Apparently flipping coasts undid the Yankees bullpen yesterday in Anaheim. They’re usually solid cast for the back-end of games couldn’t hold it together and allowed the Angels to take the first game out west in the series. But if there was one thing I noticed when watching towards the end of the game, it was two sloppy plays, one by each team.
First, the Yankees put in Brett Gardner in to pinch run for Hideki Matsui in the top of the eighth to put some pressure on the Angels. The only thing that Gardner did was stumble on his way to being thrown out at second base on a stealing attempt that would turn out to be super costly. It may have even cost New York the game since Jorge Posada, who was at the plate to witness the CS, homered to tie the game.
On the Angels side, Bobby Abreu made a running mistake that most t-ballers wouldn’t be caught dead committing. On a deep drive, Abreu took off, rounded first and should have stopped at second as the ball was headed in. Well, he should have at least; maybe his eyes were a bit too wide because Abreu got almost halfway to third before doubling back and being tagged out at second. That led off the inning and the Angels couldn’t do much after that.
Also, since Matsui was out of the game in the ninth, A-Rod had no protection behind him when he came to the plate. An intentional walk in a key situation doesn’t hurt you when it’s Jerry Hairston standing on deck. Needless to say, he didn’t deliver and the Yanks lost.