Chien-Ming Wang will start game 1 of the ALDS. I think that's the right call. He is the ace of this team. Here is the schedule (along with probable starters):

Game 1: Yankees at Indians, October 4 on TBS (Wang vs. C.C. Sabathia)
Game 2: Yankees at Indians, October 5 on TBS (Andy Pettitte vs. Fausto Carmona)
Game 3: Indians at Yankees, October 7 on TBS (Roger Clemens vs. Jake Westbrook)
*Game 4: Indians at Yankees, October 8 on TBS or TNT (Mike Mussina vs. Paul Byrd)
*Game 5: Yankees at Indians, October 10 on TBS (Wang vs. Sabathia)

* - if necessary. Times are yet to be announced.

Bryan Hoch reports that Matsui will be getting fluid off his right knee drained. He isn't expected to miss any of the ALDS, but he will miss today's season finale.

Pettitte got pounded in this one, allowing 8 earned runs (and 1 unearned run) on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings. And, yet, he picked up victory number 15.

The reason for that? Mainly, the Yankees half of the 4th inning where they scored 10 runs. Here's how it went:

Jorge Posada singles.
Shelley Duncan singles, moving Posada to 3rd.
Bronson Sardinha singles, scoring Posada and moving Duncan to 2nd.
Alberto Gonzalez reaches on an error by the shortstop, scoring Duncan and moving Sardinha to 3rd. Gonzalez advances to 2nd.
Melky Cabrera doubles, scoring Sardinha and Gonzalez.
Wilson Betemit singles, scoring Cabrera
Betemit advances to 2nd on a passed ball.
Bobby Abreu walks.
Jason Giambi doubles, scoring Betemit and moving Abreu to 3rd.
Robinson Cano singles, scoring Abreu and Giambi.
Posada (the 10th hitter) strikes out for the first out.
Shelley Duncan homers, scoring Cano.
Sardinha walks.
Gonzalez grounds into a double play ball for outs two and three.

Besides that inning, the only other Yankees run was scored on a Posada RBI single (scoring Cano) in the 2nd. The other 7 innings were zeros. The Orioles scored 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 2nd, 2 in the 3rd, 3 in the 5th and 1 in the 8th. The 1 run came off of Ron Villone, who pitched 2 innings of relief. Edwar picked up a scoreless inning as did Veras, who picked up his 2nd save of the season.

It's been a long season, folks. The regular season comes to an end tomorrow. Your starting pitcher? The one - the only - Kei Igawa! He'll face Brian Burres. If the Yankees could find it in their heart to start Posada, A-Rod, Jeter and Matsui, my fantasy team would certainly appreciate it.

After last night's loss and the Red Sox victory, everything is set in stone. The Red Sox have won the American League East and the Yankees will face the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS.

Congratulations to the Red Sox and their fans.

Mariano Rivera didn't have it on Friday night in Baltimore. He entered in the bottom of the ninth with a 9-6 lead. He loaded the bases and got two outs, but Jay Payton hit a three run game tying triple which resulted in the Orioles tying the game.

In the 10th, the Yankees got a leadoff double from Jeter and he got to third with one out. A-Rod and Matsui were walked intentionally to load the bases. Molina and Giambi were retired without the Yankees scoring and the game went to the bottom of the tenth.

The Orioles got a one out double and the runner got to third. The Yankees returned the favor in loading the bases. Edwar Ramirez struck out Kevin Millar for the second out, but Melvin Mora laid down a perfect bunt to score the winning run.

Earlier in the game, the Yankees benefited from a four RBI night from A-Rod. He hit a two run homer, a run scoring double and a run scoring single.

Mike Mussina started for the Yankees and was ineffective. He gave up six runs in five innings and left leading 7-6. The Yankees would add two more runs with a Damon homer and an RBI single from A-Rod.

As a team, we've put together our postseason roster for the first round. Without further ado, here it is:

Hitters

C - Jose Molina
C - Jorge Posada
1B - Doug Mientkiewicz
2B - Robinson Cano
3B - Alex Rodriguez
SS - Derek Jeter
IF - Wilson Betemit
IF - Alberto Gonzalez
LF/DH - Hideki Matsui
CF - Melky Cabrera
RF - Bobby Abreu
OF/DH Johnny Damon
DH/1B - Jason Giambi
UT - Shelley Duncan

Pitchers

SP - Chien-Ming Wang
SP - Andy Pettitte
SP - Roger Clemens
SP - Mike Mussina
SP/RP - Phil Hughes
CL - Mariano Rivera
RP - Joba Chamberlain
RP - Luis Vizcaino
RP - Kyle Farnsworth
RP - Ron Villone
RP - Chris Britton

22 of the 25 spots were unanimous. The other 3 made the roster based on receiving votes from 3 out of 4 of us - they were Alberto Gonzalez, Jason Giambi and Chris Britton. There were 2 players who received votes who did not make the roster - Edwar Ramirez (2 votes) and Jose Veras.

There are a lot of folks out there who are quick to assume that the Yankees would be better off with the wild card considering their 6-0 record against the Indians and their 3-6 record against the Angels.

But remember...in 1997 the Yankees were in a similar situation, only this time futilely trying to stage a comeback against the divison leading Orioles. The Yanks were "better off" because they had a winning record against Cleveland and were 4-7 against the Mariners (according to baseball-reference.com), who would have been their opponent had they won the division. Sure enough the Yankees lost the ALDS in 5 games to the Indians, while the Orioles manhandled Seattle in three games.

I still want to see the Yanks pull this one off, as I'm sure most every Yankee fan still does, first-round matchups aside. Two games out with three to go. Certainly stranger things have happened...

Move over Frank Sinatra. The Board of Directors of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC announced today that Harold Z. (Hal) Steinbrenner has been elected as Chairman of the Board. This used to be Steve Swindal's spot and he was the heir-apparent (before the divorce) so it looks like Hal is the go-to guy now.

Mark Feinsand and Peter Abraham have good write ups on the celebration that followed the Yanks clinching a playoff spot. Worth a read.

Game 159 looked to be a fairly uninteresting game going in. The house money/rest everyone line-up was in as six of the regulars got a rest. Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Jorge Posada, Doug Mientkiewicz and Melky Cabrera were not in the line-up. Still, there was two big reasons to watch this game and they were both under the age of 24. Scott Kazmir was and starting and in need of 6 strikeouts to pass Johan Santana as the K leader for the majors. Phil Hughes was looking for a solid start against a good hitting team (Tampa Bay was 5th in the AL in scoring after the ASB - .276/.346/.443/.788 line for the team) to solidify his role on the postseason roster.

For the first 6 innings, the story was definitely the pitching. Hughes and Kazmir matched zeroes until the bottom of the fourth when Carlos Pena took Hughes deep for his 44th homerun and 119th RBI of the season. Anyone who expected that from Pena, raise your hands. Now hit yourself with that hand because you're lying.

Bronson Sardinha did get his first hit in the Majors in the third but it wasn't until the sixth that the Yankees even made Kazmir really work. Alberto Gonzalez hit a one-out single and was brought home on a Johnny Damon RBI double. Kazmir got out of the inning but that was it for him, 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER and 10 Ks. Wow - I'm sure that somewhere, there were some Mets fans watching that performance (against a very good hitting AL team) and wondering whatever happened to Victor Zambrano.

In the very next inning, the Yankees broke the tie against the (much maligned) Tampa Bay bullpen. With one out, Shelly Duncan singled and Robbie Cano doubled him over to third. It was Cano's 40th double of the year and he's now hit that mark two straight years. With Jose Molina up and one out, the Rays brought the infield in and it immediately burned them and Jose punched a soft single right past the drawn-in field for 2 RBIs. 3-1 Yankees.

Phil pitched through the 7th and was effective, giving up 4 hits and 2 walks (5 Ks) on 102 pitches. Joba Chamberlain came in (yes, he was used on back-to-back days) and was his usual effective self over on inning, giving up one hit but striking out 2 on 20 pitches. Righty Jose Veras came in for the ninth and nailed the door shut for his second career save (he's 2-2 now). Yankees win.

Watch below for interviews with Mariano Rivera, A-Rod, Jeter, Torre and Joba. From Tyler Kepner:


Bryan Hoch has this quote from Shelley Duncan:


Gotta love the rookie.

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Whether or not the Yankees catch the Red Sox for the American League East title, wild card or division winner, this season has got to be the most wild and riveting regular season for the Yankees that I might ever get to watch (sorry old timers, but I was born in 1985 so I missed the '78 campaign). The Yankees last night completed what's hopefully just the first chapter of their amazing comeback story as they clinched their 13th straight postseason berth after trailing in the wild card by 9 games on July 1 with a convincing 12-4 victory over Tampa Bay.

After the bullpen blew a 5-run lead the previous night, the offense made sure to give themselves a big enough cushion that only Tampa Bay's bullpen is capable of ruining (i.e. Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 when they basically handed the Red Sox the division crown). Derek Jeter homered and was just a triple away from the cycle, Cano homered and drove in 5, and Doug Mientkiewicz continued his renaissance with a 4-5 night. Four Yankees finished the game with 3 hits or more (Jeter, Posada, Damon and Mientkiewicz).

Chien-Ming Wang was solid in his final regular season start, allowing two runs and striking out 6 in six innings of work as he picked up his 19th win (2nd straight season). The bullpen pretty much held it down this time, aside from a two-run 8th for the Devil Rays courtesy of Luis Vizcaino. Joba and Mo each pitched scoreless innings.

Well, there are still four games left to play, and who's to say that the Yankees can't sweep the remaining four in Tampa Bay and Baltimore and the Red Sox can't lose three out of 4 to Minnesota? It's not likely but hey, there's definitely reason to watch. The Yankees will continue their quest to make their season even more magical tonight as Phil Hughes will go up against Scott Kazmir in a battle of young arms. Game starts at 7:10 E.T.

From the Post:


There are quotes from Giambi, Clippard and Kennedy in the article.

In 10 innings, the Devil Rays had 5 hits. We had 12. So, how'd we lose? 11 walks, that's how. They had 11 walks. While we had a healthy 6, that's not 11. They left 20 runners on base, even - while we left 16 on. But, with that said, the walks that killed us were the ones in the Devil Rays' half of the 6th inning.

Would it surprise you if I said that Kei Igawa had 0 ER in 5 innings? Well, he did. He issued 5 of those 11 walks, but only 2 hits and no one ever came around to score on him. It's just the Devil Rays, but it's always good to see someone have a decent performance.

No, the problems came after he exited the game, at the hands of Edwar Ramirez and Brian Bruney. Edwar entered and walked B.J. Upton. He retired Delmon Young, but then allowed Dioner Navarro to double, scoring Upton. Alright, that's OK, we have a 5-1 lead. Just let people hit the ball. The best hitters get out about 70% of the time. Argh, another walk, to Jonny Gomes. 1st and 2nd, 1 out. That would be the end of Edwar's hand in this and Brian Bruney would then come in and inherit those runners.

He just continued the walk parade, though, issuing one to Greg Norton to load the bases. And then, yes, another walk. This time, it's issued to Akinori Iwamura. That walks in a run. You walk enough guys and it's usually going to bite you. In just his 9th game this year, Jorge Velandia made us pay dearly by hitting a grand slam to seize the lead, 6-5. All 3 runners he drove in reached base on a walk. Before September 13, he had not appeared in the majors since September 28 of 2003. Ron Villone relieved Bruney and retired Carlos Pena to end the inning.

So, you go from having 5-0 lead after 5 and 1/2 innings, to being down 6-5 with 3 to play. In those 3 innings, we were only able to sneak in 1 run - on a Melky sac fly that scored Bronson Sardinha in the 8th. Meanwhile, the combination of Villone, Britton, Farnsworth and Veras pitched a scoreless 3 and 1/3 innings. So, we're headed to extras for the 3rd time in 5 days. After Cano, Molina and Cabrera went down in order in the top of the 10th, Jeff Karstens came in the pitch the bottom. It was over fast. The first batter he faced, the former Yankee Navarro, took him deep for a walk off homer. Game over.

A-Rod had a grand slam in the 3rd, scoring Damon, Jeter and Abreu. For the day, he had that and a walk. Damon was 5 for 5 with 2 R, Jeter was 2 for 5 with 1 2B, 1 R and 1 RBI, Abreu was 0 for 3 with 1 R and 2 BB, Matsui was 0 for 3 with 2 BB, Posada was 1 for 4, Cano was 3 for 5, Mientkiewicz was 0 for 2 with 1 BB and Melky was 0 for 4 with 1 RBI.

Going back to Jeter, it was about 2 weeks ago when I was hearing some people suggest that Jeter needed to sit down because he was hurting the team, playing hurt. I just don't see how you bench Derek Jeter, "slump" or not. He's not the problem. Wasn't even that bad of a slump, really. Not like he was going 3-5 games without reaching base or something. Since September 15 (10 games), he's 19 for 47 (.404) with 8 runs, 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, 1 walk and 1 stolen base. He's got a 12 game hitting streak.

Yankees didn't win and the Tigers didn't lose, so our magic number for the Wild Card sits at 1. The Red Sox did win, however, and their magic number for the East is now 3. Oh well. Today at 7:10 PM ET, we'll have Wang (18-7, 3.72 ERA) against J.P. Howell (1-5, 6.80 ERA). So, you're telling me there's a chance!

From the AP:


Figures. I start talking about pitching depth and Clemens is out for the regular season and Kennedy could be out for rest of this season.

There are a whole bunch of articles that note that IPK looks like he is done for the year. Here's one from the Daily News:


The articles don't definitively say whether or not he'll pitch in the playoffs but Torre's quote is pretty telling. Here's Newsday's version :


and the NY Post:

Update: Removed Jose Veras from this list. Mike makes a good point that the skin color is off. So, it's most likely Watanabe as was reported.

For the annual rookie hazing dress up, this year's theme was The Wizard of Oz. Here's the lineup (names linked to pictures).

The Cowardly Lion: Joba Chamberlain
The Scarecrow: Shelley Duncan
Palace Guard: Ross Ohlendorf
The Tin Man: Phil Hughes
Flying Monkey: Kei Igawa
The Wicked Witch of the West: Edwar Ramirez
Flying Monkey: Tyler Clippard
Munchkin Kid: Matt DeSalvo
Tree: Yumi Watanabe (Igawa's Translator)
Palace Guard: Bronson Sardinha
Mayor Munchkin: Dava Cavalea (Strength Coach)
Munchkin Kid: Alberto Gonzalez
Glinda the Good Witch: Chase Wright
Dorothy: Ian Kennedy

Jen from NoSenseWorrying.com has a great set of photos including a couple of classic shots of A-Rod and Mo and Mo and Jeter enjoying the moment.

The AP has an article on the event:


As does Yankees.com:


Via Jim Johnson and Ben.

With the Tigers loss yesterday (such a downer that we didn't win yesterday - yeah, I know it doesn't mean much, but to be one game back in the division with 6 to play?), our magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now 1. A Tigers loss or a Yankees win today seals it.

22 year old Jesse Litsch goes today. This isn't a gimme by any stretch but I'd much rather face the kid with 3.86 ERA after the ASB than the guy with the 1.97 ERA.

Clemens has been pushed back a day to Tuesday and Pettitte will start today, according to the official site. It'll be our final home game of the regular season and, if we can get a win, we'll be just 1 game back of the Red Sox. Crazy.

From the official site:

The Yankees struck first when, in the bottom of the second, Jorge singled in A-Rod to go up 1-0. Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum would be removed after 3 innings after having some issues with his right knee. Our starter, Phil Hughes, went 5 innings, throwing 99 pitches and allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

He gave up all 3 runs in one inning - the 4th - where he faced 7 batters allowing RBIs on a ground rule double and a single. The Yankees would come back and score 1 in the 5th (Matsui RBI triple, scoring Abreu) and 4 in the 6th (A-Rod RBI double, scoring Jeter and Minky and Matsui RBI single, scoring A-Rod and Abreu). The lead would go back and forth in this one, though.

The Blue Jays grabbed it back in the 7th with a 5 spot. Then the Yankees pulled it back by scoring 3 runs in the bottom half. Melky had a 2 RBI single, scoring Cano and Sardinha and A-Rod then singled in Melky.

The Blue Jays weren't done, though. They went ahead by 2 with 3 RBI singles in the top of the 8th, making the score 11-9. Neither were the Yankees. With 2 outs in the 8th, Melky singled in both Posada and Cano to tie it up at 11. Both teams went down in the 9th without scoring, leading us into extra innings for the second straight night.

The Yankees got a scare in the top of the 10th when, with Jeff Karstens on the hill, Aaron Hill doubled with 2 outs and Matt Stairs went for home. He was gunned down and the Blue Jays rally was over.

In the bottom of the 10th, Posada led off with a ground rule double. Damon pinch ran for Posada and the Blue Jays elected to give Giambi a free pass. Cano then flied to left to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Wilson Betemit was due up and a sac fly would get us the win. But, he struck out for the 2nd out. And then, Melky Cabrera stepped to the plate and delivered a 2 out, walk off single to win the game.

Huge night for the Melkster. He was 3 for 7 with 1 run and 5 RBIs, including 3 2 out RBIs - the final 3 RBIs of the game. In fact, the Yankees only had 3 RBIs that were not driven in with 2 outs. A-Rod had 3 2 out RBIs, as did Matsui.

Speaking of Matsui, he's definitely out of his slump. He went 3 for 6 tonight with a triple and 3 RBIs. A-Rod was huge today, too, going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and 1 walk. He now has 146 RBIs.

Here's how the other offensive starters did: Jeter was 2 for 6 with 1 run, Abreu was 0 for 3 with 2 runs and 3 walks, Posada was 3 for 5 with 1 run, 1 RBI and 1 walk, Giambi was 0 for 5 with 1 walk, Cano was 0 for 3 with 2 runs and 2 walks and Minky was 2 for 2 with 1 run and 1 walk. Speaking of Mientkiewicz, he's hitting .450 since being taken off the DL.

In all, our bullpen had to throw 5 innings of baseball and allowed 8 ER. It took 9 pitchers to do this, unfortunately. Here are the lines:

Villone: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Ohlendorf: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Veras: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Ramirez: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Farnsworth: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Britton: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Igawa: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Rivera: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Karstens: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Whew. Karstens got the win - his first win in the Majors since September 19 - of last year. The Yankees have played almost 24 innings of baseball in the last 2 days. If there is anything good to mention, it's the fact that the Blue Jays are also getting worn out and we have 2 more games with them, rather than having to go and play a team that is a bit fresher.

In all, 25 pitchers have appeared in these 2 games - with 7 pitchers throwing in both of them. The Blue Jays have ran out Roy Halladay, Scott Downs, Casey Janssen, Jeremy Accardo, Brian Wolfe, Joe Kennedy, Jason Frasor, Shaun Marcum, Brian Tallet, Brandon League and Josh Towers. That's 11 pitchers with Kennedy, Frasor and Downs pitching in both games.

And for the Yankees, you have Chien Ming-Wang, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Ron Villone, Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, Luis Vizcaino, Brian Bruney, Phil Hughes, Ross Ohlendorf, Kyle Farnsworth, Chris Britton, Kei Igawa and Jeff Karstens. 14 in all. Villone, Veras, Ramirez and Rivera all pitched in both.

It'd be nice to have a night game tomorrow after this one, right? Nope, day game! 1:05 PM ET. And we've got Moose going, so it's not too likely that the bullpen is going to get a lot of rest (even with his last couple starts in mind). Dustin McGowan (11-9, 3.84 ERA) will pitch for the Blue Jays.