Forget Home Runs, Drama in Bronx Built Pitch by Pitch

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.

Pitch selection, execution of those pitches, and the situation those pitches are thrown in is never more scrutinized than it is in the playoffs. Time and time again, one pitch in a given situation drastically swung the momentum of Game 2 between the Yankees and Twins Friday night in the Bronx. The game may have ended with home run heroics, but the tone was set by the pitchers throughout, whether it was in a positive or negative fashion.

First, there were the two starters who in their own ways came up big. Nick Blackburn took a strategy to the mound that has proved again and again to be the most successful against the New York lineup.

He neutralized the Yankees' patient approach by throwing first pitch strikes with not just his fastball but also with his breaking ball and changeup. While not overpowering at 90-91 mph, Blackburn was able to find the inside corner on the lefty hitters and run his two-seamer back over the plate. That pitch was likely his biggest key to keeping the Yankee lineup in check for most of his start.

On the other side there was A.J. Burnett. All we usually hear about Burnett is that he is either very good or very bad with little in-between. Well, Friday night we saw the in-between, making his start all the more impressive. Specifically in the middle innings, Burnett struggled to get his fastball to the outside corner on the righties, losing several fastballs to his arm side such as the two that drilled Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez. But, what he did have going his way was an exceptional feel for the breaking ball throughout.

The breaking ball allowed him to stay away from the risky two-seam fastball intended for the inside corner against the dangerous Minnesota lefties -- a pitch that tends to run back to the fat part of the plate for Burnett as he struggles to stay closed in his delivery. Rather than those mistakes running back over the middle of the plate, the Twins' lefties saw a steady diet of back-door breaking balls and riding four-seam fastballs high and away. This was not an outing based on pure dominance for Burnett, but one of adjustments on the fly.

Friday's game had more twists and turns than anyone could count, but at the time it occurred none looked bigger than Phil Hughes' 2-2 pitch to Nick Punto in the eighth inning. Hughes, who has been extra aggressive with his fastball since moving to the 'pen, elected to go to his curveball in this spot. That curveball was deposited into center field for what appeared to be a crushing tie-breaking single.

A number of things can be said about the pitch selection and execution here. Punto is a front-foot, hands-dependent hitter -- the type of hitter who makes his living waiting back, reacting late and fighting off off-speed pitches for hits. On a 2-2 count, Hughes knew he needed to make it happen right then and there, not wanting to run the count full. That took away the luxury of bouncing the curveball. If they're going to call for the breaking pitch in that situation, it makes more sense against a hitter like Young than it does against Punto. Hughes typically picks his spots well for the breaking ball, but against a hitter of this style and in a situation where he's somewhat obligated to throw it for a strike, it had trouble written all over it. In hindsight, a good Hughes fastball on the inside corner may have been the way to go.

Spotlight Moment

The execution of the strategy to get ahead of the Yankees by pitching backwards and neutralizing their patient approach is what kept the Twins in Game 2. What lost the game was the inability to execute this strategy later on in the night. Looking back at Alex Rodriguez's ninth-inning at-bat against Joe Nathan, it's clear than the Twins' closer had the right idea but the inability to execute.

Nathan went with his secondary stuff three times in a row to start the at-bat, missing first with a curve ball then with two sliders. After getting back into the count with a 3-0 fastball for a strike, Nathan made a mistake over the heart of the plate with a fastball. Hitters of A-Rod's caliber don't miss those.

As poor of a mistake as this pitch was, it was the inability to throw his secondary pitches for strikes to begin the count that really came back to haunt him. When Rodriguez isn't forced to honor the breaking ball and can stay on his back leg on the pitch away, that's when you see those long home runs to center and right-center field, just like we saw on Friday.

Quick Hits

• It was brief, but in his three-batter appearance, Joba Chamberlain proved that maybe he can simply flip the switch and be a dominant reliever once again. The stuff was certainly there to back him up. Chamberlain touched 97 mph and sat comfortably at 95-96 in Game 2. Most importantly, the swagger was there and he attacked the zone, aspects of his game that he was sorely lacking as a starter down the stretch. His stuff has looked better with each relief appearance, and if he continues to impress, he gives New York an even more formidable, hard-throwing bullpen to contend with.

• The Twins' pitching staff has pounded Johnny Damon along the waistline this series and so far he's had no answer to this strategy. Damon thrives on pitchers' mistakes on breaking balls down and over the plate, but so far Minnesota appears content to attack him with the hard stuff. He's a sound fundamental hitter and will make adjustments, but how the opposition continues to attack him will be something to monitor.

Frankie Piliere spent the last three seasons working as a scout, most recently in the professional scouting department for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He now serves as the National Baseball Analyst here at FanHouse.