games 5,6,7

Well completely getting our asses kicked tonight felt like shit for me as I'm sure it did for all of you.  It's amazing how many Yankees fans I found around here that weren't around yesterday, but I digress.

In games five and six we will be facing Burnett, and Pettitte respectively.  Both of them pitched solid games against us and I expect no less in the next few days.  While the umps haven't helped us out, we have not played like the best team in the American League.  Just going down the lineup, Figgins and Abreu have not been setting the table, Hunter has not played anywhere near the level we need him to, and apart from game 3, Vlad has looked like a has-been for the majority of the time.  I could continue down the line-up, but the only people who seem to be hitting reasonably are two of the major scapegoats from last year (Kendrick and Aybar) and Mendoza Mathis (who I have been saying all year is not horrible at home (.258 average).  We have not played Angels' defense and the pitching has been good but C.C. has made our guys look like chumps.  Apart from 1 boneheaded pitch that cost us a game (that might not have even been that pitcher's fault he was in that situation) and our "Yankee killer", the staff has pitched pretty well.  So far we have just run into 2 players who are better than anyone on our team and they have dominated.

In game five, we are going to need an all-out balls to the wall performance from our ace that mirrors, if not betters, what their ace has done in dominating 2 of the 4 games so far.  The Figster is what the Figster is and in my mind that is gone whether it's for better or worse, so what we really need is our former Yankees (Abreu and Rivera) to realize that they are on our side and get their acts together.  The pen has looked a little shaky at times, but I expect if they are going to be a factor, it will be very late in a close game with Big Thunder Mountain going the majority of the way.

In game six, the most important thing will be to not get lost in the lights at their stadium and focus on playing Angel's baseball.  Of course, we are going to need Hokie Joe to pitch well but not allowing Jepsen to face A-Rod and having a smarter pitch selection, I think we can come out the victors.  Completely shutting down A-Rod this game should be the secret to victory.

In game seven, plain and simple, we need to hope C.C. is fatigued or nervous or we can pull our heads out of our asses.  He has been straight up dominant and an unstoppable cheeseburger of a force.  Whether it takes a parade of chocolate or slipping slim-fast into his food to throw off his chi, we need to get to this guy and get to him fast.  No 1 pitch at-bats, work the count every time and make him pitch.  If the entire team has to go Eckstein-style in order to work the count then I am all for it.  A-Rod will show up this game and we won't be able to stop him, so the focus needs to be on shutting down Tex and their #5 hitter (most likely Posada after tonight) to minimize the damage.

So far A-Rod and Cheeseburger-Cheeseburger (Excuse me, C.C. Sabathia) have dominated the series and we will have to limit the former while figuring out a way to overcome the latter.

We should have the advantage in games 5 and 6, at least pitching-wise, so let's get those we should and let the men come out and play on next Sunday.

Let's Go Halos!!