Yankees Blow Away Angels To Take Game 1 of ALCS

YANKEES 4
ANGELS 1

The Yankee Express just keeps rolling along.

As they have all season. As they did in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Yankees dominated and won another ball game, this one coming against their playoff rival the Anaheim Angels to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven ALCS.

C.C. Sabathia was brilliant yet again for the Bronx Bombers. Sabathia baffled the Angels offense for eight terrific innings, surrendering only four hits, while striking out seven Angel batters. Keep in mind, unlike Minnesota, the Angels are loaded with .300 hitters, so this effort by Sabathia was even more impressive than his first post season start. Sabathia has given up only two earned runs in 14 and two-thirds innings this postseason.

As for the Yankee offense, they got to John Lackey early. Derek Jeter led the bottom of the first with a single to right. Johnny Damon, who had a horrible series against the Twins, began anew with a single of his own to put two on with nobody out. Two batters later, Alex Rodriguez's sac fly drove home Jeter with the game's first run.

What contributed to the Angel defeat was three errors that cost the Angels a couple of runs.
Hideki Matsui dropped a RBI single of his own to drive home Damon to make it 2-0. Damon was able to score, when Erik Aybar lost the ball in the lights of Yankee Stadium, as the ball dropped in front of him, bringing home the runner.

In the fifth inning, Matsui doubled to left to bring home Damon again to make it 3-0. Alex Rodriguez who was also on base, tried to score, by running through the stop sign, but was eventually tagged out at home preventing him from scoring. His aggression didn't pay off.

In the sixth, with Melkey Cabrera on first base with a walk, a throwing error by Lackey allowed Cabrera to advance to second. Derek Jeter then singled up the middle, but Tori Hunter's fielding error allowed Cabrera to make the turn from third to home, and advanced Jeter to second.

Lackey went five and two-thirds, gave up nine hits and four runs, two earned, while walking three and striking out three.

Mariano Rivera sat down the Angles in the ninth to end the game in favor of New York.

Game two is set for tomorrow, with A.J. Burnett set to take the mound against Joe Saunders.