Matsui should be on the DL instead of the starting lineup. He is killing them. Giambi has looked decent his last few games — they should DH him and sit Matsui. Matsui has literally been ice-cold (and injured) for over a month. And at the very least, move him down in the order and move Cano up.

In a way, the fact that the Yankees let C.C. off the hook bothers me more than Wang’s dog-shit performance. They could have easily blown that game open, but they didn’t. So Ohlendorf comes in instead and the game gets out of control.

Melky is hitting like the season just started — looking overmatched and frustrated. Him and Matsui are creating auto-outs in the lineup.

I hope Torre uses Giambi at DH tonight and Betemit at first.

Not really sure why Hughes was used last night though
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He needed the work.

“Chip Carey really dislikes the Yankees, doesn’t he? What an awful announcer.”

They all dislike the Yankees right now. When the Yanks are winning, they bend over to kiss our asses. But when we’re not winning (2002-present), it plays better to the losers that whine about East Coast bias to trash the Yanks and make sure to remind everyone a few million times about the payroll disparity and all of that crap.

I learned to accept that back in 2004 when no one mentioned that Boston’s payroll was equally enormous and was higher than any payroll the Yanks ever had when they were winning the WS.

I don’t know if Matsui is mashing anybody or anything right now- it’s painful to watch him up there right now. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a good hitter look so cold.

Lot of pressure on Pettitte, I hope he’s up to it. As everyone else is saying, this game is the key to the whole series. As far as Wang, he was bad but I’d still go to him over Mussina in game 4, if we get there.

Chip Carey really dislikes the Yankees, doesn’t he? What an awful announcer. Nepotism at it’s worst.

“and Matsui mashes the reliever”
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Matsui hasn’t been mashing anyone recently. I wonder if he’s not hurting a lot more than people are letting on. Plus, just like the rest of the Yankee offense in the playoffs since 2005, he’s not exactly on a hot streak.

I was hoping A-Rod would uncork one last night. Nothing would please me more since, already after an 0-2 night, there was a f*cking hack-job by Selena Roberts in today’s NYTimes.

“In my mind this game was an L all the way with Sabathia pitching”
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And yet Sabathia pitched so poorly last night. 10 baserunners in 5 innings and the Yanks only got 3 across? We let him off the hook, big-time. Not that it matters…Wang took care of the L all by himself. It reminded me of that game he pitched in Toronto in July or August when he got absolutely bombed. Every now and then Wang loses the feel for his pitches and he becomes a human punching bag. Hopefully he fixes it for Game 4.

Well that sucked. The thing that got me was having Jorge swing at 3-0 in the 4th (5th?) Bases were loaded, I was sure he was going to take the next two just to add pressure to CC, a walk would have tied the game. Granted, it would not have made a difference to giving up 12 runs, but maybe Wedge pulls CC then and Matsui mashes the reliever.

Not related to this game, but I really think if possible they should make the first round 7 games.

Steve I have to say I’m suprised you weren’t more negative about this loss but I’m glad you’re not! In my mind this game was an L all the way with Sabathia pitching, so I’m just glad it wasn’t a 4-3 game they lost which would have been stressful. This loss was easier to handle definitely.

That being said I always felt that Game 2 would be the more important game, would have been nice to steal the game last night though but that wasn’t even close to an option.

Let’s face it though, the Indians were due to beat the Yankees. Let’s just hope the offense shows up tomorrow and Petitte can grind out a win for the Yanks. Also, on the positive side, Rivera, Chamberlain, Vizcaino, are all still available out of the pen. Not really sure why Hughes was used last night though, I figured he would be insurance in case Petitte, Clemens, or Mussina got pulled early.

Anyone else think that the ball was carrying extremely well to right field last night? God, I couldn’t believe some of those balls even got out of the park, they did not look like HR’s coming off the bat, even Cano’s.

This is why I think homefield advantage is not such an advantage. If you go 2-0 over the first two games, sure, then you have the advantage in the series. But a split gives such an advantage to the visiting team, because then they have a great chance, like Steve said, in a 2 out of 3 series with 2 of the games at home. With a split, you might not even get to go back home.

Chris Russo is a total jackass. Game 2 ALDS in 2005 Wang pitched great and got upended by some shoddy infield defense. Game 1 ALDS in 2006 Wang pitched great and got the W. Where is Russo getting his opinion from?

Tonight’s game stunk from the very beginning. Having Abreu and ARod on base in the first, Posada up with a 2-0 count and then he takes a meatball and swings at two balls. It was downhill from there…

Hopefully Andy can do his usual Game 2 magic and put us back on the right track because I don’t trust Clemens/Moose in the next two.