Fear Not, Yankee Fans ... You'll Win It In 6

I boldly predicted before tonight’s game 5 (to nobody in particular) that the Yankees would lose, thus bringing the series back to the Bronx.

When I made that prediction, I was thinking something like a 3-hitter from John Lackey. But while the Angels ace didn’t go the distance against the Yanks, he was still very good and left the game before the Yankees scored any runs.

What did the Bombers in tonight was their inability to put the Angels away after taking a 6-4 lead in the 7th. LA answered that Yankee barrage with three runs of their own in the home half of the inning.

Plenty of blame to go around for that one; should Joe Girardi have let AJ Burnett come out to start the 7th?, was Damaso Marte the best choice as his replacement?, why isn’t Phil Hughes dominating like he did in the regular season?

Anyway, enough second-guessing….on to my next bold prediction:

The Yankees will close out the series Saturday with a win in game six.

I’m sure Yankee fans are sweating it out tonight, but there’s no way the Yanks don’t close this one out.

It’ll be a battle of lefthanders, with the Angels trotting out Joe Saunders and the Yanks throwing Andy Pettitte.

While RIGHT NOW Saunders might be the tougher pitcher, I give the “experience” edge to Andy. Plus the home park factor will be huge. It’s been pretty obvious in this series that both of these teams feed off their home fans and excel in their own stadiums.

Plus this team has a different feel to it than the fragile Yankee teams from earlier this decade.

Back when the Yanks lost game four of the ALCS to the Red Sox in 2004, all Yankee fans had that uneasy feeling because the Sox were a confident bunch and the Yanks just seemed vulnerable.

Not this team. This team has that resilient quality that you look for in champions. At least I get feeling.

The win tonight might have the Angels feeling good, but it won’t be enough to sway significant momentum to their side. This Yankee team just has that certain quality. You get the sense that when the series comes back to the Bronx, they will rise to the occasion.

That’s my prediction, anyway.

Yankee fans better hope I’m right.

(**Don’t worry, I usually am).

Matt Estreich for The Huddle