I thought Ibanez was going to hit another one out

 

 Admit it. You did too. I was screaming to the radio listening to the game. “Do NOT take Verlander out! Don’t do it!”

I don’t care if he pet up the Nunez homer.

It doesn’t matter. I would take a sleepwalking Justin Verlander over anyone else in baseball right now.

When they took him out, of course the Yankees started to rally. 

And of course Ibanez was at the plate.

And the Yankees, dead from the neck up three batters earlier, suddenly had a wild scenario in their favor.

Verlander out and their 9th inning secret weapon at the plate. Another Ibanez homer with the count full would give the Yankees the lead.

If they held on, Sabathia would pitch the next day.

Suddenly the series could be 2-2 and the Yankees would have pulled off the most incredible shifts of momentum since… well since the Giants just last week.

Admit it. You thought of that scenario.

It didn’t happen.

Sabathia pitches today and if he replicated what the Yankees pitching did in game 3, everyone would be satisfied.

A win or go home game where the starter goes 8 innings letting up 2 runs would be a solid performance.

That is exactly what the Yankees pitching did and it was not enough.

The Yankees needed Ibanez’s heroics.

Then again, it would behoove the Yankees to have someone other than Ibanez be the hero. He’s filled his dramatic quota.

By this time tomorrow, the Yankees season might be over.

That scenario wasn’t going through my head earlier.

A fact about the Yankees offense

Through 3 in Game 2 of the ALCS here is how the Yankees scoring has broken down.

In the Division Series and ALCS the Yankees have scored 10 runs in 6 innings against the closers Johnson and Valverde and 10 runs in 55 innings against everyone else.

If the Orioles and Tigers closers could have closed out their innings, the Yankees offense would be historically bad.

Here’s a tip. Leave in the 8th inning pitcher against the Yankees.

I may hate the Yankees, but Jeter breaking his ankle sucks

I am no Yankee fan. I get some sick pleasure in seeing Derek Jeter at the end of a Yankee series loss where he stares off and looks angry.

I took no pleasure in seeing Derek Jeter’s ankle give out on him.
This stinks. I like seeing the Yankees at full strength lose.

But seeing a player get hurt is awful.

This loss would have been devastating for the Yankees had Jeter played the whole game. They would have wasted Pettitte’s outing and the Ibanez home run.

The loss at home put the Yankees in a 0-1 hole knowing that Justin Verlander will be waiting for them in Detroit for Game 3.

Game 2 became a must win for the Yankees and one they will be playing tomorrow afternoon, their fifth straight day with a game.

But now the shadow of Jeter will cast a pall over the game.

The team can’t hit. And now they lost their leader. And this was the same year that they lost Mariano Rivera.

The cruel irony is this would not have happened had Ibanez struck out.
If the Yankees lost in 9 innings, Jeter would be ready to play tomorrow.

Instead he is gone and who knows if he will ever play shortstop again.

Someone needs to take the leadership role of the team.

But the 2012 season might be over for the Yankees.
I take glee in seeing the Yankees eliminated.

I take no pleasure in seeing their fallen captain taken off the field.