Time To Go Balls To The Wall!

I don’t know what it is with our Yankees but apparently starting postseason series at 0-2 is no big deal. We’ve been here and done that before. The Yankees feel more comfortable with it then Joe Maddon and his Cubs. I wish we weren’t here again….but we are.

The Yankees started the ALCS just like we did against the Indians but these two series are very different. The Yankees got to Corey Kluber in both games and blew a big lead in game two. The bats were at least alive. In this series, Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander were dominant and so far they have schooled us. The Yankees have to make some serious adjustments here and FAST.

The Indians had a deeper pitching staff. They had a bullpen equal to ours in many ways and they had three dominant starters in their lineup, the Astros on the other hand have weaker arms in the back of their rotation and the Yankees need to adjust and expose those weaknesses. No offense to Charlie Morton and Brad Peacock because they both had really good seasons for the Astros with a combined 3.32 ERA for them this season. They were consistent in the regular season but they don’t compare to Keuchel or Verlander.

Just like most teams the Yankees are better when they play at home. Game three is a “must win” and the comfort of knowing that we are home and that the last starts for Morton and Peacock were pretty rough give the Yankees a big advantage. Peacock couldn’t pitch past the third inning in his ALDS Game 3 start and Morton allowed nine base runners in 4 1/3 innings in game 4 of the ALDS. These are guys that the Yankees need to take advantage of.

The Yankee bats have gone missing and two of our young guys in particular need to get going again. There is no path to the World Series without both Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez being productive again. The ALDS was not kind to Judge, he was 1-for-20 with 16 strikeouts and so far this series he is one-for-seven and three strikeouts. Sanchez had success in the ALDS with two home runs but so far this series he is 0-for-7 with 5 strikeouts. It’s time to change that.

The bats aren’t the only thing that need improving. Saturday’s game is an example of why a lot of baseball writers have recently been down on Gary Sanchez. That relay throw from Didi Gregorius was a play that Sanchez is used to making.

We recently wrote A “PROBLEM” FOR THE WILD CARD GAME AND SANCHEZ…after it looked like some writers had lost faith in Sanchez and his defensive abilities. I still believe in him, he just has to prove that just like his mistake with the Rays was not “the norm” neither was Saturday. He may be young and inexperienced in the playoffs but he isn’t incapable. That was just a mistake and he’s not replaying it in his mind. He’s moved on from it and ready to redeem himself.

The Yankees can come back from this. The Yankees may be down 0-2 and whille on paper that looks pretty bleak, probables for the next two games show odds only favor us that much more. We just have to show up, be productive and outplay the Astros. It’s time to give the Astros some uncomfortable Bronx accommodations.

–Jeana Bellezza