There are eight teams in Major League Baseball's postseason feeling the pressure to bring home a championship, but no club is feeling as much pressure as one individual: the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez.
The Bronx Bombers travel to Cleveland on Thursday evening to open their American League Division Series, and all anyone wants to talk about, seemingly, is A-Rod's history of postseason failures.
Yes, the Yankees' third baseman had one of the best offensive seasons in baseball history and will win another MVP award, but the only thing that seems to matter to New Yorkers is: What have you done in the postseason? For A-Rod, not much - in the Yankees' last 13 postseason games, Rodriguez is hitting .109 with one homer and two RBIs in 46 at-bats. He is 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position in that pan.
Last year against Detroit in the ALDS, A-Rod was sunk to eighth in the lineup at one point and went 1-for 14 as New York was eliminated. Yet he came into this season on a mission, with his 54 homers the most for a right-handed batter in Yankees history, not to mention his .314 average and 156 RBIs.
"I don't think we would have made the playoffs if it wasn't for him,"New York's Andy Pettitte said.
"Without him, I don't think we would have really had a shot down here at the end."
Rodriguez is batting .333 (8-for-24) with six homers and 13 RBIs against Cleveland this season and .412 (7-for-17) against Indians Game 1 starter C.C. Sabathia, a big reason New York is a slight money line favorite on WagerWeb.com for the opener.
New York batted .348 and outscored Cleveland 49-17 to sweep the Indians at home in April and in Cleveland in August. The Yankees have won the last eight meetings between the clubs and have the best record (51-25) in baseball since July 4.
"You can throw every number out the window,"Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "All that stuff doesn't make a difference."Cleveland, meanwhile, went on a 28-11 surge to end the season, clinching its first division title since 2001. The Indians dominated the Central (48-24) but were 7-16 against the other three AL playoff teams.
The Indians have been carried by their 1-2 pitching punch of Sabathia and Game 2 starter Fausto Carmona, with the two going 38-15 with a 3.14 ERA. But can they derail the Yankees' powerful lineup? The Bombers scored 968 runs this year, tying the 2000 Rockies for the fifth-highest total since World War II. Every Yankees regular hit at least .300 against the Indians staff this year.
Sabathia was 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA and set career highs for wins, strikeouts (209) and innings (241.0). He's 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his last six starts and 11-4 at Jacobs Field. But he is only 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA in eight career starts against the Yankees, but hasn't faced them since 2004.
"It is weird,"said Sabathia, who beat Seattle in 2001 in his only postseason start. "But I'll get my chances against them and I'm excited."
Carmona struggled in both of his starts against the Yankees this season, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, yielding 16 hits and two homers in 13 innings.
If the games get to the bullpen, New York has a decided advantage in Mariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain, who have been lights out. Cleveland closer Joe Borowski, meanwhile, onverted 45 of 53 save chances but had a 5.07 ERA. In Borowski's only appearance against the Yankees this season, he allowed six runs in two-thirds of an inning.
New York starts Chien-Ming Wang in Game 1; Wang went 19-7 and had a 3.70 ERA this season, and is 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA in three starts against the Indians, but did not face them during this regular season. Pettitte follows Wang for Game 2, with Roger Clemens set to make his return from injury against Cleveland's Jake Westbrook in Game 3.
Cleveland has the better, younger rotation in this series, but it's hard to overlook its two aces' past against New York. With the Yanks also having the better lineup and bullpen, the pick here is New York in 4; WagerWeb.com lists the Yankees as -165 to win the series.
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