The Big Bad Wolf (Disguised as Cliff Lee)

My name is The Rabbi, the video editor of On The Sportslines. I am pitch hitting (Manny Mota style) for uber Yankee fan Jay Kaplan for a Yankee update.

This isn't your father's Texas Rangers Team, frankly cause the Texas Rangers/Washington Senators didn't make the playoffs till 1996. A series that was considered to be a sorta tough one for the Yankees has turned into a truly tough one.

The Rangers have essentially have been hitting almost .300 and the Yankees have been hitting below .200 in this series..that is, if you don't count the 8th inning on Friday. Yeah, the inning that defined the Yankees playoff strategy over the last two years: get the starter out of the game and start praying on the mismatches that is the bullpen. All in all, I find the Rangers probably are a better opponent to beat the Yankees than the Rays would have been.

Let's look at tonight's game though. Look at it 2 ways. The Rangers will start Cliff Lee, who looked pretty damn good this postseason for Nolan Ryan's boys. Lee has Koufaxian stuff in the postseason, essentially becoming the hired gun of the postseason, the assassin that will be on the mound to mow down hitters in Games 1 and 5 of a 5 game series, and games 1, 4, and 7 of a 7 game series. Except two major issues: Lee doesn't like 3 days rest and the Rangers 5 game series forced Lee to pitch tonight.

On the other side is Andy Pettitte. The Yankees flip flopped Hughes and Pettitte in the normal rotation for 3 reasons: 1. Phil HAD a 15+ scoreless inning streak in Texas (failed on that one) 2. Andy is more comfortable at home, and if CC won Game 1 (which he did, well the Yanks did) Game 2 was a little of a freebie. 3. Andy can match up with Cliff Lee.

Let me repeat that again, Andy Pettitte can match up with Cliff Lee.

In my humble opinion, I never have been a huge CC fan in the postseason. I think the stage has succumbed at time to CC in the worst situations. It always seems that CC cannot match up with a team's #1 pitcher in the postseason. #2 or 3 is usually golden, save for last Friday Night.

Andy Pettitte is gonna match Cliff Lee, pitch for pitch tonight I believe. Lee is a great pitcher, but I feel that the Yankees can do what they didn't do in Game 2, and that's take advantage with men on base. 5 innings the Yankees did that in Game 2, that will not happen again. Andy Pettitte, with a win tonight, can be a 20 game winner in the POSTSEASON, and in Game 2 looked like the dominant pitcher who found the fountain of youth in the 1st half of 2010. So, call it a hunch, call it intuition, but I think either Pettitte matches Lee blow for blow for 8 innings or the Yanks get that big hit once Cliff Lee pitches 9 innings and leaves 1-1. Either way I say Game 3 will be 2-1 Yankees. I've felt this series was gonna be 1-1 coming in here since the Rangers were finalized as the Yankees opponent (wrong order though, thought they'd lose Game 1 win Game 2), and I always thought they would win this game.

They better, or you have a spent CC or a rusty and unproven AJ Burnett in Game 4.