The talk at the Yankees workout Wednesday revolved around two pitchers: Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett.
One was mentioned for his dominance, the other for his wildness. It comes back to the belief that the Yankees will have a hard time beating Lee and the Rangers in Game 3 of this ALCS and an even harder time winning when Burnett takes the mound in Game 4.
Joe Girardi was peppered with questions about the Rangers ace, and the Yankees manager kept trying to swing the conversation back to Game 1. And the Yankees should be worried about the first two games. The Yankees head to Texas on Thursday, and if they don’t return on Sunday with two wins they could be in some trouble.
Otherwise the Yankees would be pinning their ALCS hopes on either defeating Lee, who is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in seven postseason starts, or winning a game with Burnett, who did nothing to reassure anyone by beaning two of his teammates in a simulated game before the workout.
Burnett’s most recent victory against a team that finished the season with a winning record came May 25 — almost five months ago! — when he threw five shutout innings against the Twins in a 1-0 triumph.
Andy Pettitte, who will start against Lee, is no stranger to postseason success and is capable of matching Lee pitch for pitch. Sure, Burnett can have one of his starts where he temporarily makes you forget how wildly inconsistent he is, or the Yankees could pound Rangers Game 4 starter Tommy Hunter for five runs in a couple of innings. I just wouldn’t bet on those things happening, and the Yankees don’t want to have to with Lee waiting in Game 7.
The Yankees have the pitching advantage in Games 1 and 2. They sang the praises of Rangers Game 1 starter C.J. Wilson, who threw 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Rays in the ALDS, but he’s not CC Sabathia. Phil Hughes proved ready for the playoff spotlight with seven scoreless innings against the Twins in the clinching Game 3 of the ALDS. Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis, who will go against Hughes in Game 2, threw five shutout innings with his team on the verge of sweeping on the Rays. He also walked five in those innings, which led manager Ron Washington to pull him for the start of the sixth, leading to a Rays rally.
These are not the reasons Girardi pushed the talk to Game 1 instead of Game 3, but they should have been.
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It doesn’t seem to be “if” Bobby Valentine will have a managing job next year, but where.
Is it possible Valentine could be waiting to see if the Mets next GM is interested in talking before he makes a decision?
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The office for the Yankees traveling secretary is located on the walk to the clubhouse and contains an “ASSMAN” license plate. George Costanza was technically the assistant to the traveling secretary, but hilarious either way.
