I am so happy to see the west coast games come to an end, that I swear to God I have that "ahh just one more day" Friday-esque feeling...about Wednesday. Because on Thursday, the west will be behind us. The Yankees will be back in the Bronx. And I can spend the day recharging the batteries in anticipation of the Red Sox weekend.
But first, there's Hump Day, aka the rubber match between the Yanks' A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.22) and the Angels' Scott Kazmir (9-8, 5.08). All I can think about is, what the Yanks did to the Rays that was so bad that they could do this to us. Why, TB? Why would you harvest kryptonite and give it to our biggest foe?
Kazmir has been as dangerous a threat to our offense as Roy Halladay and Curt Schilling, with even our most reliable batters being consistently flummoxed by the young southpaw--Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, HIdeki Matsui, and Nick Swisher all have sub-.200 BAs against him. Ouch.
After clinching a playoff berth for the 14th time in 15 years, the Yanks still have miles to go before they sleep. And by miles, I mean the only number they're thinking about right now is 6 (to win the division), because the interior of Angel Stadium isn't anything the Yanks want to deal with come playoffs.
I think the Yanks are going to pull this one out, though. Call me crazy (as is customary) but I think his 4-seamer will keep NY at bay for an just inning or two before they pounce on him. The only way to beat the Yankee bats is with off speed pitches and by never letting them get comfortable at the plate. Kazmir's change-up is as exciting as frozen peas. Let's go Yankees! "Do the thing you think you cannot do."