However, the main thing I will pull from today is the thrilling 13-inning epic that the Angels and Yankees had on stage tonight. The Angels needed to win tonights game after a flat and uninspiring performance in Game 1. This game had the feel of an instant classic, even before going to extra innings. The main things I noticed in extras were as follows:
As questionable as the umpiring has been, at least it didn't cost anyone the Game.
In the 10th inning, Erick Aybar thought he was on the front end of a double play that would leave the bases empty with 2 gone, instead the umpire called him for being off the bag (a play where the out should have been given to the Angels)...luckily the Angels were able to get out of the inning and this game was able to be settled on the field.
We're one step closer to people not discussing how un-clutch A-Rod is:
Alright, i'm not exactly a fan of A-Rod. I don't know whether its the salary, his arrogance, the team he plays for, he just rubs me the wrong way. That said, he is one of the greatest (if not) the greatest hitter of this generation. Also, he has gotten a lot of flak for being a bad post-season hitter. Granted his post-season body of work isn't as impressive as what hes done during the regular season but its not like he turns into David Eckstein.
Tonight, he follows up a strong start to the post-season by hitting a game-tying homer in the 11th and keeping the Yankees chances of going up 2-0 alive.
Speaking of that home run, whats up with all these blown saves?
Also, the Angels probably wish they still had K-Rod after the events of the 11th inning. I haven't been sold on Brian Fuentes as an elite closer and tonights game doesn't help his case at all. Instead of going into LA of Anaheim with a tied series, A-Rods home run kept this game going for a couple extra innings. If there is one theme from this post-season (besides the atrocious umpiring) its closers blowing games for their teams.........
Offense wins games, Defense wins championships, bad defense loses games
As great as this game was, it did seemed like a minor shame to see this game lost on a botched double-play attempt. Maicer Izturis tried to play hero by turning a double-play on a sharply hit ground ball. Even if he went the safe route and threw to first, worse case scenario is runners in scoring position 2 outs and a chance to force a 14th inning. Instead Izturis makes a sloppy through that Erick Aybar is unable to field and 5-plus hours of baseball comes to an end.
While I would have preferred for this game to end on a clean hit (or a Yankees loss)....at the end of the day, this game is an instant classic and one that we'll be talking about for a while. And to think this game seemed like it was going to be rained out as recently as yesterday.
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