Playoff Pulse: Short-Rest CC Is Back

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

Monday morning, the number was nine, as in the inning which might give the Angels trouble. Tuesday, it's three, as in the days of rest Yankees Game 4 starter CC Sabathia will have.

Sabathia, you will recall, did this sort of thing plenty last September as he propelled the Brewers to their first playoff appearance since 1982. He was terrific too, going 2-1 with an 0.83 ERA. But that was the NL in a pennant race. This is the AL in the League Championship Series.

Sabathia's not too worried. Why should he be? He's done this before. He knows how to cope with having slightly less in the tank.

"I mean, you know that going on certain rest that you're not going to have like your best fastball," he said Monday. "So you've just got to stay under control and make sure your -- my delivery is good, and make sure I go out there and throw strikes."

Sabathia has enough of a fastball that even when it's slightly diminished he can be very effective, and the Yankees did everything they could down the stretch to limit his innings. Still, he entered the last two postseasons -- both of which he was ineffective in -- with 241 and 253 innings of work on his arm. Even with all that "babying," he still entered the 2009 playoffs with 230 innings. After a start in the ALDS and ALCS, he's logged 244 1/3 innings, right in the range where his prized left arm seemed to expire the last two years.

And now, he's making his first start ... of the season.

Yes, we're curious how he'll perform Tuesday too.

In Their Own Words
"These [bleeping] guys think you are done. I want you to know I know those horns are still in your head and you are going to come out and [bleeping] do it man! He said, 'Yeah, [bleep] those guys!' So I'm letting you know, '[Bleep] you guys!.' " -- Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on a conversation he had with Vladimir Guerrero before he homered in Game 3. It was, at least partially, inspired by one of FanHouse's own.
By the Numbers
13-51 The Phillies' record when trailing after six innings this year. Their .203 winning percentage was considerably better than the league's .136 in such games. They won No. 14 on Monday night. -- Ed Price
More From FanHouse
Price: Philly's Title Swagger Fletcher: Howie the Fall Guy Mariotti: Bubbly Next for Phils Piliere: Scouting Notebook

Looking Back ...

There was much discussion after the Angels' Game 3 victory about Joe Girardi's over-managing, but if the Angels had lost there might have been similar questions about Mike Scioscia's under-managing in one particular spot.

After catcher Jeff Mathis led off the 10th inning with a double, Scioscia chose not to pinch-run for him, even though he had the speedy Reggie Willits on the bench and a third catcher, Bobby Wilson. Mathis got to third, but didn't score when Mariano Rivera's throw trickled into left field. Willits may have. He also didn't score on Chone Figgins' grounder to first, because the Angels didn't put the contact play on.

Well, Scioscia's answer to that: "Jeff, for a catcher, he moves well. ... We wanted his defensive presence back there to continue in the game."

Scioscia also didn't have Erick Aybar take second, which the Yankees were giving him, in the same sequence. If he had, it would have been a no-brainer to put on the contact play, even with Mathis at third.

-- Jeff Fletcher

Scout's Eye View ...

Those watching Monday evening saw the shot of Joe Girardi hurrying to his book of matchups and scouting reports in the dugout and soon after deciding to lift David Robertson in favor of Alfredo Aceves. The obvious question is what exactly was in that book? Well, let's take it from the top. Robertson, a right-hander, throws a fastball at 91-94 mph with what scouts like to call late hop. He likes to change eye levels and gets swings and misses up with the fastball, and down with his plus 12-6 curveball. He has back-end-of-the-'pen type stuff.

Aceves, on the other hand, has more of a starter's approach, pitching to contact with a number of pitches to which he can turn. He has mostly been working at 89-91 with the fastball in recent outings, but what is concerning is the feel for his secondary pitches. In his playoff outings, his breaking balls have been elevated, often backing up on him over the plate.

-- Frankie Piliere (Scouting Notebook)

Tuesday's Tale of the Tape ...

Yankees (CC Sabathia) at Angels (Scott Kazmir), 7:57 PM ET: There's plenty on Sabathia's history pitching on three days of rest above, but the Yankees should be concerned mostly about his poor performance against the Angels. Two of the left-hander's eight losses during the regular season came to Los Angeles, a pair of starts in which he surrendered nine earned runs in 13 1/3 innings. Sabathia was overpowering in Game 1, but he should still be mindful of Torii Hunter, who has 11 extra-base hits in 68 career at-bats against the burly southpaw. Kazmir has plenty of experience against the Yankees, having pitched for the AL East rival Rays until this August. He's also had plenty of success, going 6-5 with a 2.67 ERA against New York in his career. Six Yankee regulars -- Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez -- have more than 20 at-bats and a sub-.200 career average against Kazmir.