Hey, congrats to the Cleveland Indians and to their fans. The Tribe out-pitched, out-hit, and out-played the Yankees in this ALDS. They deserved to win this round of the playoffs.

Now, if it’s not too much trouble, Cleveland, will you please promise to play the Red Sox in the ALCS this tough as well?

A memo that was recently sent to GMs by the commissioner’s office detailed changes in this year’s postseason roster rules. The most significant is that a team now may, with the permission of the commissioner’s office, replace an injured player during the course of a postseason series.

For example, if Roger Clemens were to injure himself pitching in Game 1 of the Yankees’ first-round Division Series, the Yankees could petition the commissioner’s office to replace him with another pitcher for the remainder of the series. Under the old rules, the Yankees would be out of luck, and would have to play with only 24 players until the Division Series ended, at which point they could submit a new 25-man roster for the ALCS.

The new rule has a couple of restrictions:

* The memo says the injury must occur after the roster submission deadline for the series, so a pre-existing condition might not be eligible.

* The team seeking to replace the player must provide the commissioner’s office with all necessary medical information, and the commissioner’s office has the power to accept or reject the appeal.

* If the injured player is a pitcher, his replacement must be another pitcher. And if the injured player is a non-pitcher, he must be replaced by another non-pitcher.

* If a player is replaced, he is ineligible to play in the next series.

The “pre-existing condition” clause may mean that the Yankees are S.O.L. here. Plus, if the Yankees think Clemens can help in the ALCS, should the Yankees get that far, if you take him off the LDS roster, then you lose Rocket for the next round.

But, if Clemens is now cooked for October (and longer?), I think you have to take a shot and try to replace him on the roster. It could be a break to add an arm like Villone who may be able to LOOGY Pronk Hafner in a big spot during Game Four (or Five).

Lefty batters had a BABIP of .230 against Villone in 2007 – and it was .231 in 2006.

On July 5, 2006, the Yankees batted Byrd around pretty good – but, Byrd’s team also hurt him with bad defense in that game. Prior to that, on June 13, 2006, Byrd pitched a great game against the Yankees. And, the time before that, on July 30, 2005, Byrd had a solid outing against New York too.

So, when you look at the last four starts that Byrd had against the Yankees, it’s not like New York has owned him all the time.

The big number for New York tonight is Byrd’s last 5 starts this season – where he’s thrown 29 IP with an ERA of 6.83 (over that time). If you’re a Yankees fan, you like those numbers.

But, Byrd’s had 10 days rest now since he’s last pitched. In the six games that he’s pitched this season with 6+ days rest, Byrd’s ERA is 3.86 in 37.1 IP. As a Yankees fan, that concerns me, somewhat, this evening.

There’s a chance that Paul Byrd could give the Indians a good start tonight and then turn the ball over to Rafael Perez and Rafael Betancourt for three or four innings. And, it might be as much as a 50-50 chance too.

Yes, Wang also once pitched on one day’s rest – on June 3, 2006 – but, that was just to close out a game in a pinch.

Every other time Wang has pitched in the majors, besides these two aforementioned games, he’s always had at least 4 days rest.

The Yankees will probably need someone to come into this game after Wang and before Rivera (assuming that Mo is the last pitcher of the game). Let’s hope the bullpen is ready for the call.

And, then, the call was made to the pen. May I start the music?

Don’t the best of them bleed it out,
While the rest of them peter out.
Truth or consequence, say it aloud,
Use that evidence, race it around.

There goes my hero.
Watch him as he goes.
There goes my hero.
He’s Philip Hughes.

Phil Hughes was the reason why the Yankees won this game. One cannot say enough about his effort in this contest. I know that I’ve been critical of his “stuff” at times this season. But, in this game, Hughes showed that he has what’s needed when the rubber meets the road. Big time.

Oh, and, by the way, it’s nice to see that Trot Nixon still has issues charging in on basehits. That miscue was a huge play in this game.

It is too bad for Clemens, if this is the end. Still, as cheerleaders go, you could have worse ones on your bench than Rocket. Maybe he can help the team in that way the rest of the way?

Now, the Yankees mission is clear: Get a big lead early tomorrow. Use Wang, Mussina, or whoever you need to shutdown the Tribe batters. Take Rafael Perez’ and Rafael Betancourt’s impact on the game out of the picture for Cleveland. And, bring this series back to Jacobs Field for Game Five.

And, you can worry about Game Five when you have to play Game Five.

It’s almost impossible to win a game in the post-season when you allow 12 runs to score or when you only score one run.

Yes, I know this is bad news. But, on the brighter side, we know for a fact that the Yankees will not allow 12 runs to score today – and they will not be limited to only one run either.

There’s no game today.

The Yankees next 2007 LDS game is Sunday, October 7, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. ET. Nothing bad, outside maybe some missing flowers at Ian Kennedy’s wedding today, should happen in Yankeeland until that time – we hope.

As soon as this game went to extra innings, I thought of “Doug in Seattle.” Thanks to his question last week, we know, that, in “extra innings,” during the regular season, Yankees batters had an OPS of .567 (in 107 PA) and Yankees pitchers allowed an OPS of .845 (in 108 PA).

Why should this game be any different?

Now, about Joba and the bugs. The flying ants were annoying for him in the eighth. Heck, I was getting itchy just watching. But, the bugs didn’t prevent Carmona from pitching a good ninth for Cleveland. And, the bugs didn’t prevent Perez from pitching a good tenth for the Tribe either. If anyone wants to blame the bugs for what happened in the bottom of the eighth, it’s an excuse. Besides, Joba actually got lucky in that frame when the missle from Pronk Hafner was aimed right at Rico Bergman.

Now, here comes the shocker. The Yankees are not dead in this LDS – yet. A win on Sunday gets them to a spot where they probably get to face Paul Byrd in Game Four (on Monday). If the Yankees win Game Three, and then get to face Byrd in Game Four, I like their chances to get back to Cleveland for Game Five.

But, it starts with having to win on Sunday. Clemens better be sharp – and able to go at least six. And, the Yankees bats better come alive when they return to the Bronx – especially their clean-up hitter.

But, that said, when I now look at the worst games started by Yankees pitchers in the post-season, of all-time, I can make a case that Andy Pettitte has “authored” 6 of the 12 worst post-season “Games Started” flops in Yankees history. See the following bad outings that Pettitte has made while with New York:

2001 World Series – Game 6
1996 World Series – Game 1
1999 World Series – Game 3
1998 ALCS – Game 3
2000 ALDS – Game 5
1997 ALDS – Game 2

Let’s hope that tonight doesn’t give Andy seven in the top twelve.

It was the 8th time that the Yankees allowed 12+ runs in a post-season game. The Yankees have lost all 8 of these games.

The was the first time that the Yankees have allowed 12+ runs in a LDS-game. (They’ve done it 2 times in LCS-games and 5 times in the World Series.)

Six of the 8 times that the Yankees have allowed 12+ runs in a post-season game, it’s happened on the road.

Here’s a breakdown of the post-season series, prior to this one, where the Yankees had a game where they allowed 12+ runs:

2001 World Series: Lost in 7 games.
2001 ALCS: Won in 5 games.
1999 ALCS: Won In 5 games.
1996 World Series: Won in 6 games.
1958 World Series: Won in 7 games.
1956 World Series: Won in 7 games.
1921 World Series: Lost in 8 games.

This was the 20th time (out of 337 games) in Yankees post-season history where the team has allowed 19+ baserunners in a game of 9 innings or less. The Yankees have lost 19 of these 20 games. Nine of the twenty games have happened to Yankees teams managed by Joe Torre.

Now, this all said, you just have to forget about this game and look towards the contest of Game 2. This ones just counts as one loss. A victory in Game 2 for New York gives the Yankees a split and turns this series into a “best 2 of 3″ match – with the Yankees having home-field advantage (and the Indians having to throw two starters in the games that New York should be able to handle).

It will be a good test for the Yankees to see if they can quickly shake this one off and answer the bell tomorrow.

…Doug Mientkiewicz was apparently run over by a Cleveland cameraman as he got off the team bus at Jacobs Field.

Mientkiewicz was taken to the Yankees clubhouse on a cart, according to one witness, where he was examined by team trainers. After having his left ankle taped up, he went to the field to test it out under the watchful eye of Joe Torre and Don Mattingly.

…The cameraman tripped and fell on the back of Mientkiewicz’s foot, rolling the Yankee first baseman’s ankle.

“I was walking up the ramp and he was backpedaling while filming. He tripped into me; my left foot was up and he landed on the back of it and rolled it,” Mientkiewicz said.

If there wasn’t reason enough to start Shelley Duncan at first tonight, with Big Bad C.C. on the mound for the Tribe, shouldn’t this be the clincher to get Duncan in there?