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Game 4 summary: Simply too much Sabathia for Angels

October 20th, 2009, 8:40 pm · 21 Comments · posted by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Joe Buck’s constant fawning over Joe Girardi decisions would have been fine Tuesday night — if only the Fox play-by-play man was talking about Game 3, and the Yankees manager’s bullpen strategy.

Not even this helped (Getty Images)

Not even this helped (Getty Images)

It’s Girardi’s bullpen, and he knows best how to use it. If he doesn’t think David Robertson is a good matchup for Howie Kendrick, he has much more insight into it than I do. Plus, Robertson is only 24 and coming off a September injury.

But Buck lauded Girardi more than once during Game 4 for starting CC Sabathia and, apparently, having Alex Rodriguez batting fourth.

Sheer genius, that.

Buck and partner Tim McCarver later applauded Sabathia for appearing like he was ready to pitch before the game. If the lefty had looked otherwise, it would have been a big story.

The Angels for the most part did not look good against baseball’s highest-paid pitcher.

Santana Sabathia was particularly dynamic against the top of the Angels batting order. As Buck noted, Sabathia was still clocking 94 mph in the eighth. It was too much for Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu, and Torii Hunter.

They were a combind 0 for 10 in the 10-1 loss that puts the Angels’ season on the brink.

 Sabathia pitched so well, Rodriguez could have stayed at the hotel and New York still would have won.

(Associated Press)

(Associated Press)

And Angels starter Scott Kazmir looked a lot like the pitcher he was for most of his Tampa Bay Rays career: Too many three-ball counts, too many pitches in the first few innings, and finally the struggle caught up to him.

He had a good track record against the Yankees, though, so this is not a second guess of Mike Scioscia. I guarantee you Ervin Santana was much better out of the ‘pen than Kazmir could have been.

So it’s up to John Lackey to quiet the Yankees bats and force this series back to cold, new Yankee Stadium.

It was a tough night at Angel Stadium. Not even Jeff Mathis could have saved them from this one.

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 21 Comments

  • quinlan's goofy swing says:
    October 20, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    At what point do we look at Scioscia?

    Figgins and Abreu have done nothing against lefties, why bat them 1,2 again against CC?

    Rivera has hit .215, lowest on the team, over the last 2 months. He bats 5th. Remember what got Howie Kendrick sent to AAA?

    Bulger is hurt, hasn’t pitched back to back games in almost a month, and promptly puts the game out of reach.

    Santana is inexplicably yanked, for a journeyman reliever who gets lit up. It was the equivalent of inserting Reggie Willits or Rob Quinlan into the game for Kendry Morales.

    This isn’t the kind of managing that wins in October. Blind devotion to players locked in horrendous slumps won’t get it done.

    Post Reply
  • Striker to the Line says:
    October 21, 2009 at 7:06 am

    I said before the game that the key was for the Angels bats to NOT let CC settle in to a groove. He obviously settled and our hitters fed right into his hand. The Angels allowed themselves to be taken completely out of their game, while the opposition played how WE should have. Lastly, they looked beat after the first trip through the lineup. Maybe with the exception of Kendrick and Morales at times, but almost the entire line up looked beat at the plate, lacking the fire and drive and and desire for momentum it takes to compete in the postseason. Hunter and Abreu especially looked beat at the plate, while Rivera has been downright terrible. A sad state of affairs last night indeed.

    Post Reply
  • Your_Editor says:
    October 21, 2009 at 7:16 am

    “Santana was particularly dynamic against the top of the Angels batting order”

    ???

    Post Reply
  • Randy says:
    October 21, 2009 at 7:27 am

    I think Scioscia needs to retire…or maybe we need to send him down to Cucamonga with Vlad as team mascots Tremor and Aftershock because he has proved he certainly can’t manage a post season team.

    I started to write a reply that covered the basics of why we lost and are probably going to end the post season in the ALCS, but instead I thought I would ask a favor:

    Does anyone know a really tall building in Orange County with roof access? I need to make sure that when I jump, the deed is done right.

    Failing that, I have to agree with Quinlan’s goofy swing - except about Santana. He may have had one good year, but I don;t think he even belongs in the bullpen. Send him down.

    A lot of people will chime in now and say Scioscia is great - lot of wins. But look at the division. The AL West is one of the weakest in baseball, and it’s only 4 teams - the only division in all of baseball with only four teams.

    Post Reply
    • Mark Whicker, ocregister.com says:
      October 21, 2009 at 9:42 am

      I would suggest the top of the Newport Beach Marriott.

      And the AL West was eight games over .500 even without the Angels and was the only division in baseball that didn’t have a team that played more than 12 games under .500.

      Post Reply
      • Randy says:
        October 21, 2009 at 11:39 am

        That’s a really bad argument Mark. The only team worth a hoot in the AL West besides LAA was Texas. The fact that we beat them in the end for the AL West title was not because of stellar play. It’s because Texas’ lineup was seriously injured. Look…I’m an Angels fan. I’m just trying to vent my frustrations because I feel shorted by the talent and management on this team when they don’t play to their potential.

        Does the Marriott have roof access?

        Post Reply
        • Earl Bloom, staff writer says:
          October 21, 2009 at 1:30 pm

          Don’t do it Randy! You’re still a young man. As much as I love it, it’s just baseball. And, it’s not that bad … try being a Rams fan.

          Post Reply
          • Randy says:
            October 21, 2009 at 4:22 pm

            That would be almost as tough as being a Raiders fan. I love my team - I do. I just get pissy when they lose important games that they could have won with better anything at all. The talent on this team is pretty tremendous, and there is so much potential. I hate to se ethem not to play to the level they are capable of. It breaks my heart.

            Ok Earl…I won’t jump…this year. I make no promises for 2010 however.

            Dump Vlad.
            Dump Scioscia.
            Dump Arte.
            Dump Reagins.
            Make me manager, owner, and hiring guy all in one. Hell I’ll even play right field, and I promise to bench myself when I’m not batting well.

            Post Reply
  • Angel Al says:
    October 21, 2009 at 8:06 am

    Mathis hits the game winner in game 3 and then sits on the bench for game 4. He has the highest batting average on the team during the postseason. What a joke. Scioscia knowing that CC was on the mound should have pulled Kazmir for Santana much earlier. Anyway, second guessing is easy coming, back from a 3-1 deficit will be much more difficult.

    Post Reply
  • quinlan's goofy swing says:
    October 21, 2009 at 11:24 am

    Highlight of the game :

    Pinch hitting Matthews for Kendrick with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th.

    Why doesn’t Scioscia just shoot Kendrick and get it over with.

    The kid was their best hitter int he 2nd half of the season, has been their best hitter this post season, and not only does he not start every game, but he gets pinch hit for in a 10-1 game while the black hole of a 1-5 get all their at bats?

    Scioscia’s style is great for a long drawn out season, but the guy can’t even put his best personnel on the field.
    Napoli hasn’t done anything with his bat the last 2 months, and was the reason for Kazmir not getting some calls early last night … SO GLAD Scioscia knows so much about catching, to put his worst catcher with a pitcher who absolutely needs the umpire to have the best view of his nibbling tendencies.

    Post Reply
    • Randy says:
      October 21, 2009 at 11:40 am

      At 10-1 the game is lost. I think giving bench players a few more ABs in a game like that is smart. I don;t agree with most of Scioscia’s calls, but that one was smart. He probably should have let the entire backup crew play and hit the last couple of innings.

      Post Reply
    • LetsGoMets says:
      October 21, 2009 at 12:25 pm

      They should’ve used midget umpires for Kazmir last night. Maybe they would’ve called the preponderance of his shit pitches in the dirt for strikes.

      Post Reply
  • Chawk says:
    October 21, 2009 at 3:57 pm

    Hey what you are all forgetting is the Yankees beat us up. Thats what a $220MM+ payroll will do. They spent half a billion on 3 players (Tex, AJ, and CC) so I guess high priced free agents can come through.The acqusition of CC paid them dividends in Game 1 and now Game 4. Until we step up, trade or acquire a big time free agent be prepared to be disappointed in the post season. As of right now the Yankees are a better team than the Angels so I expect them to win. Now we can get hot and pull off a miracle but I’m not betting my underwater house on it

    Post Reply

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