Game of The Night: AL Division Series, NYY @ LAA-Game 1

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The game is on tonight at 8 PM EST on FOX. I hope to see you all there but first let's hear some predicitions.

New York Yankees Lineup             Los Angeles Angels Lineup
Derek Jeter SS                      Chone Figgins 3B
Alex Rodriguez 3B                   Orlando Cabrera SS
Jason Giambi 1B                     Garret Anderson LF
Gary Sheffield RF                   Vladimir Guerrero RF
Hideki Matsui LF                    Darin Erstad 1B
Robinson Cano 2B                    Bengie Molina C
Jorge Posada C                      Juan Rivera DH
Bernie Williams DH                  Steve Finley CF
Bubba Crosby CF                     Adam Kennedy 2B
Starting Pitcher	             Starting Pitcher
Mike Mussina P                       Bartolo Colon P

Yankees-Angels Preview
GAME: New York Yankees (95-67) at Los Angeles Angels (95-67).
SERIES: AL Division Series; Game 1.
TIME: Tuesday, 8:19 p.m. EDT.

Despite having baseball's first $200 million payroll, the New York Yankees had to battle until the second-to-last day of the season to secure a playoff spot, overcoming adversity in a year in which manager Joe Torre earned the toughest of his nine AL East titles in New York.

In keeping with the theme of their season, plenty more adversity appears to await the Yankees as they take on the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of their AL division series at Angel Stadium.

Torre's team brought him to tears Saturday, as New York defeated Boston 8-4 to clinch the division for the eighth straight time. It marked the high point of a season that saw the Yankees get off to an 11-19 start, had their starting rotation decimated by injuries and played through intense pressure to capture a postseason berth.

''This was the best of all of them,'' Torre said of winning the division in a season which also saw speculation over whether he would retain his job if New York missed the playoffs. ''The first is always memorable. But this has to be the most special because of everything that went on this year.''

On Sunday, however, it was back to the realities of 2005 for New York, which was routed 10-1 by the Red Sox, handing home-field advantage in the first round to the Angels - one of the few teams that has given the Yankees trouble during the Torre era.

The Angels are the only team with a winning record (49-48) against New York in Torre's 10 seasons, and they'll be looking to repeat the result of the clubs' 2002 ALDS meeting, when they knocked off the Yankees in four games en route to winning the World Series.

Los Angeles' 6-4 win in the season series gave it the tiebreaker edge over New York, which had to fly across the country Sunday to get ready for the first-round series instead of a short flight home from Boston for Games 1 and 2. The Yankees went 42-39 on the road this season, compared to 53-28 at Yankee Stadium.

''I think we accomplished what we wanted to by getting guys rested and getting home field,'' Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. ''Everything had to fall in place perfectly, and it looks like it did.''

The Yankees dropped three of four at Angel Stadium from July 21-24, and Los Angeles will send 21-game winner Bartolo Colon to the mound Tuesday. However, New York, and third baseman Alex Rodriguez in particular, may not see that as a disadvantage.

Rodriguez hit three consecutive home runs off Colon in the Yankees' 12-4 home win April 26, driving in nine runs against the right-hander with a two-run shot, a three-run homer and a grand slam. A-Rod followed that up by homering in a fourth straight at-bat against Colon in Anaheim's 6-5 home victory July 21. New York's MVP candidate is 19-for-43 (.442) lifetime against Colon with seven homers, 16 RBIs, five doubles and a triple.

While the Yankees probably have reason to feel confident against the Angels' Game 1 starter, they aren't sure what they'll get out of their own, Mike Mussina. The veteran right-hander will be making his third start since missing three weeks with a sore pitching elbow. He pitched well in his first game back, throwing six innings to beat Baltimore, but lasted only 1 2-3 innings in a 17-9 loss to the Orioles last Tuesday.

Crucial for Mussina, and all of New York's pitchers, will be to keep the speedy Angels off the basepaths, Chone Figgins in particular. Figgins hit .487 (19-for-39) against the Yankees with six stolen bases and eight runs this season.

Another key matchup in this series could be New York's powerful lineup led by Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui against Los Angeles' dominant late-game relief tandem of setup man Scot Shields and closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Game 2 will be Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

Article Link

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Other info from the preview above:

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Yankees - AL East champion. Angels - AL West champion.

PROJECTED LINEUPS: Yankees - SS Derek Jeter (.309, 19 HRs, 70 RBIs, 122 runs), 3B Rodriguez (.321, 48, 130, 124 runs, 21 SBs), 1B Giambi (.271, 32, 87, 108 BBs), RF Sheffield (.291, 34, 123), LF Matsui (.305, 23, 116, 45 2Bs), 2B Robinson Cano (.297, 14, 62, 34 2Bs), C Jorge Posada (.262, 19, 71), DH Bernie Williams (.249, 12, 64), CF Bubba Crosby (.276, 1, 6). Angels - 3B Figgins (.290, 8, 57, ML-high 62 SBs, 64 BBs), SS Orlando Cabrera (.257, 8, 57, 21 SBs), DH Garret Anderson (.283, 17, 96), RF Vladimir Guerrero (.317, 32, 108, .394 on-base percentage), C Bengie Molina (.295, 15, 69), LF Juan Rivera (.271, 15, 59), 1B Darin Erstad (.273, 7, 66), CF Steve Finley (.222, 12, 54), 2B Adam Kennedy (.300, 2, 37).

YANKEES PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER: Mussina (13-8, 4.41). The right-hander will be pitching in his seventh postseason and is 6-6 with a 3.16 ERA in 19 career playoff games, including 18 starts. Mussina faced the Angels three times this season and went 1-2 with a 3.80 ERA, lasting at least 6 1-3 innings in each of those games. He is 14-8 with a 3.51 ERA in 28 career starts against the Angels, including 8-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 13 outings in Anaheim.

ANGELS PROBABLE STARTING PITCHER: Colon (21-8, 3.48 ERA). The big right-hander went 2-2 with a 5.72 ERA in his last four starts after winning eight straight decisions, lasting more than five innings only twice in six September outings. Colon will be pitching in the playoffs for the fifth time, and has a 2-2 mark with a 3.45 ERA in seven postseason starts. He'll be making his second start against New York in the playoffs, having defeated the Yankees 6-1 in Game 3 of the 1998 AL championship series with a four-hitter while with Cleveland. He went 1-1 with an 8.44 ERA in two starts against New York this season and is 4-4 with a 4.52 ERA in 11 games, including 10 starts, against the Yankees overall.

SEASON SERIES: Angels, 6-4.

STREAKS AND NOTES: Yankees - 3B Rodriguez batted .390 (16-for-41) with five HRs and 14 RBIs against Los Angeles this season. ... 1B Giambi hit .400 (12-for-30) with six HRs, nine RBIs and eight walks against the Angels. ... 3B Rodriguez and SS Jeter finished first and second in runs scored in the AL, the first time the Yankees accomplished that since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each scored 132 runs in 1961. Angels - RF Guerrero is 3-for-19 (.158) with one extra-base hit against Mussina. He had 13 RBIs against the Yankees this year. ... RHP Shields faced the Yankees seven times this season and didn't allow an earned run. ... Former Yankee OF Rivera will get the start in left after a solid year at the plate and in the field for Los Angeles. He had a .992 fielding percentage playing all three outfield positions.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Yankees - 42-39 on the road. Angels - 49-32 at home.

Link

[Providence A's]

I predict that I don't like either team, but I want the Angels to beat the Yankees and then to lose in the ALCS...unless they play the Red Sox...so, I want the White Sox to make it to the World Series for the AL basically.

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Lineups have been posted.

Anyway, I am thinking that the Angels win it 5-3 tonight.

[Providence A's]

8 - 6 Angels

[MarinersFan87]

6-3 Angels

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Simpsons Treehouse of Horror preview.... .

Minutes away from the game gang.

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Colon takes the mound and fires the first pitch, a 95 mph fastball, for a strike.

Jeter with a chopper to Figgins at 3B for the 1st out.

[Providence A's]

Shrek2 is throwing heat.

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One of the leading canidates for AL MVP, and ARod goes fishing low for a fastball. Two outs.

[Providence A's]

Jumbo Giambi is up and the announcers are stroking him

[Porter]

4-2 Angels, I think Colon has enough in the tank to hold off a struggling Mussina.

[love_that_reefer]

Giambi gets on base again. Shocker!

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Shrek2 is throwing heat.

Word.

Giambi laces a basehit into RF for the first hit of the night. He turned on that heater quickly.

[Providence A's]

yes, Giambi was "reborn" with a little help from his friend HGH