On A Wang And A Prayer

Yes, the New York Yankees finally looked like the New York Yankees last night at home in their 8-4 win in Game 3 of the ALDS. Or I should say, they looked like the Yankees in the second half of last night's game, because going into the bottom of the 5th, they were down 3-1 and had grounded into 3 double plays. A Johnny Damon 3-run blast and 3 2/3 innings of solid relief pitching from Phil Hughes later, they had the game well in hand. But they're not out of the woods, yet.

Now Joe Torre, whose job is officially on the line, is going with Chien Ming-Wang on 3 days rest (rather than Mike Mussina) in hopes of forcing Game 5 back in Cleveland. The Tribe will counter with Paul Byrd (rather than C.C. Sabathia on 3 days rest).

Let's not forget, Wang was roughed up in Game 1, although some have speculated it was because he had "too much rest" and so his sinker wasn't sinking the was it usually does. Either way, they need him to come up big tonight because if he if unable to go at least 7 innings, New York could be in a very precarious situation.

Phil Hughes clearly won't be available. Joba Chamberlain threw 38 pitches last night over 2 innings, so he might not be available. Torre not starting Mussina sends a clear message about the team's confidence level in him, so why would you want him relieving? That really only leaves Luis Vizciano (who took the loss in Game 2), Ross Ohlendorf (who's retired 22 big league hitters in his career, and was lit up in Game 1), Jose Veras (who has less than 21 career innings under his belt) and Kyle Farnsworth (who's thrown 8 innings since August 29 and none in the ALDS). Plus, Mariano Rivera did throw an inning last night (albeit just 10 pitches), so the odds of him throwing the 7th, 8th, and 9th seem unlikely.

On a sort-of related note, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Roger Clemens throw his last big league pitch last night and I'm definitely not alone. His hamstring is clearly bothering him. Rest clearly didn't help. So starting him again makes little sense, and getting him hot quickly to relieve makes even less. With all due respect to Clemens, who is without question one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball, his 2007 signing with New York has to rank among the worst moves in pro sports history. $28 million dollars pro-rated for 18-starts, a 6-6 record, 4.18 ERA, and 99 IP in the regular season, plus 7 hitters retired in the postseason is not much of a return on the Boss' investment.

So at 7:37 tonight, we'll see what Wang is made of in Game 4. If the answer is "not much" there probably won't be a Game 5.