The Elephant in the room

The Yankees lost a heart breaker last night in Los Angeles. Burnett gave up 4 runs in the first and there was a lot of trepidation with the crowd I was watching with that we'd have to dip into the bullpen early and claw our way back for a win.

I think I would've been happier if we lost 4-0 instead of scoring 6 runs in the 7th to take a 6-4 lead only to give up that lead in the bottom half of the inning. The turning point in this game was Phil Franchise's performance. He had Vlad at a 1-2 count with 2 outs. On the previous pitch he made him look silly on a nasty curve ball in the dirt. With the reputation Vlad has for being a free swinger, why not throw the same pitch and see if he'll chase. Instead Hughes shook of Jorge and went for a fast ball up and in. He missed his spot and left a fastball in the heart of the plate and Vlad got his game tying RBI. Fast forward to the top of 9th. We load the bases all with 2 outs and Swish works the count full. As a kid you dream for this situation, unfortunately Swish popped out on a fastball right down the middle.

I caught the game at my buddy Adam's where he has a ridiculously awesome private deck where the game was broadcast with a HD projector on the wall. It's probably 8ft by 10 ft. The best part about this screen is the ability to throw beer cans at the screen when you're frustrated. Needless to say there were plenty of beer cans both full and empty being tossed at the screen from the 7th inning on.

This game 6 is a must win for the Yanks. By pitching CC in game 7 it will ultimately screw up the rotation for the pending WS games. Obviously we need CC to pitch game 7 if that situation presents itself. I just hope the big game pitcher we all know and love, Andy Pettitte, shows up.

Now to the elephant in the room, there will be endless talk about 2004 especially if we lose game 6. The Yankees had 2 games slip out of their hands when they had the chance to bury their opponent. This is not a situation any Yankees fan wants to be in. So in short, lets hope the Yankees drop a crooked number on Saunders early and Pettitte cruises for 7 strong innings.

I love October baseball, especially when the Yankees are involved. I'm not sure if I can take much more of this drama though.

LETS GO YANKS!

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