Los Angeles Angels vs New York Yankees Preview
The New York Yankees will host the Los Angeles Angels in Game-One of the ALCS on Friday night.
Both Yankees and Halos sweeping their respective ALDS series can put to rest similar outcomes in the ALCS because these teams are pretty evenly matched.
Yankees, Halos split their ten meetings this season with Yankees winning three of four in the Bronx while Halos took four of six in Anaheim.
New York starters in great form with C.C. Sabathia allowing two runs in Game-One against Minnesota, A.J. Burnett and Pettitte allowing just one apiece in the next two games along with A-Rod (2 HR, 6 RBI) out of his postseason slump this version of the Yankees will be tough to stop.
However, Halos with their own .330-stacked lineup in Abreau (.556 avg), Guerrero (.400 avg), Aybar (.364 avg) along with Lackey, Weaver surrendering just one run vs Red Sox and have the Major League saves leader in Brian Fuentes (50 SV) to back them up won't be a push-over.
For Yankees this marks their 9th League Championship Series since 1981 with the only series loss coming in '2004 when New York was bounced 4-3 by the Red Sox.
As for Halos, it's their fifth since '82 but unlike Yankees have won only once (2002) in four attempts with the last being a 4-1 defeat at the hands of White Sox back in 2005.
Although this marks the first ALCS clash between New York and Los Angeles it is well to note Halos took out Yankees 3-1, 3-2 in both the 2002, 2005 ALDS matchups.
The New York Yankees will host the Los Angeles Angels in Game-One of the ALCS on Friday night.
Both Yankees and Halos sweeping their respective ALDS series can put to rest similar outcomes in the ALCS because these teams are pretty evenly matched.
Yankees, Halos split their ten meetings this season with Yankees winning three of four in the Bronx while Halos took four of six in Anaheim.
New York starters in great form with C.C. Sabathia allowing two runs in Game-One against Minnesota, A.J. Burnett and Pettitte allowing just one apiece in the next two games along with A-Rod (2 HR, 6 RBI) out of his postseason slump this version of the Yankees will be tough to stop.
However, Halos with their own .330-stacked lineup in Abreau (.556 avg), Guerrero (.400 avg), Aybar (.364 avg) along with Lackey, Weaver surrendering just one run vs Red Sox and have the Major League saves leader in Brian Fuentes (50 SV) to back them up won't be a push-over.
For Yankees this marks their 9th League Championship Series since 1981 with the only series loss coming in '2004 when New York was bounced 4-3 by the Red Sox.
As for Halos, it's their fifth since '82 but unlike Yankees have won only once (2002) in four attempts with the last being a 4-1 defeat at the hands of White Sox back in 2005.
Although this marks the first ALCS clash between New York and Los Angeles it is well to note Halos took out Yankees 3-1, 3-2 in both the 2002, 2005 ALDS matchups.
Angels Can Win in Various Ways, and Often Have
By TYLER KEPNER
NY TIMES
The Yankees have never played the Los Angeles Angels in a best-of-seven series, and baseball has been poorer for it. There may be no matchup with such intense play and opponents who are more respectful of each other’s strengths. It has been this way for more than a decade, and now, at last, a pennant is at stake.
“We are going to have a nasty series,” Andy Pettitte said Sunday night after his 4-1 victory, which clinched a division series sweep of the Minnesota Twins. “It’s going to be a war with us and the Angels, but we are looking forward to it.”
The Angels clinched a spot in the American League Championship Series on Sunday by completing their sweep of the Red Sox in Boston before the Yankees took batting practice at the Metrodome. Some of the Yankees watched the game in their clubhouse, impressed but not surprised at the Angels’ ninth-inning comeback.
“There’s no quit in the Angels,” Johnny Damon said. “We see that when we play them.”
The Yankees, who host the Angels in Game 1 on Friday, have a deep appreciation for the Angels’ style of play. They have lost two division series to the Angels this decade, in 2002 and 2005, chased from Anaheim by more than ThunderStix and Rally Monkeys.
The Angels bludgeoned the Yankees in the first series, swinging early, often and with devastating force. The Angels hit .376 across four games, coming from behind in all of their victories. They had three more comeback wins in 2005, suffocating the Yankees with their bullpen.
The names are different now, and the Angels’ relievers are not as intimidating. Francisco Rodriguez, Troy Percival, Scot Shields, Kelvim Escobar and others who stifled the Yankees in past Octobers are gone or injured.
But in their last nine and a third innings against the Yankees, Angels relievers have allowed one earned run. They have a deep rotation that includes Scott Kazmir, the former Tampa Bay left-hander who has handled the Yankees well but lost to them last month.
“What makes them tough is they hit, they pitch, they run, they steal, they play defense, good bullpen, good closer, good manager,” Derek Jeter said. “I think that pretty much wraps it up.”
The Angels were the only A.L. team to have a winning record against the Yankees in Joe Torre’s tenure as the manager, from 1996 to 2007. They won 7 of 10 against Joe Girardi’s team last season and split 10 games this year. The Yankees won three of four in September, but Jeter said that would not matter.
Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ general manager, said his team was better than it had been in past years, from pitching and offense to defense and the bench. But the Angels, he cautioned, have also improved.
“They’re running out the best team they’ve had,” Cashman said. “They’ve got pitching, defense, and they cover the whole spectrum with their offense. They’ve got speed, they can play small ball, but they can now play long ball, too.”
Cashman added: “They’ve had long-ball issues. It’s something that was missing from their end a little bit — not that they’ve ever had a problem with us — but I think they can basically beat you in a number of different ways. So they’re a very dangerous team. Hey, to beat Boston, you have to be a dangerous team.”
The Angels hit 173 home runs this season, their most in nine years, and four players hit 20 or more. But Mark Teixeira, the former Angel, hit his 39 home runs this season for the Yankees. Eleven Angels drove in at least 50 runs, and the team trailed only Tampa Bay and Texas in stolen bases in the A.L. What the Angels do not do is walk very much. The addition of the former Yankee Bobby Abreu has made their lineup more patient, willing to take more pitches instead of looking to hack. But the Angels still drew fewer walks than the average team; the Yankees led the majors in that category.
The Yankees hit only .225 in their division series with the Twins, but Alex Rodriguez was 5 for 11 with two home runs and six runs batted in, and he has a good history at Angel Stadium: in 89 games there, he has a .335 average, with 37 home runs and 82 R.B.I.
The Angels (.285) and the Yankees (.283) ranked first and second in the majors in batting average, meaning they tend to make contact. That helps the Angels use their speed and put the game in motion, taking chances on the bases. Most teams run on Damon, the Yankees’ left fielder, and the Angels will not be afraid to challenge Melky Cabrera in center and Nick Swisher in right.
“They create problems for teams with their speed,” Girardi said. “You can’t let it rattle you. That’s what you have to talk about, because they’re going to run.”
The Yankees will start C. C. Sabathia in Game 1, and with Joba Chamberlain entrenched in short relief, they could bring back Sabathia on short rest for Game 4. Because of scheduled days off between Games 4, 5 and 6, Sabathia could then pitch on regular rest in a potential Game 7.
But Sabathia lost both of his starts against the Angels this season, allowing 9 earned runs and 17 hits in 13 1/3 innings. He is 5-7 with a 4.72 earned run average in 14 career starts against the Angels, and, like Cashman, he emphasized their resourceful offense.
“They’ve got great balance,” Sabathia said. “They’ve got speed and they’ve got power. They’ve got Chone Figgins at the top; when he gets on base and he’s running around, you’re worried about him. We’ve just got to go out and keep those guys off the bases.”
The best way to do that, of course, is to keep them from making contact. The Yankees’ pitchers had 34 strikeouts in 29 innings against the Twins, the first time in 10 postseason series that they had more strikeouts than innings.
Repeating that feat will be a bigger challenge against the Angels, and just one of the fascinating subplots in a matchup that finally receives the spotlight it deserves.