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Mariners vs. Yankees |
Mets vs. Cardinals
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Tuesday, October 10
Neagle, Garcia get call for Game 1
ESPN.com news services
NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees might be tired after a grueling Division Series, but they will have a well-rested pitcher on the mound in Game 1 of the American
League Championship Series.
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Mon, Oct. 11
I don't know if Joe Torre can rely on too many of his starters the way
they have all struggled down the stretch. But Denny Neagle is a
command and a finesse pitcher. If it's cold and he doesn't have really
good feel on his off-speed pitches, he could struggle. He did not pitch
well in September. In fact, after his first two good starts as a Yankee, he
really went into a tailspin. He must hit his locations and change speeds
to be effective.
I think Seattle's Game 1 starter, Freddy Garcia, is the key for the
series. He is a power pitcher who shouldn't be affected too much by the
cool night at Yankee Stadium. But down the stretch he pitched big
game after big game for Seattle manager Lou Piniella, and Garcia is
anxious to set the tone for the Mariners in Game 1.
Looking at the Yankees' bullpen, Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton and
Mariano Rivera have a history of being able to close out games. They
can give the Yankees nine outs as quickly as any three relievers in
baseball. But during the first round of the playoffs, we saw that Seattle
also has a competent bullpen, with Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes and
Kazuhiro Sasaki to close out its games. So Piniella is confident his three guys
are equal to the Yankees' three bullpen aces.
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Struggling left-hander Denny Neagle will face the Seattle Mariners in the opener of the best-of-seven series Tuesday
night.
Neagle did not pitch in the five-game Division Series with the Oakland Athletics that ended with a 7-5 victory Sunday night in Northern California. Neagle was winless in his last three
regular season starts and was 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA in 15 starts after being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds.
Yankees manager Joe Torre is turning to Neagle after starting Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte on three days' rest in the
Division Series and using Orlando Hernandez in relief in Game 5.
"I really felt like sometimes numbers don't always say exactly
how you pitched or whatever," Neagle said. "I really felt like,
even the last appearance I had out of the bullpen on the last
game of the season, I felt great, felt like I had good stuff.
It's just a matter of sometimes as a pitcher, you say that you
have to take it on the chin. Even when you have good stuff,
they are still going to hit you."
The Mariners completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago White
Sox on Friday and will counter with Freddy Garcia. The right-hander did not have a decision in the series opener,
allowing four runs in 3 1/3 innings.
Garcia was 9-5 with a 3.91 ERA in the regular season.
"Freddy has not pitched against New York this year," Seattle
manager Lou Piniella said. "But last year, he threw the ball
very well against this team. Freddy has got a really good, live
fastball, a good curveball and a good changeup and a good feel
for pitching."
The Yankees lost six of 10 games to Seattle during the regular season.
Seemingly on the verge of relinquishing their title as two-time
defending world champions, the Yankees kept alive the dreams of
the first "Subway Series" in more than four decades with their dramatic win over the A's. The New York Mets are playing the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.
Earlier Sunday, the New York Mets got a one-hitter from Bobby J. Jones and a two-run homer from Robin Ventura in the first inning
en route to a 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants to wrap up
their National League Division Series in four games.
It marks the second time in as many years that both the Yankees
and Mets have advanced to the AL and NL Championship Series and
sets up the possibility of the first "Subway Series" in New York
since 1956, when the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven
games.
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