CC led the Yankees in a Game 1 victory

The Angels offense led in Batting Average, and each hitter had a wOBA over .339, including four players hitting over 20 Home Runs this season. Despite that impressive hitting resume, the Angels were only able to scratch one run across the plate Friday night in the Yankees 4-1 victory. CC Sabathia dominated Angels’ hitters. He struck out 7 and allowed only 5 base runners in 8 innings. Angels starter John Lackey pitched better than his box score indicated, but his usually stout defense, let him down. The Angels committed 3 errors, and that doesn’t include a pop-up on the infield that dropped between Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar allowing a run to score in the 1st inning.

The Yankees offense led MLB by a sizeable margin in Home Runs this season, but found a way to win this game without use of the long ball. Alex Rodriguez continued his strong postseason going 1-2 with a sac fly RBI and walk, despite being thrown out at home when he blew through a stop sign. Hideki Matsui drove in 2 other runs, with Derek Jeter driving in the 4th run in the 6th inning. The Yanks offense took the first pitch from John Lackey 24 of 28 times and he was pulled from the game in the 6th after throwing 114 pitches. It wasn’t a great day for the Yankees offense, but in the low-40 degree weather, they did enough to win this game.

The Angels offense was only able to get six base runners in Game 1. The Angels 1-5 hitters, Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, Guerrero and Rivera, went 2-19, reaching base three times and striking out six times. CC gave the Angels hitters all they could handle. Then game got turned over to Mariano Rivera and four batters later, Game 1 was history. Despite turning 40 in a little over a month, Mariano Rivera is just as dominant as he was in the 90’s and this year is no exception.

Game 2 is Today with a 6:57 first pitch at Yankee Stadium. Pitching matchup: A.J. Burnett vs. Joe Saunders.