Phil Hughes said part of the reason he walked the only two Phillies batters he faced in Game 1 of the World Series was he was too worried about the Yankees' scouting reports.
Hughes also admitted the obvious: that the Yankees bullpen, aside from closer Mariano Rivera, has struggled this postseason.
"I feel like we've been getting good performances out of our starting pitching," Hughes said Thursday before Game 2, "Our hitters have been doing a good job scoring enough runs to win games. I feel like the weak link right now is our bullpen."
NEW YORK -- Once upon a time -- say, two weeks ago -- the Yankees bullpen was so deep and effective that manager Joe Girardi couldn't resist going to reliever after reliever.
He did it again Wednesday in Game 1 of the World Series, but because he was looking for someone effective.
The five Yankees relievers who followed CC Sabathia combined to allow four runs in five hits and three walks in just two innings, putting a two-run game out of reach.
Pitching coach Dave Eiliand said he saw "a little timidness" from the group.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Pointing a finger at a manager is an easy thing to do after a heart-wrenching loss. Sometimes the hard truth of a loss is little more than a lack of execution by the players. The Angels' Game 5 victory came down to a poorly executed pitch from the hand of Phil Hughes. That simple of an answer might be difficult to swallow, but that single offering has, at best, delayed the Yankees' return to the World Series.
Make no mistake, New York is at this point in the postseason because of the performance of its young relievers. But, youthful mistakes and jitters cost the Yankees dearly Thursday night. Until Game 6 begins on Saturday night, the pitch every Yankee should be replaying in their head is a fastball in a 1-2 down the heart of the plate to Vladimir Guerrero.
NEW YORK -- Joe Girardi must feel like a kid on Christmas morning. He has been given a bunch of the latest and greatest toys, and he's going to use them all.
The Yankees -- who open the ALCS on Friday at home against the Angels -- have assembled their most reliable (albeit youngest) bullpen in a while, and Girardi showed in the American League Division Series he will utilize it.
"It's turned out all right," Chamberlain told FanHouse. "You've got a couple right-handers, a couple left-handers, and the other guys pretty much do everything."
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Pitch selection, execution of those pitches, and the situation those pitches are thrown in is never more scrutinized than it is in the playoffs. Time and time again, one pitch in a given situation drastically swung the momentum of Game 2 between the Yankees and Twins Friday night in the Bronx. The game may have ended with home run heroics, but the tone was set by the pitchers throughout, whether it was in a positive or negative fashion.
First, there were the two starters who in their own ways came up big. Nick Blackburn took a strategy to the mound that has proved again and again to be the most successful against the New York lineup.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
It wasn't a good day to be a top-ten closer on Wednesday. Both Mariano Rivera and Huston Street are on the shelf for a few days.
After the game Wednesday night, the Yankees told the media that Rivera was unavailable due to tightness in his groin. The 39-year-old Rivera, who has battled this injury for a while, sat out the final game of the Baltimore series but feels that he'll be back to full duty after a few days of rest.
Street seems just as optimistic after being shut down indefinitely due to biceps tendinitis in his right arm. He hopes to test the arm this weekend. If all goes well he'll be back to action in short time.
OAKLAND -- When Phil Hughes got the call into manager Joe Girardi's office back in early June, he assumed he was headed for the minors.
Again.
But Hughes' young career, one of unmet potential as a starter, took a quick turn that has brought him to the last place he thought he'd be. He is a dominant setup man.
"He's really made the back end of the bullpen that much stronger for us," Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland told FanHouse. "He's done a fabulous job."
There has been no shortage of teams interested in acquiring Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay since the moment he was put on the block, but all along, the one club pegged as the favorite in the sweepstakes has been the Phillies. Over the weekend, FanHouse's Ed Price reported that the Jays had to have both J.A. Happ and Kyle Drabek in any potential deal with Philadelphia, a concession the reigning world champs have so far been unwilling to make.
So with only four days remaining to the trade deadline, we have to wonder if this trade is going to happen. More importantly, should it happen? It's obvious why the Blue Jays want to move Halladay, and even more obvious why the Phillies want him in their rotation, but there are other things Philly should think about besides becoming an instant World Series favorite as it tries to swing a deal for the righty.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That not even a little (OK, a lot of) rain could get in the way of the emerging Yankees juggernaut. The Bronx Bombers sat through a two-hour, 43-minute rain delay (40 minutes longer than it took Mark Buehrle to throw his perfect game) and won their seventh straight, beating the A's 6-3 to open up their lead in the AL East over Boston to 2 1/2 games.
It was a nice night for the two big winter additions -- CC Sabathia won his 10th game and Mark Teixeira homered -- and an even nicer night for Phil Hughes, who picked up his first career save.
Hughes kept the game ball, joining one autographed by Rivera that now sits in a glass case in his locker. "I don't know what's more valuable, Mariano Rivera's 500th or my first," Hughes said. "It's certainly a long way since spring training."
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Starting Five
