Playoff Pulse: Storms on Horizon for ALCS, Slumping Swisher

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

Looking Forward ...

So you thought the weather issue was dead when the Yankees and Angels left New York? Wrong, especially now that the ALCS is headed back to the Big Apple.

There is rain in the forecast for Saturday night's Game 6, with showers expected in the morning in New York and heavier downfall expected as first pitch approaches. The chance of precipitation is 80-90 percent right now, but hey, at least it'll be warm (highs are expected to be in the mid-60s).

And at least Angels manager Mike Scioscia is keeping a good sense of humor about the doomsday forecasts. When told there was a 90 percent chance of rain, Scioscia shot back that "We'll play in the 10 percent that's dry."

In Their Own Words
"I knew that wasn't going to go well." -- Angels third baseman Chone Figgins on the mound meeting between Mike Scioscia and John Lackey when Scioscia came out to pull him in the seventh inning.
By the Numbers
9 Hits allowed by Yankees setup man Phil Hughes in 4 2/3 innings of work this postseason. Hughes took the loss Thursday night.
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Looking Back ...

There is plenty of blame to go around in New York when the Yankees lose a game. That's as true in June as it is in October, even if there's an extra helping or two to go around now.

Joe Girardi and Phil Hughes will be popular targets in the wake of Game 5, but there's also a growing groundswell of frustration with right fielder Nick Swisher.

After going 0-for-5, leaving four runners on base and popping out to end the game Thursday night, Swisher -- a fun-loving and energetic presence in a now loose Yankees clubhouse -- is hitting .118 (2-for-21) in the ALCS. If you add in his ALDS performance he's hitting .103 in the postseason.

Time for quick-trigger Girardi to make a change? Hardly.

Eight games is an awfully small sample size, and during any other time of the year his slump would hardly register. This is Swisher. Contact is not his thing. His .245 lifetime average and 126 strikeouts in 2009 are a glaring reminder of that. But he compensates for that with plenty of power and a discerning batting eye.

Swisher is reminiscent of former Red Sox second baseman Mark Bellhorn as a hitter. Bellhorn went through a similar stretch in the 2004 postseason, going 4-for-31 (.147) in the first nine games of the playoffs that year. In his next three games -- Games 6 and 7 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series -- he hit home runs. The lesson? Stick with the talent and don't overreact to an ugly couple of games.

After all, who would Girardi replace Swisher with anyway and still be able to keep a straight face?

Scout's Eye View ...

Should the Yankees be concerned about Hughes, their inexperienced setup man? Well, even though he was one quality pitch from escaping that seventh inning with a lead, there were some definite red flags. Out of the gates against Torii Hunter, the velocity was there at 96 mph with the first three pitches, but it was clear that Hughes was overthrowing. Even his 3-0 cutter was in a poor location, backing up right over the middle of the plate.

After walking Hunter, Hughes seemed in a calmer state of mind against Guerrero. He made an excellent pitch on 1-1 with his curveball, making the Angels slugger look foolish. Then he made the worst possible mistake you can make to such a good hitter in a big situation. Looking to go up the ladder, Hughes instead missed right over the heart of the plate just below belt high with a 95-mph fastball. As good hitters do, Guerrero made him pay with a single up the middle.

-- Frankie Piliere (Scouting Notebook)

Saturday's Tale of the Tape ...

Yankees (Andy Pettitte) at Angels (Joe Saunders), 7:57 PM ET: Pettitte wasn't exactly sterling in his Game 3 start, and the numbers still stack up against him. This group of Angels hitters is hitting .307 against him in his career and he was better on the road than he was at home in 2009. One positive: His ERA was more than two runs lower in night games this season. Game 3 in Anaheim had a mid-afternoon start, but first pitch in Game 6 will come after the sun has set in the Bronx. Saunders pitched very well in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, but his numbers on the road (5.13 ERA) are not good, and Alex Rodriguez's .500 career average against the southpaw is awfully troubling.