They are who we thought they were

In the days following the Yanks getting swept in Baltimore to end the regular season I was clinging to the notion that once the playoffs start you get a clean slate.  That you can throw everything you've done out the window.  Maybe even become a different team all together.  That wasn't the case with the Yankees.  The team the whole country just watched flounder at the hands of Dallas Keuchel and a very ordinary bullpen was the same Yankee team that's been playing since the trade deadline.  Last night's game embodied all of the maladies that had plagued the Yankees over the past two months.  A starting pitcher snake-bitten by the home run.  A bullpen that wasn't quite as good as it needed to be.  And an embarrassing, shameful offensive effort, the likes of which haven't been seen since the 2012 ALCS.

While the Yankee lineup had been an inconsistent, mostly anemic group since July 31st, you could argue they saved their absolute worst performance for last night.  3 Hits.  No run.  Not until A-Rod came to the plate with two on and two out in the bottom of the 6th did you ever actually feel like they might have a rally in their bones.  But we should have known better.  We saw what this offense was in August and September.  A once deep and explosive lineup that had succumbed to injury, fatigue and just general lack of production.

Was Tanaka horrible?  No.  But he needed to be better than that.  He was in and out of jams every inning, had very little command and was fortunate the two mistakes he made were without anybody on base.  Betances faltered yet again, struggling with control issues.  The run he surrendered made it feel like 20-0.  But none of that mattered last night and none of it matters today.  The only thing that should be discussed this morning is the pitiful performance by everyone in the Yankee lineup because the same guys who humiliated themselves last night are going to be lining up on the first base foul line circa Opening Day 2016.  Sure the experience down the stretch stands to benefit Greg Bird, Rob Refsnyder and Didi Gregorious, but everyone else is just going to be another year older.  And the problem with that, the problem with the composition of this offense is that they don't have ONE contact hitter.  They don't have anyone who's going to contend for a batting title, flirt with 200 hits or choke up and muscle a big RBI single like Jose Altuve did last night.  They're entire lineup is just one big giant cock-tease.  Just nine guys sitting around waiting for a three-run home run and when they don't get it they can't find other ways to score.  Can't win like that.

If I can take one positive from last night it was that I was impressed by the crowd.  I have to admit I expected to walk into there with no buzz whatsoever coming off the six losses in seven games.  But for the first six innings the new Yankee Stadium was as loud as it had been since the 2009 postseason.  Sure the Rasmus and Gomez home runs took some of the air out of the place, but for the most part the real fans got out to the Bronx last night and made a lot of noise.  Of course once the Stros pushed that third run across in the 7th half of the crowd bailed.  And you know what, I don't blame them.  This team hadn't given you any reason to think they were capable of a comeback.  By the 9th inning I was just waiting to go home.  They made Luke Gregerson look like Mariano Rivera.  Just a spineless, gutless effort from their first at-bat through the end of the game.  Now I'm just left sitting here at work, hungover as a skunk on two hours of sleep with a sore throat trying to trick people into thinking that my life isn't in a complete and utter tailspin.  Awesome.

Tanaka Tuesday

It's been three long years since there's been postseason baseball in the Bronx and it honestly feels like an eternity.  I didn't really know how to live my life these past two Octobers.  Playoff baseball at Yankee Stadium is in the fabric of my being.  From watching Tino's grand slam sail over my eight-year-old head at the 98' World Series to the Raul Ibanez game in 2012, experiencing the Yankees in the postseason has easily been the best, most exciting part of my life.  And now it's back.  But it may not be back for long.

For the first time since the new wildcard format was introduced the Yankees are going to experience the rigors of the one game playoff and they couldn't have drawn a more formidable opponent.  Not only is Dallas Keuchel the front-runner for the American League CY Young, he's dominated the Yankees this year to the tune of ZERO runs in 16 innings.  Pushing a few across with this guy on the mound is going to be a daunting task but the Yanks have a couple of things working in their favor.  Paul Goldschmidt's two-run home run in game 162 brought the one game playoff to the Bronx and away from Minute Maid Park where Kuechel is 15-0 with a 1.46 ERA this season.  And while he did shutout the Yankees in the Bronx earlier this year he's 5-8 with an ERA almost two runs higher (3.77) away from Houston in 2015.  Keuchel's also pitching on three-days rest tonight for the first time all season.  That may be a factor, it may not be.  But the guy we have throwing tonight has had five full days to get in his routine and prep for the biggest start of his career.

That this game has fallen on a Tanaka Tuesday gives me about 200% more confidence going into tonight.  That and the fact that this Houston lineup is made to order for him.  All these guys do is swing and miss.  Yea, they have plenty of guys who can hit the ball out of the ballpark and every one of them is dangerous at Yankee Stadium.  But they expand the zone more than any team in baseball.  That's Tanaka's bread and butter.  Getting batters to chase is his livelihood.  If he's sharp, if he can avoid the big mistake that can wreck this game, I think we may be in store for an all time performance.  If he's not the Yanks may be chasing in this game early and if you've been paying attention the last two months that's not where we want to be.

Chris Young is playing tonight.  It hasn't been announced but I'm going to go on the premise that Girardi is using his brain and will bench Gardner.  Honestly I'd rather have Gardner in there than Jacoby but the guy making $22 million a year isn't sitting on the bench in a game like this.  At least Gardner might put together a long at-bat before he strikes out.  Expect Ellsbury to ground out weakly to the right side on first or second pitches at least a couple of times tonight.  I don't mind not playing McCann either.  He's been MISERABLE this month, especially against lefties and at least you can use him in the late innings as a pinch-hitter if you want a chance for a big home run.

The two X-factors the Yanks have in this game are Rico Noel and Carlos Beltran.  Noel because he's been an automatic stolen base every time he's pinch-ran since getting called up.  Beltran because he's one of the greatest postseason players of all time and will be the most dangerous man with a bat in his hands tonight.  Am I worried about Betances?  A little bit.  He's had his command issues but he doesn't have to pitch on the black to get these guys out.  Like I said, they chase more than any team in baseball.  As long as he isn't throwing wild pitches with guys on base I think he'll be fine.  Chances are he's going to factor into this game in a big way, even if it means getting six outs before handing it off to Miller.

The energy heading into this game isn't exactly electric.  There's plenty of reason to be down about this team given the way they've played these last two months, especially this last week.  The CC news drags things down even more.  But winning cures all ills.  If the Yanks win this game, especially if they win it dramatically, that will carry over into the division series.  They win a game or two in Kansas City, all of the sudden Yankee Stadium is rocking again.  Guaranfuckingteed.  There's nothing better than playoff baseball in the Bronx.  So let's take a deep breath, win ONE GAME tonight and see where that takes us.  Let's go.

Severino, Bird step up. Yanks take two of three at the Trop

Hard to not be happy with how these three games played out.  You win a game on Monday where you were down to your last out trailing by a run with nobody on.  You win a game last night against Chris Archer and the only game you lose is the one you started a guy who was on a pitch count of 65.  At this point in the season this is the bare minimum.  Win every series.  The Yankees were able to keep pace with Toronto over the last three days but keeping pace isn't enough.  With each passing game it's going to become more difficult for the Yanks to make up games in the division.

Last night the kids took the game over.  Luis came back after getting shelled by Toronto last Friday and pitched great.  Girardi yanked him early in favor of Justin Wilson but I think he had a few more batters in him.  Bird had the two biggest blows of the game, an RBI double in the second that scored Beltran from first and a monster shot off the catwalk in the 9th for a little insurance.  It's nerve-wracking but it's been really cool to see these two kids, the future of the franchise, thrust into the fire of a pennant race like this and contribute as much as they have.

It was nice to see Ellsbury get a couple of hits against Archer yesterday.  I'd like to hope that gets him going a little bit but I'd bet he's going to be on the bench Friday against Steven Matz.  I'm as frustrated with Ellsbury as anyone but those calling for Slade Heathcott to start over him need to have their head examined.  We need Jacoby to get it together if we're going to do anything and he's too talented to keep playing like this.  You want to tinker with the order a bit?  I think I'm okay with that.  But he has to be in the mix going forward cause if he gets going this lineup becomes exponentially better.

What's worrying me more than Jacoby is Betances.  He really hasn't had any command of his fastball these last few weeks but his stuff is so nasty that he's been able to navigate through it without becoming a disaster.  I know what Girardi is asking of him is insane but that's why Brian McCann said he's the MVP of the team.  The Yankees are only in this thing because of him.  When they give a lead to Dellin the game has to be over or this team doesn't have a prayer.

Slade Fucking Heathcott

I understand CC pitched his best game of the season.  I know A-Rod's hit was the biggest hit of the night.  I don't care.  This guy stole the show.  He Slade em'.  It was a heath-shot from Heathcott.  One of the biggest hits of the year from a guy wearing #72

This game was over.  Kaput.  When Ellsbury grounded out into that double play I felt the life sucked out of me.  To fall a game back in the loss column while the Blue Jays were idle would have been an absolute back-breaker.  Then Gardner kept it alive with a four pitch walk and finally, FINALLY stole a base in a big spot to set up the A-Rod RBI double.  In took just two batters and about three minutes for the outlook on the entire season to change.  The Rays would walk McCann to get to Heathcott who was brought in as a defensive replacement and he promptly drilled the first pitch he saw into the left field seats for a go-ahead three-run home run.  Unfuckingbelievable.

Like this game, this season has been maddening.  There have been so many moments like last night that make you think this team is special.  That make you think they're capable of making a run.  A-Rod's three homer game in Minnesota.  The 11-run comeback inning in Texas.  Beltran's home run in Toronto.  Miller striking out Tulo.  McCann and A-Rod's back-to-back homers off Chris Archer.  The list goes on.  But there have been just as many deflating moments, none more grueling than what happened this past weekend.  At this point there's no sense in analyzing what this team does well and what they don't.  They're pretty much two different teams.  When they hit they hit in bunches.  They can score with anyone and look resilient.  When they aren't hitting they look like they did all night against Erasmo Ramirez.  Stiff and lifeless.  You just have to hope if/when they make it to the postseason that they're the team that staged a comeback in the ninth inning yesterday and not the one that didn't show up for the first eight.

Back to Heathcott.  Nobody in the world needed a moment like that in his life quite like Slade.  There haven't been too many guys in the big leagues that have been through as much adversity, self-inflicted or not, as he has.  The beleaugered former first-round pick hasn't been able to get out of his own way or stay on the field long enough to develop into the player the Yankees hoped he would be back in 2009.  I had always heard about him having some problems with alcohol in the past but I never read too much into it.  Then I find this article today and it turns out Heathcott is basically like a real life Tim Riggins.  Have you ever felt like you were a big drinker or a real party animal?  Well Slade Heathcott is that kid who when you meet him you realize that you're actually a huge pussy.  When he was a senior in high school he blacked out and wondered five miles into the woods to punch a hole in the front door of some crack dealer's house.  That might seem funny but his story is actually pretty sad.  He almost shot his dad with a shotgun when he was a junior in high school.  He was basically homeless his senior year, jumping from couch to couch at his friends' houses.  All the while he was like a four-star recruit in both football and baseball.  The whole thing is pretty fascinating if you have a few minutes.