WHY POSADA'S CLUTCH HIT CLINCHED THE AL EAST

What a day in the Bronx. Heading into last night's game, we knew if the Yankees swept their doubleheader against the Rays, and if the Red Sox lost their game against the Orioles, the Yankees would be American League East Champs. Well, guess what Ladies and Gentleman, they did, along with the help of the Orioles. CC Sabathia got back on track, the offense got some timely hits--especially from Jorge--and some clutch work out of the bullpen helped secure the AL East, their 17th AL East title in franchise history.
Casey here at Bleeding Yankee Blue is obsessed with Jorge and while it didn't always work out his way, I know he's smiling right now. In a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 8th inning, Jorge Posada pinch hit for Jesus Montero with the bases loaded and two out. And boy, did he come up clutch! He lined a sharp single to right to bring home two for the eventual game winner. What a moment for a guy who has been through a whole ton of crap all season long.
CC Sabathia matched up against possibly the front runner for AL Rookie of the Year in Jeremy Hellickson. CC went 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, two walks, with six strikeouts. But, he left the game with the bases loaded in a 2-2 tie, so odds are CC will not get his 20th win this season since he may have to make an abbreviated start in the coming days to align him up for Game One of the ALDS. David Robertson once again came on and got out of a bases loaded jam. Houdini... unbelievable. It took him one pitch to induce a double play off the bat of Ben Zobrist. Robertson throws one pitch and gets the win while Sabathia throws 127 pitches and doesn't get the win. As John Sterling would say, "That's just baseball, Suzyn." Hellickson pitched well in this one too for Tampa as he went 7 innings, allowing just two hits, while walking four and punching out three.

Final Score: Yankees - 4 Rays - 2

The Yankees have gone through a ton of adversity this season and have proved the nay-sayers wrong. It seemed like every so called "expert" picked the Yankees to fall short of the division title. To be honest, this may be the sweetest division title in some time, but it's just one step to the ultimate goal, the Yankees still have much bigger fish to fry. Meanwhile, next goal is the win the best record in the American League. A great team work is never done, is it?

The Yanks will be going for the 'ol four game sweep in three days as Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.81 ERA) squares off against Jeff Niemann (11-7, 3.95 ERA) tomorrow night.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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