(Long Island, NY) After finishing the regular season as one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Yankees had to feel confident heading into the American League Division Series. By qualifying as the Wild Card team, the Bombers had to travel to Cleveland for the first two games against the AL Central Division champion Indians, who they defeated in all six meetings during the summer. Still, all in all, having set their rotation up with Chien-Ming Wang facing Indians ace C.C Sabathia, Joe Torre’s club had to get at least a split on the road.
After dropping the first game by a lopsided score of 12-3, the pressure is on Andy Pettitte to get even. After taking an early 1-0 lead on a disputed home run by leftfielder Johnny Damon, Wang allowed the Indians to take a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning. Cleveland, who is back in the postseason after a six-year absence, never looked back and pounded Wang and reliever Ross Ohlendorf for 11 earned runs and 13 hits in only 5 2/3 innings.
Sabathia, who entered the game with a 1-7 record and a 7.13 ERA over his career against New York, was not as sharp as he was during the regular season, but left the game after five innings with a 9-3 lead. He also matched his walks for the entire month of September with six and allowed two solo home runs to left-handed hitters. It was his first time facing the Yankees in three years.
The turning point in the game came in the top of the fifth inning when the Yankees had two runners in scoring position with only one out. Sabathia intentionally walked Alex Rodriguez (0-2, 2 walks) to get to catcher Jorge Posada. After working the count to 3-0, Posada ended up striking out, setting the table for Hideki Matsui. Once again, Sabathia fell behind with two straight pitches out of the strike zone before enticing Matsui to pop out to shortstop Jhonny Peralta.
“Posada helped me out a little bit,” Sabathia said to reporters, “ and I was able to get out of it. These guys swung the bats and picked me up huge.”
Cleveland opened the game up in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run by Victor Martinez, who is making his first appearance in the postseason. Kenney Lofton, who is back for his third stint in Cleveland after a late-season trade with Texas, felt that the game made him feel younger than his 40 years. “I was trying to tell these guys how exciting it was in ’95,” he said. “I said if we start winning and doing things, the crowd is going to get excited.”
The 44,608 in attendance at Jacobs Field had a lot to cheer about, and Lofton was the catalyst by legging out a double (in addition to two other base hits), one stolen base and four RBI. It was a night of accomplishments, as Lofton’s steal was his 33rd in the postseason, tying Rickey Henderson. With four home runs, Cleveland matched their team playoff high after performing that feat twice in 1998.
Torre realizes that one game does not make an entire series. “Let’s just get over it and lick our wounds and then we’ll figure it out,” he said to reporters after the game. In a short series, a win in Game 2 is imperative, and Pettitte will have to forget his past games versus the Indians in the playoffs. Lifetime, he has an 0-3 mark with a 9.73 ERA in three starts, the type of numbers that do not garner confidence after a drubbing less than 24 hours earlier. Pettitte’s overall postseason numbers (14-9) will show that he has what it takes to be effective. The question is if he can do that versus Cleveland heading into the game.
Fausto Carmona, who matched Sabathia’s 2007 win total during the regular season with 19, will oppose him. He finished the season with five wins in September and his last home loss was on August 10 against the Yankees, when he gave up four earned runs in seven innings. Only in his second year in the major leagues, this will be his first start with the money on the table and the 23 year-old righthander will be giving up many years of experience to Pettitte. How that transcends on the field will be decided tonight.
