ALDS Game 4 In Game Blog

I'm going to try something new tonight -- less talking, more comments on big moment.

TOP 1st

BOOYAH!!! Grady starts off the game with a solo shot!! That's the way to get this crowd to shut up!! Hell yeah!!

AC goes down on a grounder to first.

Pronk with a single towards left! That's HUGE that he's beating the shift!

Let's go, Victor. Let's keep it going.

I might have to watch the bottom half of the first few innings on Gameday. Just because I'm terrified.

Victor hits a weak grounder towards first, two down. At least Pronk is still aboard and in scoring position nonetheless.

Let's go, Jhonny. We need another two out run here. Keep them on the ropes.

Jhonny works a full count. Good AB for JP.

JHONNY DOES IT AGAIN!! Bloop shot into center and Hafner scores!

Kenny up and slices the first pitch foul. Let's go, Kenny! Let's keep it going!

Man, Kenny's getting some pitches to hit, too. But he's down 0-2. Let's go, Kenny!

Grounder to Wang, three down.

BOTTOM 1st

I have faith in Paul Byrd. I really do. I like him. I like what he does and how he handles himself. He seems like a good guy.

But I'm so nervous I can't even look. I've realized that unless we have a dominant pitcher on the mound, I'm going to be terrified the entire time. Westbrook almost gave me a heart attack.

So I'm doing as I said I would and I'm following the bottom of the first on Gameday.

Because I'm a coward.

Byrd strands two, but strikes out A-rod, which is always a plus.

This does nothing to get me to actually watch the bottom half of the next inning.

TOP 2nd

Okay, let's go Gut! Let's get it back and going! We need more runs!

Gut sends one into shallow center for a single!! Time for Casey to pull out of his funk and get this train moving.

Casey!! Through the hole for a single! And we've got two on and no out!

Shoppach up now. His first post-season AB. Let's go, Kelly. We have faith in you! Let's get it down and get them over!

Did Shoppach get hit?? They're saying it hit him in the hand? Man, Shoppach picked a bad stadium to get hit by a pitch. He was definitely trying to get out of the way, though. That much was pretty obvious.

And he gets the base! Bases loaded for Grady!! Let's go, Grady, let's do some damage!

Wang gets the hook and here comes Mussina. God, I would give so much money for Grady to go deep. I would give SO MUCH money.

And here we go. Let's go, Grady! Let's go!

Double play, but we do get a run. That's better than a poke in the eye!

Okay, AC. Let's keep the train rolling! Let's go! A single knocks in Blake -- that's all we need!

Cabrera is fighting. You love to see this from the Tribe. Let's go, AC!

AC with a single into center for a run!! WOO!! Nice AB for Cabrera!

And now we get Pronk to the plate! He's due, I think, for a long ball.

Hafner goes after one, but fouls it off. Man, he was gunning for that one. Let's get another, Pronk! Keep it rolling!

WALK! Another great AB for Pronk and Victor comes to the plate!

C'mon, Victor, you're the team leader. Let's do it, let's keep it going! We need to keep up the attack!

Nice, Victor fouls it off to stay alive. Let's go, Victor! Keep it going!

Victor grounds out to second, three down.

BOTTOM 2nd

Up four rounds or not, I'm still going Gameday for the bottom of the inning. I can't help it. I think maybe six runs might be my courage point.

I have to say this much, at least Byrd is getting ahead. He's going right at them, unlike Westbrook did last night. Still, I'm so nervous I can't look.

Killing me. Two on and no outs. Byrd had Matsui 0-2, too. Killing me.

And this is exactly why I'm not watching. Bases loaded, one out, Damon coming up.

Pop up to Jhonny. Bases loaded, two outs, Jeter coming up.

This is killing me.

We get out of it with only giving up one run, that should have be NONE according to what my friend Matt just called and told me about.

Was the appeal call REALLY that bad? I'm glad I didn't see it, then -- I would have been PISSED.

TOP 3rd

Jhonny starts off the inning. Let's go, Jhonny! Let's get the momentum going again!

WALK! Good at bat, Jhonny!

Let's go, Kenny! You're due tonight! Let's get it going!

Kenny flies out to center, one down. Kenny needs to hit it on the ground. He's not as strong as he used to be.

Gut up and feeling good! Let's go, Franklin!

Gut strikes out, two down.

Casey stepping up. He's got momentum with that single earlier, so let's see if Casey can keep it going.

Damn, Casey saw the pitch he wanted, but fouled it off.

Swing and a miss and three down.

BOTTOM 3rd

Byrd allows a double but gets out of the inning with no damage and only a few pitches!

TOP 4th

I can't believe it's only the top of the 4th.

Shoppach up first and ready to get a real AB. Let's go, Kelly!

We need to get something started again. Let's go, Shoppach! He's got the full count going, so let's get it now!

Yes!! Lead off double for Shoppach!! WOO!!

Grady up, fouls off the first bunt.

I can't believe all the credit we're getting as a team that bunts. That's awesome.

Let's go, Grady! Let's get it going! Big inning!

Another full count for the Tribe! Let's go, Grady! Let's get this!

WALK!! Two on, no outs!

Time for AC to come to the plate and get us going!

SAC BUNT FOR AC!! Great stuff. You love to see that. AC does it again!

And time for Pronk! Let's go, Hafner! You're due for a big one!

Oh, they're going to walk Pronk in hopes of a double play ball. Time for Victor to get that hit he's been waiting for him. Victor is due tonight and he's lead this team all year. He's got the karma to put this game away.

God, I would love a home run here. I know I said that earlier with Grady, but god that would be about the greatest thing ever.

Still, I'll settle for a run or two!

Man, this is a big moment. Let's go, Victor!!

TWO RUN SINGLE!!! YES, VICTOR!!

Let's go, Jhonny! We need more insurance! Let's keep it rolling!

Damn, Jhonny hits into a double play and there are three down.

Now, the question: am I comfortable enough with a five run lead to watch the bottom of the 4th?

Doubtful.

BOTTOM 4th

Gave up a single, but overall a great inning by Byrd! I have a question about Byrdie, but I'll save it for later.

TOP 5th

Lofton pops out on one pitch. That's not what we want to see.

Gut back up and looking to continue his hot streak. Let's go, Gut, let's get it going again!

I think a big inning here could do the trick. In fact, I could probably watch the bottom o fthe next inning if that happens.

But Gut flies out and now there are two down. We need to keep this inning alive.

Casey to the plate, looking to make up for striking out his last time up. But he's behind already, 0-2.

C'mon, Casey, we need to get this inning going!

And he goes down in order. And I'll be following Gameday again.

BOTTOM 5th

Buster Olney gave a stat a while back about Paul Byrd's batting average against after 70 pitches. It wasn't good.

So I've been wondering if that would be his cut off point for tonight. Since we're going into the fifth, I think we'll see him pulled if he gets into any trouble, as opposed to earlier when he was given the chance to pitch out of it.

Another single given up, but Byrd has another great inning!

TOP 6th

Okay, Shoppach, let's do it again! You're making the most of your post-season debut, let's keep it going!

Fly out to right field, but at least he made him throw a few pitches.

We're creeping up on drink time, I think. Man, I would kill for an extra run or two here.

Grady gets to first before Mussina could land on the base and we've got a runner on!!

Oh, replay says he's out. We'll take that as compensation for the call earlier, thanks.

AC drives it deep to center, but not deep enough and there are two down.

Tony Gwynn said that the play at first was the third call that's gone against the Yankees tonight. The third? What were the first two? Does the awful check call count as against the Yankees in some crazy, mixed up logic?

New pitcher coming up for Pronk, who would love to get a big hit with two outs, I would think.

Just go deep, Pronk. Just go deep and let's start putting this away.

Hafner got under it and flies out to left, three down.

Still can't watch the bottom half.

BOTTOM 6th

Well, there you go. Byrd gives up a solo shot to Cano, more proof that my decision not to watch was a good one. That said, Cano has been the highlight of the Yankees line-up during this series.

Still, I'd like to be up by five again, please.

And as expected, Wedge goes to the bullpen, bringing in the first of what I'm sure will be two Raphaels, this time going with Perez.

Perez gets a switch hitter and two lefties to start, which is a plus, even though he's almost as good against righties.

Still, against this line-up I think we need some more runs.

I have to wonder if there's any chance we'll see a double switch after this half of the inning, where Victor goes back behind the plate and Garko comes in at first. They say it's a bad idea to pull a catcher, but we do have a third one (Garko) if need be.

Dammit, now there are runners on the corners with one out and Jeter at the plate. God, we need a double play ball in a bad way here. I can barely even watch Gameday at this rate.

NICE!! Good stuff, Perez!!

TOP 7th

Victor up and down and there's one out.

Okay, Jhonny, let's get this going. Their bullpen isn't that good, so let's take advantage!

Jhonny with a single! That's the way! Now we've got something going!

Time for Kenny to turn it on now. He needs to get going tonight!

Another full count. Good stuff, Kenny. Now let's get a hit out of this.

Kenny hits it far, but not far enough. Two down.

Let's go, Gut! We need to keep this inning alive! We need some insurance!

Gut goes down swinging and that's three down.

BOTTOM 7th

Stupid A-rod hits a solo home run. And now there's a runner on first and two outs and Cano up to bat.

Killing me.

And Perez gets out of it! Thank you god.

TOP 8th

New pitcher with a high ERA from the regular season. I like to see this.

Casey up first and due for a hit, I think. Let's get it going, Casey! Let's start it off right!

Casey goes down looking. He's looked awful at the plate tonight.

So Shoppach gets another shot to do some good. Let's go, Kelly! You've earned this start, so let's keep it going!

WOW. Shoppach INCHES from a home run!! But he's in with a double!

Let's go Grady! Let's get it going! We need runs!!

Intentional walk to Grady! Wow. So two on and one out for AC.

Here comes Rivera. This isn't going to be easy, but hasn't been from the start. Let's go, AC! You deserve to be here and now's the time to show it!

Grady breaks up the double play and we still have a runner in scoring position, now with two outs.

Pronk. It's time.

Man, anyone other than Pronk probably would have beat that out. I don't think he was interfered with.

And I still can't watch the bottom of the inning.

Not for nothing, but unless we score another run and go up by at least four, this could be a save situation...that's terrifying.

BOTTOM 8th

Wow. Betancourt HAS to pitch the 9th. WOW.

TOP 9th

Lead off single by Victor!! YES!! We need runs!!

Let's go, Jhonny! Let's get this going! Let's put it away!

Jhonny singles into rightfield!! Two on, no out!!

Let's go, Kenny! Let's keep it going!

Lofton not bunting, but I wonder if that's because of how Rivera pitches. Regardless, we need more runs!!

Grounder to short moves Victor over and we stay out of the double play. Hit it deep, Gut! All we need is a deep fly ball for the sac!

Gut down swinging, two down.

And it's up to Casey Blake to get us some insurance. You are DUE, Casey! You are OVERdue!

Ahhhh! So close to ending the game!! Gah!

And we go to the bottom of the 9th, and I think I have to watch at least part of it.

I think we'll see Borowski

BOTTOM 9th

I can't...I can't even believe that.

Joe Borowski was Joe Borowski.

AND WE FREAKING WON IT!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!