Weather forecasts speculate that the next two days in the Bronx will have you running to grab a hot cup of swiss miss...However, the series between the 103-win Yankees and 97-win Los Angeles Angels will, without a shadow of a doubt, be nothing short of a scorcher....
The Yankees steamrolled through the regular season and made short work of the Twins, but if there's one team that is sure to give the bombers a run for their money...it's Mike Scioscia's Angels squad...a squad that finally managed to beat the Boston Red Sox in an ALDS; something they could not accomplish in 2004, 2007 or 2008.
Both of these offenses are nothing short of dominating...The Yanks come at you with straight up power...Jeter and Posada have been their typical postseason selves....AROD has used the Kate
Hudson treatment to become the new Captain Clutch, hitting 2 HR and 6 RBI i
n the ALDS; including that game-tying 2-run jack in the 9th inning of game 3...However, the rest of the lineup combined to hit .140 in the opening round against the likes of Carl Pavano...that won't fly with a stellar Angels rotation...The Angels offense comes at you with power as well, but they also have more speed than the Yanks...L.A.A has a team that can get you with small ball and are among the best with getting runners from first to third...Bobby Abreu has gotten off to a hot start this postseason and playing against his old club will certainly fuel the fire..I also think that Vlady has got one more flash in the pan...free agency is looming for him you know...
I give the Starting pitching edge to the Angels because a) they're sending out 4 starters in this series that are capable of shutting down the yanks and b) one of those starters is this man to the right.................
John Lackey, who is two postseason wins away from getting monster money in free agency next season, hurled a gem in game 1 of the ALDS and beat the Yankees in the only time they faced him this year...The losing pitcher of that same game? C.C Sabathia..
Joe Girardi's decision to only use three starters shows me that a) he has no faith in throwing Joba or Chad Gaudin out there in a tight series and b) he's legitimately scared of the Angels....Although he looked good in his first postseason start this year, he lost both of his games started against L.A.A this year and didn't look all that great doing so....A.J and Pettite have more thrown on their shoulders. While Andy is a warrior, the jury is still out on AJ's warrior badge in the postseason ....
While the Angels have a shaky Brian Fuentes closing games for them, the Yanks gain the pitching edge right back with a much deeper bullpen...Phil Hughes needs to put the ALDS behind him and pitch to his ability or the Yanks will lose that a piece of the bridge to Mo in the 9th...
While the Angels are fully confident that they can take the Yankees out like they did in 2002 and 2005, the Yanks have shown a mental toughness this season that I have not seen on the bombers in years...This series will deliver and be one for the ages...The Yanks will pull it out, but it will take 7 games to do so...
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