Tomorrow night, there will be baseball. Tomorrow night, the Yankees and the Angels will take the field, and at 7:57 p.m., CC Sabathia will throw the first pitch to Chone Figgins. As Thursday dawns, though, we still wait for that first ALCS in the Bronx in five years.
When last the Yankees reached the ALCS, they played a Red Sox team that had just dispatched the Angels in three straight games. This year, the Angels returned the favor, and the Yanks play a team they have beaten in three of their last four contests instead of eight of nine. Now, all that stands between the Yanks and the Fall Classic is a well-rounded ballclub from Orange County.
To prepare for the Angels, let’s look back at how these two teams fared in games against each other. On the season, the Angels outscored the Yanks 65-55, but the two clubs split 10 contests. The Yanks won the first two and last two but didn’t do too well in the middle.
April 30, 2009: Yankees 7, Angels 4 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Phil Coke
LP: Justin Speier
SV: Mariano Rivera
HR: Mike Napoli, Johnny Damon
In the first match-up of the year between these two teams, A.J. Burnett faced off against Anthony Ortega, but neither starter would factor into the decision. Burnett worked his way through seven decent innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk, and the Yanks tagged the forgettable Ortega for four runs over 6.1 innings. The Yanks wrapped this one up with a big 7th against Justin Speier. With one out, Robinson Cano singled, Jorge Posada hit a ground-rule double and Nick Swisher walked. Melky singled home Cano, and Ramiro Peña, playing for an injured A-Rod, doubled in Posada and Swisher.
May 1, 2009: Yankees 10, Angels 9 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Jonathan Albaladejo
LP: Brian Fuentes
HR: Jorge Posada
Who wants some pie? Apparently, on May 1, the Yankees did. This one started out promising for the Bombers. They plated four in the first, capped off by a Jorge Posada two-run home run, but Andy Pettitte and the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. After tossing five scoreless frames, Pettitte got tagged for five in the 5th when Mark Melancon allowed three inherited runners to score. Melancon would give up one of his own, and Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez were tagged for three more runs. Up 9-4 in the 8th, the Angels’ bullpen fell apart. The Yanks scored four in the 8th to draw within one, and Brian Fuentes couldn’t get an out in the 9th. Posada won the game with an two-run single to left-center, and Angel Berroa scored the winning run.
May 2, 2009: Angels 8, Yankees 4 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Matt Palmer
LP: CC Sabathia
HR: Jorge Posada
This one was ugly. Against Matt Palmer, a 30-year-old making just his third career start, the Yanks mustered nothing. CC Sabathia got hit around, and the score belies how close this game was and wasn’t. After six innings, the Yanks and Angels were tied at 1. By the time the bottom 9th rolled around, the Yanks were down 8-1. Jorge Posada brought the Yanks back to within a few runs, but it was too little too late. While the Yanks and Angels were due to play a fourth game on May 3, rain pushed it back until September.
July 10, 2009: Angels 10, Yankees 6 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Jason Bulger
LP: Mark Melancon
SV: Brian Fuentes
HR: Erick Aybar, Kendry Morales, Alex Rodriguez
The Yankees entered their last series before the All Star Break hoping to make a statement. Tied for first for the first time since early June, they rolled into Anaheim on the wings of a three-game sweep in Minnesota. The first game, though, deflated the Yanks. Joba Chamberlain threw 4.1 spectacularly mediocre innings, and the Yankee pen allowed five runs in 3.2 innings of work with no help from the defense as A-Rod and Derek made costly errors. The Yanks hit around Joe Saunders for five runs in five innings, but the team couldn’t overcome bad pitching. The Yankees were out of first by the end of the game.
July 11, 2009: Angels 14, Yankees 8 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Jered Weaver
LP: Andy Pettitte
HR: Mike Napoli, Brandon Wood, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Eric Hinske (2)
The Yanks’ nightmare trip to Anaheim continued with another poor performance from its pitching staff. The Yanks grabbed an early 4-0 lead behind home runs by A-Rod and Eric Hinske, but Andy Pettitte couldn’t do anything with it. He got torched for six earned runs in 4.1 innings, and the bullpen wasn’t much better. David Robertson, Brett Tomko and Phil Coke allowed eight runs in 3.2 innings of work, and the Yanks were killed by the Angels.
July 12, 2009: Angels 5, Yankees 4 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: John Lackey
LP: CC Sabathia
SV: Brian Fuentes
Looking to the Big Man to nail down a W before the All Star Break and stop the Yankee bleeding, Sabathia couldn’t come through. The Yanks had an early lead — I’m sensing a theme — but the Angels plated four in the 4th and one in the 7th to secure the sweep. The Yankees left Anaheim dazed and confused. Tied for first three days before, they went into the break on a three-game losing streak and with questions swirling around their inability to win in Anaheim. How would the Yanks fare in October, many wondered.
September 14, 2009: Yankees 5, Angels 3 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Phil Hughes
LP: Jered Weaver
SV: Mariano Rivera
HR: Vladimir Guerrero, Nick Swisher
Looking to secure home field advantage in the playoffs and make a statement against the Angels, the Yanks beat Los Angeles in a one-game make-up affair. Joba Chamberlain made one of his four-inning, Spring Training-in-September starts, and his lone blemish was a Vladimir Guerrero home run. Alfredo Aceves allowed a run in the 5th, but the Yanks responded with two of their own. Up by one in the 8th, the Yanks witnessed a rare blown save by Phil Hughes. The Yanks, though, made things happen in the bottom of the inning. After a Johnny Damon flyout, Mark Teixeira hit a ground-rule double and A-Rod walked. With Darren Oliver on in relief of Weaver, a pinch-running Brett Gardner stole third and scored on an error. Cano would add an insurance run later in the inning as the Yanks out-Angeled the Angels.
September 21, 2009: Angels 5, Yankees 2 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Joe Saunders
LP: Andy Pettitte
SV: Brian Fuentes
HR: Kendry Morales, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui
Another game in Anaheim, another Yankee loss. With their drive to the AL East title on hold after a sub-par weekend in Seattle, the Yanks came to Los Angeles hoping to put their July demons behind them. Instead, they couldn’t do much of anything against Saunders. They enjoyed eight 3-0 counts, but hitters went 0 for 8 in those ABs. Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte, making his return from a sore shoulder, wasn’t sharp, and the bullpen let this one get away as Brian Bruney and Jonathan Albaladejo gave up a run each. After this, the Yanks were 0-4 in Anaheim on the year and dreading an October match-up.
September 22, 2009: Yankees 6, Angels 5 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: Phil Hughes
LP: Matt Palmer
SV: Mariano Rivera
HR: Chone Figgins, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada
Stop me if this sounds familiar: an early lead, a late-game Angels comeback…but this one had a different ending as sthe Yanks grabbed victory in Anaheim for the first time in 2009. In this one, Chad Gaudin started and in a potential October audition, did not do so well for himself. He lasted 4.1 innings and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. Alfredo Aceves gave up a pair, and Phil Hughes blew another save as an error, a stolen base and a base hit brought about a tie game. In the 9th, though, Brett Gardner again stole a key base, and A-Rod hit a game-winning sac fly. The Anaheim demons were gone.
September 23, 2009: Yankees 3, Angels 2 (Box Score) (RAB Recap)
WP: A.J. Burnett
LP: Scott Kazmir
SV: Mariano Rivera
I remember this game as though it were 23 days ago. Looking for a strong outing from A.J. Burnett, the Yanks received just that. Burnett struck out 11 through 5.2 innings, and the Yanks held a slim 3-2 lead when one of the more unexpected innings in the Yankee season unfolded before us. With the pen gassed from the last two days, Ian Kennedy came on to pitch the 8th. Just a few months removed from aneurysm surgery, Kennedy was shaky. He needed 28 pitches to record three outs and had the bases loaded with two outs before retiring Erick Aybar. Mariano Rivera more or less breezed through the 9th, and the Yanks walked away with two wins in a row in Anaheim and a season split of their 10-game set against the Angels.
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