ALDS Game 1: Yankees 7, Orioles 2

A 2:26 rain delay and a close game that was in the hands of a great Orioles bullpen didn't leave me much to be optimistic about last night. Couple all of that with the fact that my eyelids were heavy, and you get this blogger going to sleep in the 7th inning. When I woke up this morning I saw that everything that had to happen for the Yankees to win last night happened:

* CC Sabathia pitched like an ace.

* Mark Teixeira went 2-4 with an RBI

* Nick Swisher went 1-2 with an RBI

* Team RISP--  3-8

Alex Rodriguez? Not so much. He went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, but he did walk and score a run. I actually didn't think his at-bats were that bad. He did lay off some tough pitches. Hopefully he can build on that. It looked for a while that Robinson Cano and Russell Martin would have 0-fers as well, until they came through against Jim Johnson.

Speaking of Jim Johnson, he is probably thinking about Mariano Rivera this morning and marveling. Johnson pitched last night as if he never got any of his 51 regular-season saves. That's why Mo is the best ever, Jim. Tip your cap to him.

Game 2 tonight with Andy Pettitte on the mound. It'll be nice to see those playoff eyes of his. Go Yankees!