When the Yankees started off Game 3 versus Lackey with back-to-back hits I thought the rest of the game would have been a cakewalk. They hit lackey early in the count and early in the game; exactly what a team needs to do against Anaheim’s ace. But then Tex continued to slump with a strikeout and A-Rod uncharacteristically popped out to first and Matsui hit a weak ground ball. A team should get a little more out of their 3,4,5 hitters.

It was upsetting to watch the Yankees not take advantage of an early threat. Then to make matters worse AJ Burnett decided to pitch like it was August (he was winless this August, but not just winless. He was awful) and walked Chone Figgins to lead off the bottom half of the first. But before the speedy Figgins could beat the Yanks with his speeed, Abreu smacked a double, Hunter then singled, Vlad doubled and Morales singled to cap it off. Just like that, 4 runs. It took 12 pitches to give up 4 hits, 4 runs and a walk. It was like a punch in the stomach.

Burnett tends to have one inning where he gives up a bunch of hits and allows some runs. Luckily for him and the team it only resulted in two runs in each of his first two starts this postseason. He wasn’t so lucky this time around. Burnett looked shocked on the hill as he couldn’t stop the throw-follow through-turn back-whip lash-oh S***t-backup the throw movement. But even with all those runs and hits Burnett didn’t really throw that many pitches. So Girardi kept him in and Yankee land panicked.

Sure enough he held, but so did Lackey. For the next 5 innings neither side could get anything cooking offensively. The Angels’ only threat was ended by a weak ground ball to short and a throw home to catch Hunter in a run-down. Both pitchers were performing well and I was damning that first inning.

Then game the 7^th inning. The inning I, along with every other Yankee fan out there, thought would wind up being the end of the Angels. After an all too predictable Swisher fly out, Melky continued swinging a hot bat by stroking a double. Then Lackey struck out Jorge Posada but the umpire wasn’t watching the game so he called strike three ball four and we had two on no outs. John Lackey was shaken and upset. The Big Ugly was cracking.

Then after a walk, a fly out and a pitching change the Yankees found themselves with the bases loaded, two outs, down 4 with the slumping Teixeira up. Heading into the at bat he was hitting .104 this series with out much else. And with the first pitch of his at bat (that America basically missed because of money hungry FOX not switching back from a commercial in time), he stroked his first double of the series and drove in all three runs. After the first of two intentional walks to A-Rod, a Matsui single to tie the game and Robinson Cano 2 RBI triple the Yankees had the lead. Game over. 6 run 7^th wins the game for New York. Get the bubbly ready. Time to head to the falls classic…ehhhhh not so fast.

The Angels answered right back in the bottom half. Burnett gave up a single and a walk to the Angels’ 8 and 9 hitters. And after a poor relief performance by Hughes and an RBI single, by that freaking Morales character, the Yankees were down one heading into the last two innings.

The Yankees managed to load the bases in the top of the ninth with two outs after they walked A-Rod intentionally, Matsui mistakenly and Hit Cano. But Nick Swisher couldn’t get the job done…again. His slump grew bigger and uglier as the patience of Yankee supports wore thinner. He popped up his chance to be the hero and the series comes back to the Bronx.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Because although I know we still have plenty of breathing room and ability to finish this series off in New York, there are a few things that concern me:

Lets just say this and get it out of the way. It is possible…POSSIBLE…although not very probable, that they blow it. They blew it up 3-0 in ’04 so it is possible they do it again. Even though I’m willing to bet everything dear to me that they don’t blow it, it had to be said.

Girardi. He can really make you scratch your head and scream “what the (expletive)?” at the TV screen. Why were Guzman and Gardner put in the game? A-Rod is pretty fast and he is the best player on the team. Why on God’s green earth would you take him out of the game? You want to take A-Rod out of the game? What if they score the game is tied and we go to extras? Their hands-down best extra inning performer this post season would be out of the game. Not to mention you do the same with Matsui so two really fast guys that get caught stealing on a semi regular basis replace our four and five hitters, one of them being Alex Freaking Rodriguez!? Girardi, WHAT ARE YOU DOING…so yeah I’d say his brain is a concern. And can we get protection for A-Rod so they stop walking him. Cut the Molina crap it obviously isn’t working. Hit Posada 5^th and stop it. Sorry, moving on.

And my last concern is Burnett on the road. Lets just call a spade a spade and say that no Yankee fan is all that comfortable with Burnett on the mound, on the road, in a big game. I try and support him and get behind him but, to continue calling a spade a spade, he sucked last night. Plain and simple Burnett looked like trash: 6 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs (all earned) and three walks. You should be concerned about this too.

Look I know they’ll win this series…they have to. Andy Pettitte will not let this go on any further and as one of the best postseason pitchers of my generation, I’m sure he’ll lace up his spikes and throw a gem. They’ll be at home, where they play very well, in front of their fans with the trusty lefty on the hill. Countless times this season Andy Pettitte has given the Yankees a win when they needed it and Saturday night will be no different. He is the veteran leader of the pitching staff and he will want to avenge his loss in game three by closing out the series in the Bronx.