Piling On West

Aviv more than covered the problems surrounding umpire Joe West's tirade directed at the Red Sox and Yankees over the amount of time it takes them to play a game. But I want to get my two cents in as well.

From the unnecessary language to the blind spot surrounding the umpires' own culpability in games going too long, West took aim at a legitimate target but went completely wide of the mark.

Silencing That Stupid Rally Monkey

The Rally Monkey would have no impact on this night.

CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez made sure that annoyingly cute primate wouldn't be able to whip up the Angels and their red-clad, thunder stix smacking fans into a frenzy.

Sabathia, pitching on three days' rest, allowed one run in eight innings, and A-Rod sparked the offense to lead the Yankees to a 10-1 victory over the Angels in Anaheim Tuesday in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, giving the Yankees a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The two Yankees players who had the biggest questions about how they would perform during the postseason have put the Yankees a win away from the World Series. For Sabathia, it's clear his past struggles were the result a heavy workload in the regular season taking its toll in the postseason. For A-Rod, his struggles were purely mental.

For both players, those troubles are officially a thing of the past.

Sabathia made five starts in a pressure-free September, going 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA. More importantly, he never threw more than seven innings in any of those starts and averaged 106.4 pitches a start.

He was fresh for the playoffs and results have been astounding: Going 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 22-2/3 innings in three starts. He had been 2-4 with a 7.92 ERA in six previous postseason starts.

Tuesday's start may have been his most gutsy, taking the ball on three days' rest a day after the Yankees had given a game away to let the Angels back into the series.

In addition, since 1995 pitchers have not had much success pitching on three days' rest in the playoffs. In 85 starts, they had gone 20-34 with a 4.65 ERA in 458-1/3 innings. Sabathia had one of those starts for the Brewers last season, but it should be noted that it was his fourth consecutive start on three days' rest as he carried the Brewers to the NL Wild Card.

But any affect that short rest may have had on Sabathia this year appeared minimal as he dominated from the start, using his lively fastball and devastating change to keep the Angels off-balance.

The result was an impressively efficient outing in which Sabathia allowed just five hits and two walks, while striking out five and throwing 69 of 101 pitches for strikes. He could have gone the distance in this one, but with a big lead after eight, there was no need to ask any more of the ace lefthander.

The only significant trouble Sabathia ran into came in the fifth, when Kendry Morales hit a one-out homer to left that made it 5-1. Mike Napoli followed with a sharp single past A-Rod at third before Erick Aybar followed with a single to center to put runners on first and second. But Sabathia got Chone Figgins to ground into a forceout before getting Bobby Abreu to fly out to center.

Torii Hunter walked and Vladimir Guerrero singled to start the sixth, but Sabathia got Juan Rivera to ground into a double play on a play on which Jorge Posada lost track of the outs and started to leave the field. The Angels never threatened again.

The offense, meanwhile, struggled to get started. Coming off consecutive games in which the Yankees went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, it looked for a while as if those struggles would continue to be a major problem.

A-Rod led off the second with a walk and stole second before Posada walked. With three chances to bring a run in, the Yanks did nothing as Hideki Matui and Robinson Cano popped out and Nick Swisher flew out: RISP 0-for-3.

Mark Teixeira struck out to end the third with Johnny Damon on second: RISP 0-for-4.

A-Rod got things going again in the fourth with a sharp single and Posada followed with a double to put runners on second and third with no outs. This time, though, the Yankees would come through, but not before Matsui struck out: RISP 0-for-5.

With the infield back, Cano then hit a topper to second that Howie Kendrick fielded, but threw high to home, allowing A-Rod to slide in safely under the tag to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, though they were now 0-for-6 with RISP, Cano reaching on the fielder's choice.

Swisher then walked to loaded the bases, but Melky Cabrera finally broke the RISP drought, grounding a single to left to bring in two, Cano just beating Napoli's tag to make it 3-0.

Then the umpires made their presence felt. Angels starter Scott Kazmir picked off Swisher from second, but second base ump Dale Scott blew the call and ruled Swisher safe. The play wasn't close. It was a hideous call.

Then after Derek Jeter walked, Johnny Damon hit a sacrifice fly to score Swisher, but on appeal, third base ump and crew chief Tim McClelland called Swisher out for leaving the base too early, ending the inning. The call wasn't close to being right and what's stranger is that McClelland wasn't even looking at Swisher when he left third, but proceeded to call him out anyway. Can you say, "Makeup call?"

The Yankees also had a 3-0 lead in Game 2 and against the Angels in Anaheim, a three-run lead is far from safe. A-Rod made sure the Yankees' offense would not relent.

Teixeira led off the fifth with a single to chase Kazmir from the game. A-Rod then greeted reliever Jason Bulger by lining an 0-and-1, 94 mph fastball over the wall in left for a two-run homer to make it 5-0. It was A-Rod's fifth homer of the postseason and the eighth straight game he's had at least one RBI, tying the record of Lou Gehrig and Ryan Howard.

A-Rod's turnaround has been nothing short of amazing. Between Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS and 2007 ALDS against the Indians, he had played 16 playoff games and had exactly one homer and one RBI, those coming in the Yankees' final ALDS game in '07. It was clear he was pressing to carry the Yankees in those games.

This season, three of A-Rod's homers have tied games. He's been very relaxed and has been playing with a supreme amount of confidence. The result has been that he has finally been able to live up to expectations and has carried this offense. A bit ironic, no?

But after A-Rod's homer, thing went haywire. Jorge Posada walked and stole second as Matsui struck out against Jason Bulger. Cano then crushed a double that should have easily scored Posada, but Posada had gone back to second to tag as Hunter put on a good deke and wound up only at third. It was yet another example of Posada's poor baserunning instincts.

But the worst of Posada's running -- and of baseball's poor umpiring -- were yet to come.

Swisher next bounced back to reliever Darren Oliver, who trapped Posada off third. Posada properly got into a run down so that Cano could reach third, but when Posada was chased back to the base, Cano took his foot off third and Posada overran third. Napoli proceeded to tag both while neither was touching the base for what should have been a double play. Somehow McClelland blew yet another call, ruling Cano safe.

The umpires have been an absolute travesty in the playoffs and something has to be done. With each blown call, the integrity of the game take a major hit. This season, that integrity has received a black eye.

Commissioner Bud Selig, other baseball officials and managers such as Mike Scioscia and Joe Girardi can fret about rhythm of the game all they want, but if umpires are botching calls, then that rhythm is useless. The public cares more about calls being right than it does about any perceived rhythm of the game.

Baseball needs to do a better job of training and instructing its umpires and it has to expand its use of replay to include all boundary calls, not just homers, as well as plays at bases, especially scoring plays. The league may also want to include a challenge system for all other non-balls-and-strikes calls.

Fortunately for the umps, the Yankees did not score that inning. They did, however, score in the eighth on Damon's two-run homer to make it 7-1. They made it 10-1 in the ninth when A-Rod doubled and scored on a throwing error by Abreu before Cabrera later smoked a two-run double.

Chad Gaudin then came on pitched a flawless ninth, much to his credit. Gaudin had been held back in reserve throughout the playoffs as the long-man for extra innings or as a potential fourth starter. Yet in his first game action, he was sharp and did the job. He had ready made excuse for a poor outing, but just went out and executed. That's all you can ask.

So the Yankees have a 3-1 lead in this series, but we, as Yankees fans, know there is still a lot of work left to be done. Fresh in our memories is that 2004 ALCS when the Yanks blew a 3-0 lead against the Red Sox to become the first baseball team to lose a series in which it was up 3-0. Until the final out of that fourth victory is recorded, we can take nothing for granted.

A.J. Burnett will get the start in Game 5 Thursday. I hope he's sharp and can avoid that one bad inning so that the Yankees can win it in Anaheim and celebrate on the grave of that hideous Rally Monkey.

The sooner this series is over, the better.

Runners In Scoring Position
ALCS
7-for-45 (.156)
Game 4
4-for-17 (.235)
Game 3
0-for-8 (.000)
Game 2
0-for-8 (.000)
Game 1
3-for-12 (.250)
ALDS
6-for-17 (.353)
Regular Season
419-for-1,543 (.272)

Up Next
ALCS Game 5
Thursday at Angels, 7:57 p.m., FOX

Burnett (13-9, 4.04 ERA; Postseason: 0-0, 2.19 ERA in two starts)
vs. John Lackey (11-8, 3.83; Postseason: 1-1, 1.38 in two starts)

Call Was Correct, But Layne Was Wrong

The call, according to the rule book, was right. The problem is it's not a rule a umpires normally enforce that strictly on double plays.

With Melky Cabrera on first and no outs in the 10th inning of the Yankees' 4-3, 13-inning victory in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series Saturday, Jorge Posada hit what look for all the world to be a sure-fire double play grounder.

Second baseman Macier Izturis fielded the ball, tossed to shortstop Erick Aybar at second, who then made the relay back to first in time to get Posada.

It sure looked like a double play, except second base umpire Jerry Layne ruled Cabrera safe because Aybar didn't touch second.

Layne was right, according to the rulebook. Aybar in fact did not touch second.

The problem is that 99 percent of the time, umpires don't enforce that rule that strictly on double plays. It's called the neighborhood play.

Since Little League, middle infielders are taught that if they straddle the bag or are very close to it on double plays, umpires will call the runner out. It's not because umpires, players and coaches don't believe middle infielders don't have to touch the base, rather it's because of safety.

Turning the double play is one of the most dangerous plays in the game. Middle infielders are moving very quickly and usually have a runner sliding into them at full speed trying to break up the relay to first.

Knees and ankles are vulnerable. Bones can be broken. A tough fall may result in a concussion. And, unlike catchers, the middle infielder is trying to make this play without the benefit of any protection.

The last thing anyone wants and the last thing the sport needs is a rash of injuries to second basemen and shortstops.

So umpires grant the neighborhood play. We see it every day, year after year after year, and rarely, if ever, does an umpire call a runner safe. In fact this year, until Saturday, we hadn't seen that call in a Yankees game, despite seeing Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter be very close to the bag but never quite touching it on occasions too numerous to count.

Heck, we saw more egregious instances when a middle infielder wasn't close to the bag but got the call.

Aybar, in Game 2, was not outrageously far from the bad. It was not egregious. And no one would have batted an eye if Cabrera had been called out.

But that's not the call Layne made. Mike Scioscia, rightfully, argued the play and I have to agree with the point he made to Layne.

It's one thing to make that call in April or May or June, but to make that call in the 10th inning of Game 2 of the ALCS, I'm sorry, but that's just poor judgment on Layne's part.

The playoffs are not the time to suddenly get very strict or very lax in enforcing rules. Umpires should be officiating games exactly the same way they had been throughout the regular season.

Layne's call was outside the norm, but fortunately, it did not affect to outcome. The Angels escaped the inning without allowing a run.

Now I expect a significant number of Yankees fans to disagree with me. The Yankees got the benefit of the call, and it was, after all, correct by the rulebook.

But I have to ask this, what if the roles were reversed? What if it was Jeter or Cano making the turn and Layne didn't grant them the neighborhood play? Would those fans honestly say with all integrity that they would be supporting Layne in that spot?

My gut tells me they would have been screaming or Tweeting at the top of their lungs about the audacity of Layne suddenly not granting the neighborhood play.

And at the end of the day, in addition to getting the calls right (which has been a huge challenge this postseason) all we want from our umpires is to be fair and officiate the game exactly the same way for each team with consistency throughout the season and playoffs.

Layne failed to do that. That's why his call was wrong.

Of Note
Joe Girardi made it official Sunday. CC Sabathia will start Game 4 on three days' rest against Scott Kazmir. Sabathia on three days' rest is still better than Chad Gaudin. It's a good move and I hope after that game the Yankees will be dancing the Rally Monkey's grave.

Keeping Your Composure

Sorry A-Rod. I'm not taking you off the hook. You simply have to know better and have to maintain your composure.

Alex Rodriguez and Joe Girardi were both ejected Sunday, but Hideki Matsui sparked an eight-run eighth with a three-run homer and the Yankees beat the Orioles 13-3 at Yankee Stadium to snap a two-game losing streak.

The Yankees' lead in AL East stands at seven games ahead of the Red Sox, who swept the Rays in a doubleheader. They have a magic number of just 13.

A-Rod's problems began in the fourth. The Yankees had just rallied from two runs down to tie the score at 3 and he was up with the bases loaded and two outs, but was called out on a pitch that was outside by home plate ump Marty Foster.

A-Rod argued, then took his spot and third for the top of the fifth and continued to chirp at Foster. After the Orioles went down in order, A-Rod went into the Yankees' video room between innings and confirmed the pitch was indeed outside.

An enraged A-Rod returned to the dugout and continued to bark at Foster, who finally tossed him without warning. Girardi then took up the cause and put on a show before being sent to the showers.

I have no problem with Girardi protecting his player there, but A-Rod has to know better. Yes, the call was bad, but not that egregious. We've seen much worse calls.

Further, A-Rod has to understand who made the call -- Marty Foster, the same umpire who in July called out Derek Jeter on an attempted steal of third base because the ball beat Jeter to the bag, even though the third baseman never tagged him.

To say Foster is a terrible umpire is being kind. This isn't so nice: If Marty Foster is a major league-caliber umpire, then Kei Igawa is Cy Young. Foster sucks.

The Yankees know Foster is beyond terrible and A-Rod, who doubled in the first to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead, has to recognize that this guy is not going do things that a professional umpire would, such as issue a warning. He has to recognize that this guy doesn't know how to manage a game.

That means after confirming that the pitch was indeed outside in the video room, A-Rod needed to shut up, stay in the game and accept his fine from MLB after telling reporters following the game that Foster is quite possibly the worst game official in the history of organized sports. Ever.

The good news is that the Yankees still pulled out the win to snap out of their short malaise.

CC Sabathia (17-7, 3.42 ERA) continued to bolster is Cy Young credentials by allowing three runs on five hits and four walks in seven innings. He struck out just one and threw 66 of 108 pitches for strikes.

But the reality is that if not for a Johnny Damon brain cramp in the fourth, CC would have allowed just two runs.

Justin Turner led off the fourth with a single and went to second on a Chad Moeller groundout. Jeff Fiorentino then lofted a fly ball to left for the second out, but Damon lost track of how many outs there were and turned toward the stand and was about to toss the ball into the stands before realizing the inning wasn't over. Unfortunately, that realization was too last as Turner scored from second to make it 3-1.

That one will go down as the bonehead play of the year.

But we can laugh about it because the Yankees rallied in the bottom half.

Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher started the inning with singles to load the bases for Melky Cabrera, who singled in two to tie it up. Cabrera went 2-for-5 with four RBI.

The Yanks grabbed the lead for good in the sixth, when with one out Jeter and Damon singled to put runners on the corners. After Mark Teixeira struck out, Eric Hinske, who replaced A-Rod, walked before Matsui stroked a two-run single to right to make it 5-3.

The Yanks finished it off in the eighth with eight runs. Damon walked and Teixeira singled to put runners on the corners to start the innings. Ramiro Pena then fouled out before Matsui launched a shot to right to make it 8-3.

After Posada grounded out, Cano and Swisher singled to put runners on the corners. They came around to score on Cabrera's double.

Brett Gardner doubled in another run a Teixeira doubled in two more and the Yankees had the game well in hand.

And that leaves me wondering if anyone has seen Mariano Rivera lately? We might need to put out an APB for him.

Runners In Scoring Position
Sunday
9-for-24 (.375)
Season
375-for-1,369 (.274)
First Half
217-for-819 (.265)
Second Half
158-for-550 (.287)
Since A-Rod's Return May 8
310-for-1,096 (.283)
Vs. Red Sox
36-for-163 (.221)

Up Next
Monday vs. Angels, 7:05 p.m., YES
Jered Weaver (15-5, 3.76) vs. Joba Chamberlain (8-5, 4.45)

This is a makeup of a rainout and the start of Yankees' final big test of the season. The Angels are the final dragon the Yankees have left to slay. It's one game at home today and then three in Anaheim next week.

Joba gave up two runs in three innings in his last abbreviated started, but retired the last eight batters he faced. I'm hoping that finish was an indication that Joba has figured something out and will finally start pitching well again. Meanwhile, Joba has four starts remaining in the regular season, so expect the Yankees to begin stretching him back out by allowing him to go four innings today.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

I usually don't write about umpires. In fact I hate doing so because I believe that even though they are human and do blow calls, they are never the reason behind a loss or a victory.

And let's face it, no one wants to read much about the umps, so I won't go on too long about this.

But after the Yankees' 7-2 victory over the A's in Oakland Tuesday, they deserve credit for the way they handled a beanball situation that had the potential to blow up. It was the perfect example of umpires allowing the players to police themselves before seizing control of the situation to prevent it from getting out of hand.

Nice job, guys.

The problem began in the first when Alex Rodriguez was hit on the elbow by a 95 mph, Vin Mazzaro fastball. Whether Mazzaro intended to hit A-Rod or it was just an accident is irrelevant. It was the second time in a week A-Rod had been hit on the elbow and it drew an angry response, though he did not charge the mound. He was forced to miss two games after being hit by the Blue Jays last Wednesday.

Some umpiring crews might have issued warnings right then and there, but the crew of Jerry Layne, Todd Tichenor, Chris Guccione and Mike Winters did the right thing and allowed the players to resolve the situation first.

And CC Sabathia did just that, putting a two-out, 97 mph fastball just behind the rear of Kurt Suzuki, staying far away from the head of the A's catcher.

Tempers, of course, flared, but that's when the umpires took control and issued warnings, though not before Sabathia was able to deliver a clear message, both to the A's and the rest of the league: whether on purpose or accident, Yankee pitchers will not tolerate their star third baseman and heart of the order being hit.

And though I hate the end result, Suzuki deserves credit, too. Rather than charging the mound as Kevin Youkilis did against the Tigers last week, Suzuki got back in the box and crushed the next pitch over the wall in left to give the A's a 1-0 lead. It was the appropriate response.

And with that, the incident was resolved. It's over with no lingering effect over the rest of the game or today's game.

As for the rest of the game, it was a fairly typical Yankees' win that snapped a two-game losing streak and allowed them to remain seven games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East.

"This was a big win for us, because you do want to stop it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We've had a couple of three-game losing streaks, and we've come out very well. Let's just make it a two-game losing streak."

Sabathia, the Bay Area kid , allowed a two-out Tommy Everidge (who????) homer in the second, but settled down after that. Sabathia (14-7, 3.58) allowed five hits and one walk in eight innings in winning his fourth straight this month. He struck out seven and threw 66 of 94 pitches for strikes.

The offense, meanwhile, put the game away with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by Derek Jeter's go-ahead single, giving the Yankees their fourth win on the West Coast and ensuring the finish the swing with a winning record.

Now it's time to put on the finishing touches before an off-day prior to big, three-game series in Boston.

Runners In Scoring Position
Tuesday
4-for-12 (.333)
Season
288-for-1,111 (.259)
First Half
217-for-819 (.265)
Second Half
72-for-292 (.247)
Since A-Rod's Return May 8
223-for-839 (.266)
Vs. Red Sox
20-for-126 (.159)

Up Next
Wednesday at A's, 10:05 p.m., YES
Chad Gaudin (5-10, 5.13 overall, 1-0, 5.40 with Yankees) vs. Brett Anderson (7-8, 4.55)

Before I get to the matchup, I want to repeat this: West Coast teams should not be allowed to play night games on weekends or getaway days when they host an East Coast teams. Show some compassion for the fans back East!

This is Gaudin's first start with the Yanks since being acquired from the Padres. He has to be better than Sergio Mitre, right??? A quality start (three runs in six innings) should be enough to get the job done, though Anderson is capable of firing a gem.