I think the key is going to be the Yankees pitching. We hit lefties very good, and as stated before, we havent lost to a lefty since Aug 11. Factor that in with an overused staff that we are going to face - Wells, and Petite...

 

The Yankees bullpen is shaky. Very shaky. Gabe White, Jeff Weaver, Jeff Nelson - all have ERAs (in regular season) over 4.50. Rivera and Heredia are the only pitchers in the pen that have pitched well (1.62, 1.20 respectively). Rivera has been overused.

 

That said, there is another factor that favors us - our speed. The Yankees ranked 21 in defense, we ranked 3rd. And we make a lot of contact, put the ball in play, which means it pays for us to be aggressive and take advantage. That means laying down bunts for these old pitchers to come off the mound and field. Force Boone to field it...Posada...Clemens, Wells...

 

I think our offense matches up very well with this Yankees pitching staff and their defense. Plus a short porch in RF at Yankee stadium could get pounded if we go the other way on this pitchers. Then again, the Yanks have a predominantly lefty hitting lineup...too many fastballs could be dangerous.

 

Well, I am going to leave with that, let that soak in. I want to hear what everyone else has to say...

Tonight, it all depends on how well Brad Penny can pitch. I think it is crucial that each team goes deep into the game with their starter. Whichever teams does that, has a chance at taking a huge advantage over this series. If Penny goes deep into the game, we wont have to use so much of our bullpen and give the staff another day of rest. Also, if Penny pitches for 7, that would mean we are holding our own out there. Very important for Penny to get us a quality start and keep his pitches in there for strikes.

 

Another thing to watch for is this Yankees lefty hitting lineup. .273 with 177HR vs. righties this season. Soriano hit 31 of his 38 HR against righties. Giambi had 35. With that short porch in RF, and Penny has lefties hitting .269 with 8HR in 360 ABs. He actually gives up less home runs vs. lefties than righties (13HR in 380ABs). So who knows, but the hitting always gets better in the playoffs it seems. He is going to have to throw strikes.

 

If wecan get on the board early, give Penny some runs to work with and keep the crowd out of it - like we have tried all postseason long - then we have a chance to win game 1. Penny is going to have to pitch 6+ for us to call this a success though.

the thing about game one is that the game doesn't end in th 8th because I doubt Riveria will be able to come in that early, and if he does that might meen trouble for the yanks.

 

I would just love for the Fish to jump out in the first inning and KEEP the league. Someone needs to remind them that Jack is old and can't take many more last minute come backs.

If Brad Penny is on tonight, then watch out!!! If not, then we might be in for a long night.