Stuffed Like a Turkey: Sloppy Play Returns In Giant Letdown

Maybe all the tryptophan made the Giants sleepy.

Maybe the stuffing tasted weird.

Or maybe—just maybe—the Giants are THAT bad.

Either way, there's not much to be thankful for in Big Blue Land after the most recent debacle. If you couldn't watch the game due to a food coma—which, in retrospect, would have been a better option—you missed a return of the pre-bye Giant team we've all come to know and loathe. Horrible play in all three facets of game contributed to the most recent loss, a 26-6 stinker against the Denver Broncos.

On offense, the Giants continued to look out of sync. The main issue this time was the offensive line's, ahem, offensive, performance—three sacks allowed (including a near safety in the second quarter, though really it was a blitz from the outside) on top of the paltry 57 yards rushing. This makes it 16 sacks allowed in the Giants' five losses on the year, as compared to 3 in the six wins. In particular, Elvis "The King" Dumervil got to Eli twice, extending his league-leading total to 14. It's almost as if the big guys up front have lost the cohesion that made them one of the best units in years past, and as a result the floodgates have been opened.

As frustrating as the offense was, the defense looked even worse. In an effort that will undoubtedly leave many fans calling for coordinator Bill Sheridan's headset, the defense seemed completely lost against the previously-sputtering Broncos offense. (Though part of it may have actually been Knowshon Moreno getting back at me for his low draft grade back in April, a mistake for which I may readily swallow my pride and admit I was wrong.) There was absolutely no pressure put on the ailing Kyle Orton, who had all kinds of time to find the open receiver, or to just throw it to Brandon Marshall and let him make ridiculous one-handed grabs.

But wait, there's more—not only was the pass rush awful, but the Giants kept getting beat on the outside toss and on cutback routes. And it didn't help that shoddy tackling only made those kinds of plays go for even bigger gains. I couldn't even begin to count how many times Moreno or Correll Buckhalter looked like they'd be stopped for a loss, then all of a sudden break free and gain 10 yards after cutting into a open gap or taking it down the sideline.

Overall, let's just say that it was a pitiful defensive performance when C.C. Brown is among the top tacklers for the Giants. Let me reiterate that—C.C. Brown. As in "Can't Cover" Brown.

At this point, I'm not sure what needs to be done to revive this failing season. Normally, I'd advocate for someone to be benched, in the hopes that it'd light a fire under their rear and motivate the team. But that would only make things worse in the short run, which is exactly what the Giants don't need right now.

They've already had a special guest come in and make a motivational speech—Michael Strahan did that last week against the Falcons. However, it didn't really help the cause—the Giants won, but needed overtime to do so.

Which leads me to one person—Bill Sheridan. He has to be feeling the heat right now, and if the Giants go out and get decimated by Dallas next week then it's safe to say he's a goner.

Either way, what happened tonight was an absolute debacle. The Giants can give thanks for the fact that they have a few extra days to prepare for Dallas, but their playoff hopes are disappearing as quickly as Thanksgiving leftovers the following day.

Late Night Pie: Yankees Win Five-Hour Marathon, Go Up 2-0 in ALCS

I don't know how I'm writing this right now. I am absolutely speechless. My mind is a jumble of exhaustion, euphoria, and everything that could possibly fit in between.

One thing I can safely say: I love me some pie at 1:07 in the morning.

In a game filled with sloppy weather and even sloppier defense, the Yankees pulled off what probably may go down as the most thrilling ALCS victory since Aaron Boone's shot in 2003. So much stuff happened tonight, where to start?

We'll start with a solid outing by A.J. Burnett—despite getting a little wild as the game went on, he managed to go 6.1 innings, allowing two runs over three hits and two walks while striking out four.

A-Rod continued to exorcise the demons of years past, tying the game in the bottom of the 11^th on an 0-2 count with a shot that just eked over the right field wall.

Then, in a play that served as a microcosm of the entire night, Angels 2B Maicer Izturis made a nice diving stop on Melky Cabrera's grounder and made a throw to second. Only problem was, it sailed wide of the base.

The result: Jerry Hairston Jr. scores on the play, Frank Sinatra begins blasting out of the stadium speakers, and JHJ gets the celebratory pie (Burnett looked like he was trying to fake Jerry out for a second, then nearly broke Hairston's nose during the pie-ing. After almost spending our entire roster on tonight's game, it would really suck if Hairston missed the rest of the ALCS because he did something good.)

Big ups have to go to the Yankees bullpen. Every single person went out and did exactly what the Yankees needed them to do. David Robertson continued to prove that he can be counted on in a pressure situation, Mariano went 2.1 innings (!), and Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Coke, and Damaso Marte all got huge outs when called upon. Alfredo Aceves did well, even though he did give Yankees fans everywhere a case of agita by giving up a run in the top of the 11^th (to Chone Figgins of all people).

Also give some props to Jeter and his big fly in the bottom of the third, which puts him at third on the all-time postseason home run list.

However, this game wasn't without flaw—in fact, this game was pretty messy overall.
Especially when it came to defense. Yes, there were some good plays, courtesy of Damon, Teixeira, Swisher, and even A-Rod himself. But those three errors are awfully hard to ignore. Blame it on the bad weather all you want, there's no excuse for committing so many errors after looking so solid yesterday. I'm talking specifically to you, Robby Cano—two fielding errors? Really now? I was about to give you a pat on the back for hustling out on that RBI triple in the second inning, but now I'm not so sure. Jeter too—don't think you're off the hook, that was an ugly error in the 8^th inning.
To be fair, though, the Angels committed two errors tonight, including the game-deciding one. So really, both teams were a hot mess.

Also, A.J.'s slippage in the 5^th inning was a little worrisome. Jose Molina had to come up to him seven times to speak with him throughout the course of a half inning. Something just seemed off at that point, and while I give Burnett credit for fighting through it, I feel like it was more than just A.J. being his wild self—you know that some balls are going to the backstop when he takes the mound, but he just seemed more uncomfortable than anything.

But regardless of all that, the Yankees are up 2-0 in the series as we move to sunny Anaheim, which should play out to the exact opposite of this two-game Bronx set—warm, sunny, no ninja masks necessary. And only two more wins to go until the World Series comes calling.

CC Cruises in Chilly Opener as Yanks Take ALCS Game 1

By the looks of things, you would have thought that last night's game was played in Antarctica instead of the Bronx.

Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, and others wore what can only be called the offspring of a Yankees cap and a hunting hat. Robinson Cano donned a full-face ski mask that made him look like a pinstriped ninja.

When the first pitch was thrown at 7:57, the temperature measured 45 degrees, but strong winds made it feel more like 35 degrees.

Not a problem for CC Sabathia and the Yankees.

Sabathia continued to put his past playoff woes behind him and did everything that the Yankees could have hoped for—8 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts.

(A side note: I'm absolutely convinced that CC's enormous weight played to the Yankees' advantage. Think about it: that huge 300-pound frame had to have provided some sort of extra insulation from the cold. I'll bet Edwar Ramirez would have turned into an icicle out there. Not that I'm complaining, of course—if being grossly overweight means that you can toss 7 K's in the postseason, then I need to hit McDonald's more often.)

Nothing particularly flashy happened on offense for either team—nobody in the bleachers walked away with a souvenir home run ball, and the closest thing to a home run was Vlad Guerrero's drive that stayed inside the park by maybe a foot or two.

Instead, it was the Angels' sloppy defense that was the main offensive factor for the Yankees.

It all started in the bottom of the first inning, when Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins suddenly forgot how to say "I GOT IT!" and stared at each other as the ball dropped just outside the infield. Damon scored on the play—which was called a single—to make it 2-0.

Then Torii Hunter—he who crashes into walls on a regular basis and owns eight Gold Gloves—let Derek Jeter's routine single roll past him in the bottom of the 6^th, scoring Melky Cabrera. And that was after John Lackey's errant pickoff throw allowed Leche to scamper to second.

In contrast, the Yankees' defense was solid all night, highlighted by Mark Teixeira split in the top of the 6^th that made guys everywhere wince in pain. Even Cano, who isn't all that great defensively, got in on the fun with a nice diving grab in the 7^th.

And all throughout the night Tubsy McGee was lights out, and had the fire to back it up—he seemed to channel his inner Joba after every huge strikeout with a fist pump and enthusiastic yell of excitement. Every time there were two strikes on the board, you could hear the crowd drawing out loud chants of "SEEEEEEEEEE SEEEEEEEEEEE" (which, in my opinion, is even cooler than the "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHES" chant when the Phranchise takes the mound), and that definitely played a factor in Carsten Charles's dominance.

Then Mo came on in the 9^th and just did what he's done best since 1996—slam the door in the opponents' face with his devastating cut fastball for the 36^th time in the playoffs.

Now it's just up to A.J. Burnett tomorrow to keep the Angels on ice and the Yankees' offense to continue providing the heat.

Go West, Young Bombers: Previewing the Yankees-Angels ALCS

A lot of people fault me for being too optimistic. I guess you could say I'm a "glass-half-full" kind of guy, even in the most absurd situations. Like the time I told one of my buddies that he could "work things out" with his at-the-time girlfriend and that everything would be all right. (For the record, they broke up the following day, and I'm pretty sure they haven't spoken since.)

So it stands to reason that some people are ready to check me into an asylum when I tell them that the Yankees will take the ALCS in 5 games. Hell, you could even call it homer-ish.

I mean, come on—they're playing the second-best team in the majors in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of Anaheim of Los Angeles (I think that's what they go by today… or something along those lines). They just ruthlessly destroyed poor old bumbling Boston in 3 games (hehe… I still can't get over the fact that Jonathan "I do what I want because I think I'm better than Mo" Papelbon blew it for the Red Sox. Karma sucks, doesn't it buddy?) .

Yankees fans should be scared—nay, PETRIFIED—to face the Angels.

To which I say: Bring it on.

With that, here are the keys to the ALCS for the Yankees if they want to be World Series-bound:



No Bright Light Fright for the Yanks: Let me backtrack a bit and clear something up before I get too excited: I'm not saying that it's going to be a blowout of a series. Quite the contrary, actually—this has all the makings of a bona-fide battle royale, complete with steel chairs, barbed wire, and various other foreign objects. Which works out very nicely in the Yankees' favor. If there's one thing that this 2009 edition of the Bronx Bombers has that past iterations lacked, it's perseverance—that gritty, down-but-not-out mentality that helped carry them to 15 regular-season walk-off victories and helped them win Game 2 of the ALDS. They know how to win when the pressure is on, and that alone will play a huge factor in this series.

The Circus That Is The Three-Man Rotation: Skipper Joe Girardi announced yesterday that he's thinking of using the three-headed monster of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte (Sabathurnettitte?) instead of the traditional four-man rotation. It looks like Girardi decided that my boy Joba Chamberlain would be better served out of the bullpen, which is good in the short term but could drive the excitable youngster into deeper pitching schizophrenia next year. What I'm really curious to see is how our tubby ace will do on only four days' rest. He showed last September that he needs rest in order to be effective (that, or maybe a Big Mac or two. Or five.) If he can remain somewhat effective on short rest, then that definitely helps the Yanks' chances. Good A.J. appeared just in time against the Twins, and look for him to be even more relaxed now that he's become acclimated to REAL postseason life (No, being on the disabled list during the Marlins' 2003 championship run doesn't count as REAL postseason life.) Meanwhile, Pettitte just needs to be all like, "Meh… Been there, done that. Let's go strike out some Angels."

Who Are You, And What Have You Done With A-Rod? He's baaaaaaaaaaaack. Finally, after being MIA in the playoffs for what seems like forever, #13 finally remembered how to be clutch. It's almost like the opening catch-phrase from The Six Million Dollar Man-- "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. Better, stronger, faster… and more clutch in the postseason." His first two RBI in Game 1 came as a complete shock, they were that unexpected. For an encore, he goes out in Game 2, gets the bottom of the 6^th, and then ties the game in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 9^th. And then, just to top it all off, he hits the tying shot in the top of the 7^th off the American Idle himself, Carl Pavano. This is the A-Rod we've all come to know and love, the one that needs to show up against the Angels now more than ever. Not only is his bat a force to be reckoned with, his presence takes a lot of heat off of Teixeira, who can now just sit back, relax, and do what he does best: be an absolute beast.

Bullish In The 'Pen:
One of the main reasons why the Yankees made quick work of the Twins was the utter dominance of their bullpen. Compared to the Yankees, Minnesota's relievers looked like they all belonged in AA ball (though I really feel for Joe Nathan, if nothing more than because he's a hometown hero out on Long Island.) David Robertson, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, and Joba all deserve every bit of praise that has been coming their way. And Mariano… well, he's just being good old Mariano. But let's face it—the Twins' lineup is nothing like the Angels'. The Angels are built like a speedier Yankees lineup. They have one of the games' most patient hitters in Bobby Abreu, a power hitter in Kendry Morales, and the ability to drive in runners—11 players had 50 or more RBI this season, the only team EVER to accomplish such a feat. If the Yankees want to have a chance, the bullpen needs to carry its lights-out streak into this series.

In the end, the two best teams made it into the ALCS without a shadow of a doubt. Who will reign supreme, however? That, my friends, is what's going to make this series one hell of a showdown.

May the best team win.