times in Spring Training. But he’s a sweetheart, no other way to describe him.

I also ran into Seth Everett, now of XM Radio, formerly of MLB.com. Seth recognizes me, but I think can never quite remember who I am either. I probably look quite different when I am pinstriped-up in my fan gear than when I am in my professional writer get-up. (For those who don’t know, the spring training uniform of the baseball writer is a polo shirt in a neutral color with bermuda shorts with pockets to hold your voice recorder and notebook. If you wear a hat to keep the sun off your face, it’s always a neutral non-team affiliated hat. I usually wear one I got from ESPN, even though I don’t write for them. Anyway, hi Seth if you’re reading this! You know me as the editor of Yankees Annual and we met in either Tampa or Clearwater, or maybe it was Lakeland? Probably all three, now that I think about it.)

Anyway, back to tonight when I was out to express my rooting interest and hopefully see the team I love get off the mat.

The weather was brisk, the wind having reversed from last night, blowing a little bit in and from right to left. It was cold, but much nicer than last night. Also, mysteriously, it always feels warmer at the stadium when the Yankees score runs.

A. J. Burnett had his stuff. In fact, he seemed to have stuff we hadn’t seen from him before. In the first inning, he established strike one quickly. The Phillies drew first blood, scratching a run with two outs, after Ibanez doubled and then a ground ball got through the infield off the bat of Matt Stairs. AJ did not pitch scared. He attacked the strike zone and got ahead of hitters. He threw a lot of pitches, but so did Pedro. In fact, both pitchers racked up high pitch counts early. Pedro had 61 pitches after three innings and AJ had 59 pitches.

Kudos to Jose Molina for the big pickoff of Jayson Werth in the fourth. Werth had led off the inning with a base hit and the crowd was worried that it might be the spark that started a brush fire of the Phillies offense. The Panda snuffed that with a heads-up throw to Teixeira.

Teixeira. When he came to bat in the bottom of the inning, I was in a crowded ladies room. They play the radio play by play in the bathrooms in the new stadium, so I was washing my hands when I heard John Sterling go into his patented home run call. Every stall was full at that point, with women in line. The screams of joy were deafening.

I returned to my seat to find the party in full swing. You would have thought he had hit a grand slam to put the Yankees way head, not just tied the game, but somehow there was a feeling of confidence that returned to the fans. If Tex, who had been struggling, could get going like that, surely that meant we were going to be OK?

The feeling was only fueled even more by how great Burnett continued to pitch. Pedro and he continued to duel. Pedro was always wily, but he was even wilier than ever. I knew he had taken the place of Jamie Moyer in the Phillies rotation, but I didn’t know he had taken over the role of Thrower of a Dizzying Array of Off-Speed Junk. His curve ball ranged from 69 mph to 79 mph, and his fastball(s) ranged from 84 to 91. The scoreboard guy didn’t even label half the pitches since he couldn’t figure out what they were. The pitch that Pedro threw to Tex that left the park came in at 75 miles per hour. According to FOX tv, it left the bat at 106.

Burnett threw 22 out of 25 first pitch strikes. That is phenomenal.

Just listened to Pedro on the postgame show. I’m typing this in the car on the way home, of course. Pedro says Tex hit a good pitch, whereas the one that Matsui hit, he said he might have thrown something different if he’d thought about it a bit more. Matsui hit a solo shot in the sixth, to put the Yankees up 2-1.

After six innings he had thrown 96 pitches, and then he came out to pitch the seventh. The crowd was going nuts, supporting him all the way. And he got two called strike outs, and then Feliz grounded out. The party was rocking.

I was predicting at that point that if the Yankees didn’t score five runs, Girardi would go to Mariano for a six-out save. As it turned out, the Yankees managed a small rally, one run on three hits, including a nice pinch single from Posada. They might have had more if not for a strange double play where everyone on the field seemed to see something different. The official call was that the liner to first was caught in the air and then Posada was doubled off first, but some thought it was short-hopped. In any case, they did get an insurance run, and on came Mo for a six out save.

Getting the job done required a nifty double play to end the eighth, but when Mo needed it, he got it. With two outs in the ninth, including the Golden Sombrero for Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez doubled, but Matt Stairs struck out to seal the deal.

The two games were so similar in some ways, being such close pitcher’s duels. And I’ll point out that the two big boppers, Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard, have both been shut down. A-Rod is 0-for-8 with 6 strikeouts, while Howard is 2-for-9 with 6 strikeouts. I worry that A-Rod is psyched out, but perhaps he will bust out in the homer haven of Philly, especially if Hamels doesn’t have it.

Looking forward to the day off tomorrow to rest and recuperate. Tonight was my last game at the stadium this year no matter what happens in the series, since if it goes to a game 6 or 7 I will be on my way to South Carolina for a convention at that point. So it is sports bars for me this weekend and then XM radio. Seth Everett, I’m listening to you.

It was a game in which no pitcher was happy. In tonight’s game, Phil Hughes took the loss, and in postgame interviews put all the blame on his own shoulders, but the Yankees’ six-run uprising in the seventh inning was made necessary by A.J. Burnett’s dismal start out of the gate, and possible by Mike Scioscia yanking his protesting starter with two outs in the seventh only to see his bullpen melt down.

At first blush, it looks like Lackey was the one who was going to struggle. Derek Jeter, suffering from a cold but ever eager to play, singled on the first pitch of the game. Two pitches later, Johnny Damon pulled a ground ball to right for another base hit. But Lackey bore down, caught Teixeira looking, got A-Rod to pop up harmlessly, and then Matsui to ground weakly to first.

Then it was Burnett’s turn on the hill. He walked Chone Figgins on five pitches to start the game, then gave up four consecutive hits within the space of seven more pitches, and not a soft one in the bunch. That’s right, it took only 12 pitches for it to be 4-0 Angels. After that, Burnett got a fly ball and a double play to end the inning, and he settled down, allowing only three hits over the next five innings and striking out three, despite losing his personal catcher in the fifth to a pinch-hitting Jorge Posada. Unfortunately, Lackey got Posada looking for the sixth Yankee K of the night.

Lackey retired Nick Swisher, who has been struggling the whole postseason, on a pop fly to center to start the seventh, then gave up a double to Melky Cabrera. This time Posada worked a walk, ball four coming on a pitch Lackey (and Fox PitchTrax) thought was strike three on the inside corner. Rattled, he then walked Jeter on four straight, but got Damon to fly out.

That was when Scioscia brought out the hook. Lackey was vehement on the mound and reading the word “mine!” on his lips repeatedly was not difficult. But Scioscia took the ball anyway, and handed it to Darren Oliver.

Oliver is a lefty pitcher the Yankees have seen a lot in his lengthy career, since he used to be a starter for Texas, and also passed through Boston briefly. If memory serves, they used to pound him pretty good, leading to the expectation (or perhaps the hope) that pretty soon they would pound him again.

The pounding didn’t go on for long. Teixeira, who had been oh-for-the-postseason with runners in scoring position, doubled on Oliver’s very first pitch to bring in three runs. After an intention walk to A-Rod (c’mon, WHY would you pitch to this guy right now?), lefty Matsui brought Tex in and tied the game with a base hit, and that ended Oliver’s night. On came Kevin Jepsen, who then gave up a double to Robinson Cano, insuring that Oliver earned all three runs from the three batters he had faced, while Oliver allowed all three inherited runners to score–six runs in all.

But the Yankees gave one back right away when Burnett went back to the hill. After the long, long inning, Burnett thought he wasn’t stiff or tired. But he gave up a base hit to Mathis, then walked the number nine hitter, Erick Aybar. Mathis is the guy who hit the game-winner the other night, and he was now three-for-three on the night, prompting me to wonder why Mike Napoli has been in there at all. Probably Napoli is better against lefties in career numbers, and with Sabathia and Pettitte, slated to see more action. But Mathis has been hot. Burnett left the game having put the tying runs on base. He looked just as morose as Lackey as Damaso Marte faced Figgins. Figgins dropped down a tectbook bunt to move the runners up, and then Marte got a ground ball to first from Abreu, which brought in a run.

Out with Marte, who did get two outs but allowed an inherited runner to score, and in with Phil Hughes.

This was not the time to get bat shy, but Hughes faltered, admitting after the game he was “trying to be too fine.” It looked to me more like he just didn’t have control, and so a pitch he said was supposed to be “up and in” was right through the heart of the plate. He walked Torii Hunter, then threw that meatball to Vlad Guerrero, who laced it for the game-tying RBI. Then Kendry Morales did the same thing, making it 7-6 Angels. Hughes struck out Maicer Izturis to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Jered Weaver then pitched the eighth, one two three, including strikeouts of Posada and Jeter, so maybe he was happy, although it probably doesn’t feel great for a starter to come out of the bullpen like that. I’m sure since they won he was happy to contribute.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees went to Joba, who didn’t look that dominating either, giving up a leadoff double to Juan Rivera. He was the guy who finally retired Mathis, though, striking him out, but Erick Aybar got just enough of the bat on the ball to get it through the infield, and with men on the corners and one out, Girardi went to Mo.

Mo got a rare fly ball from Figgins (I thought surely if Scioscia was going to put on the squeeze, it would have been here, but he decided not to over-manage) into short right. Nick Swisher put on the biggest crow hop I’ve ever seen–more of a pterodactyl hop–and they had to send the runner back to third. Then a harmless fly to center from Abreu, and Mariano had done it again… except it wasn’t a save situation. The only way to make Mo happy would be to score some runs in the top of the ninth and then give him the ball to shut the door.

It almost happened. Almost. Brian Fuentes, the Angels’ closer, came on to get the final three outs. Johnny Damon pulled a laser shot but right into the glove of Morales at first. Teixeira flew out quickly. With two out and no one on, they elected to intentionally walk A-Rod (and Guzman ran for him). THen Fuentes unintentionally walked Matsui (and Gardner ran for him). Then he hit Robinson Cano on the second pitch of the at bat to load the bases.

Bringing up Nick Swisher. Swisher, who has been scuffling, striking out when he should be walking. Maybe even pressing. Swisher chopped a ball right to Figgins at third, who gloved it and stepped on the bag and it seemed like the game was over. But no! It was called foul and Swisher was giving a new lease on life. Could this be one of those magical moments any championship team needs to win? Another changeup, another foul. The count mounted. Soon it was 3-2. Now all it would take is a wild pitch, a hit batter, ball four, any of the above, to tie the game and give the Yankees a chance to bury the Angels for the year. But all it would take is one strike, or one out, to ensure they would live to see at least one more game. Fuentes had pitched horribly, but if he could make this one pitch, all would be erased.

On the seventh and final pitch of the at bat, Fuentes challenged him, a fastball in the middle of the plate, a four-seamer at 91 miles an hour. And Swisher popped it up to short to end the game.

He has now tied the record for consecutive postseason games with an RBI at eight. Sharing that record currently with Ryan Howard and Lou Gehrig.

He has 11 RBIs thus far this postseason and a combined ALDS/ALCS average of .407.

He is having the time of his life.

He is Alex Rodriguez, who has finally learned the Jeter knack of being a world beater, just going up there and relishing the chance to do something big.

Jeter is human. So are all the Yankees. Jeter himself got picked off first after a nice Jeterian hit into right to lead off the game. Oops. Jorge Posada forgot how many outs there were and ran off the field, leaving home plate unprotected with a man on third. Nick Swisher got picked off second, according to replays, although the umpire blew the call. The umpires are human, too. Tim McClelland, the veteran ump who called George Brett out for too much pine tar several decades ago, blew two calls at third base tonight, one for the Yankees (ruling only Posada out when both he and Cano had been tagged out) and one against them (Swisher for leaving the bag too early on a sac fly when he actually left right on time).

But right now Alex feels like Superman and the whole team is enjoying the ride on his cape.

One of the Yankees who was scuffling this October, Melky Cabrera, had a big game, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a run scored, and four RBIs. He got himself going with a bunt base hit in the third, then had a two-RBI single in the third, walked and scored on Damon’s homer in the 8th, and capped off the night with a two-RBI double in the ninth.

It’s nice to see Johnny break out with homers on back to back days, as well. Earlier in the postseason he didn’t seem to have his good swing going, but he stayed in the game by taking some balls the other way into left. Now he seems to be heating up. Now if only Teixeira will follow suit. He had only one hit tonight, after striking out twice against Kazmir, but in the first inning, the second to last pitch of the at bat he pulled deep into the left field seats, just foul.

Right now the only two players I am still worrying about are Swisher, who still doesn’t seem to be seeing the ball that well, despite working a walk in the third, and Posada, who still seems a little preoccupied, although he had a nice night at the plate, including a double and two walks, and a stolen base. Yes, you read that right, a stolen base… which makes me wonder if he missed a sign (or if Matsui did). Matsui was the only Yankee in tonight’s lineup who did not join the party, never reaching base in any fashion and ending up with the hat trick. He saw the ball well off John Lackey in Game 1, though, so hopefully he will again Thursday night.

I have tickets for the games this weekend should it come to that, but honestly I hope they just wrap things up in Anaheim on Thursday. The last trip to the World Series, in 2003, feels like a long time ago. Time to write some new history books, isn’t it, guys?

–

P.S. My full recap of tonight’s game will appear in the morning in the Baseball Early Bird newsletter. But it was an easy one to recap. Sabathia had it (8 IP, 1 solo homer, 5 Ks), and Kazmir didn’t (4+, 4 BB, 4 ER) and neither did anyone else in the La-La-Land bullpen, really, as the Yankees got at least one hit off each pitcher, and only Darren Oliver earned no runs. A-Rod and Damon hit homers, Melky had 4 RBIs, Jeter tallied two more hits, and what started out a tight game became a lopsided beating.

It began with A. J. Burnett and lefty Joe Saunders. Burnett’s fastball was moving, and Saunders’ power sinker was getting ground balls. They each gave up two runs. Saunders blinked first, when Nick Swisher worked a two-out walk. It’s a good sign for the Yankees when Swisher walks, and perhaps it means he is getting back on track for the postseason. He came around to score immediately when Robinson Cano hit a triple that split Abreu and Hunter perfectly. The next inning Derek Jeter hit another postseason homer, another into the right field porch. Burnett’s armor cracked in the fifth. With the weather radar showing imminent pouring rain on the way, the Yankees wanted to get through the fifth with the lead, but Maicer Izturis led off with a double, then scored on a one-out single by Erick Aybar. Aybar himself came around as a result of Burnett’s struggles, first stealing a bag, then moving up on a walk, and scoring on a wild pitch.

The game would stay 2-2 for a long time. The Yankees would threaten in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, and suffer double plays in all three innings. Both teams also had more than their usual share of defensive miscues, probably thanks to the cold weather, but both managed to keep their mistakes from scoring.

Coke, Joba, and Hughes all had big strikeouts in key spots, and then Mariano finished the 8th with a single pitch, getting Aybar to ground out. Mo then pitched the ninth and the tenth, but try as they might, the Yankees couldn’t push across the winning run. Then in the eleventh, the Angels struck back. With the rain starting to pour down heavily, Alfredo Aceves walked the leadoff man Gary Mathews, Jr. who had come in as a pinch hitter in the 8th. Aybar bunted him to second, bringing Chone Figgins to the plate.

Figgins was 0-for 18 in the postseason coming into the at bat. He finally came through with a big RBI double, scoring Aybar, and pumping his fist when he reached second base. But after intentionally walking Abreu (who was hot in the ALDS but who has been completely neutralized by Yankee pitching so far), Aceves finally got the Angels to ground into a double play, bringing the Yankees to the plate trailing by one run.

On came Brian Fuentes, the Angels’ closer and author of a league-leading 48 saves this year. The first man he faced: Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod hadn’t done much at all yet this game, showing 0-for-4, but of course in two of the previous four postseason games he had hit game-tying homers in the late innings.

Well, he did it again. A fly ball that just cleared the wall in the short post in right, blowing the save and setting up another classic in the Bronx. Ultimately it would come down to the thirteenth inning. The only pitcher not used by Girardi was Chad Gaudin, while for the Angels they had former starter Ervin Santana, who had ben demoted to the bullpen earlier in the season, on the hill.

Girardi sent Jerry Hairston, Jr. up to pinch hit for Freddy Guzman, who had pinch run in the ninth, but had struck out in the eleventh looking overmatched. Hairston laced a single into left. Gardner bunted him over. The Angels then intentionally walked Robinson Cano, to face Melky. Loyal fans in the upper deck held up a sign that merely read: “WE WANT PIE.”

Melky hit a ground ball in the first base hole. Izturis slid and grabbed it, but the ball was wet, his fingers were cold, and he threw the ball to second base trying to get the force out there, which would have put runners on the corners with two outs. But he threw the ball away, so that even with a dive Aybar could not get it, and Hairston scampered home, to the delight of almost 50,000 freezing cold fans. (The rain which had begun at the top of the eleventh had not let up.) Hairston was immediately mobbed at home plate, pummeled into the ground by his jubilant teammates, and then treated to the traditional whipped cream pie in the face during his postgame interview.

Other notes on the game:

Jeter was intentionally walked in the tenth with a man in scoring position. That man was Melky who had been called safe on a double play at second when the Angels were not given the “neighborhood play.” On the other side of the umpiring coin, Jeter was called out at first on a double play in the fifth when he had actually beaten the throw. Replays showed that on the “neighborhood play,” Melky’s foot actually did touch the bag before Aybar completed the dance around him, yet 95% of the time, the out would have been awarded. Replays also showed Jeter was safe.

Mark Teixeira’s defense at first base has earned him many stars in my scorecard. Tonight there were two more in the fourth inning, when the Angels would have gotten a rally going if not for the great defense. Torii Hunter led off the inning with a shot that A-Rod made a great play on, then gunned the ball to Teix, who had to make it great at his end as well. Replays showed the umpire got the call right. The very next batter was Vlad Guerrero. During the at bat, Jose Molina took a foul ball off the mask, and after he shook it off somewhat he got back behind the plate. The very next pitch, Vlad swung and missed, but Molina couldn’t squeeze it, and had to search for the ball. Talk about lucky breaks–Guerrero himself kicked the ball into Molina’s line of sight as he ran, and Molina was able to throw to Teixeira just in time to nip him. Another great play by Teix.

Fuentes can join the club of closers who faltered this postseason, along with Papelbon, Joe Nathan, and Huston Street. Mariano Rivera threw 25 pitches in this non-save situation, and will be rested and ready for game three, thanks to an off day tomorrow.

Some numbers: the game took 5:10, used fourteen pitchers, and 432 total pitches to get through.

I was reminded strongly of Reggie Jackson tonight, when thinking about both Jeter and A-Rod. Jeter, because he is now at third on the all-time postseason home run list, passing both Mantle and Reggie, and A-Rod because he has been coming up with clutch home runs at a prodigious rate this October. And like A-Rod, Reggie was a guy who heard the boos, was reviled in the press, was ragged on for being overpaid, too sensitive, too self-centered, etc. etc. Reggie cut through all the bullshit with those big swings of his bat. A-Rod is finally doing the same.

A final note on A-Rod. I rarely quote stats from FOX TV because they are usually meaningless or common knowledge. But I liked this one. Alex Rodriguez in 2009 hit 30 homers and had 100 RBIs, and 15 of the 30 homers, and 50 of the 100 RBIs, either tied a game or gave the Yankees the lead. This is very definitely not the pattern shown in some previous years, but who cares about previous years right now? The magic number is six.

Jeter got the scoring started in the first, with one of his patented Jeterian hits to right field. He moved to third when Johnny Damon went the other way to drop a single into left in front of former Yankee Juan Rivera. Mike Scoscia looked like he wanted to bust a vein when Rivera threw the ball in badly, allowing Damon to go to second. John Lackey bore down and got a harmless pop off the bat of Teixeira, but then came Alex Rodriguez.

With his resurgent play this postseason, corwin and I have taken to saying “Here comes that man again,” every time he comes to the plate. Because more often than not, he does something good. This time it was a sac fly to center, scoring Jeter and bringing Matsui to the plate. Matsui popped up, too, but the wind was whipping, perhaps leading to some confusion as the ball dropped untouched on the infield. Damon scored all the way from second to make it 2-0.

The Angels got a run in the fourth when Vlad Guerrero cracked a ball that should have landed in the bullpen, but the wind knocked it down so that it fell on the warning track for a double instead. (My brother texted me from the cheesesteak line at the Stadium to say he thought it was blowing at least 20 mph.) Kendry Morales brought him in with a base hit, but that would be the only run that CC Sabathia would allow. By the end of the night, the Halos tallied only four hits total, Vlad’s double the only extra base hit. CC walked only one and struck out six.

Overall, the heart of the Angels’ order was 2 for 11 on the night with one walk, with Torii Hunter almost beating out a throw to first that had Scoscia out of the dugout to argue. The ball was fielded in front of the mound by Sabathia, who fired to Teixeira, who only got the ball by virtue of a textbook split stretch, where only his tippy toe was touching the bag. Replays on FOX showed the tippy toe. (Tippy toe is a technical term, you know.)

Lackey was good, too, but not as good with his defense faltering behind him. Damon led off the fifth with a double, another hit to the opposite field, and then Matsui knocked him in. In the sixth, with two outs, Melky worked a walk, then moved to second on Lackey’s own throwing error when he threw a pickoff away. Jeter brought him in right away with an RBI hit that ended Lackey’s night. He threw 114 pitches in 5.2 innings, 4 runs, 2 earned, striking out three and walking three.

Meanwhile, CC’s pitch count was at only 80 pitches after six, 98 pitches after seven. The Yankees had a long inning in the seventh, mounting a faux rally as pitcher Scott Bulger walked two and hit a batter to load the bases, only to come back and strike out Nick Swisher. (Swisher has looked off throughout this postseason so far, in that he seems to be swinging at bad pitches–ones he would normally take.) All through the long inning, CC stayed on the bench, his hands in his jacket pockets, waiting to go back out for the 8th. He had a 1-2-3 eighth, ending the night with 115 pitches.

The only reason I would question why it might have been better to go to Hughes in the eighth is that the Yankees plan to pitch Sabathia in game 4 on three days rest, so why push him to his limit? But perhaps it was better to just make sure this one was in the bag.

Which was what Mo Rivera did in his 80th postseason appearance. It took him a batter to shake off the rust, walking Torii Hunter to lead off the inning, but the next three batters went down relatively easily, in yet another postseason save.

Now if only the rain will hold off for Saturday’s game, too, and hopefully the Yankees will have the same result.