NEW YORK – The day began with a threat so familiar, so very George Steinbrenner, it was as if the Yankees were back in the 1970s, and the Bronx was burning all over again.
By nightfall, Yankees manager Joe Torre not only remained gainfully employed, but the entire psychology of the Division Series had shifted, if only for one day.
Indeed, in the aftermath of the Yankees’ 8-4 victory over the Indians, it was possible to imagine not just a temporary salvation for Torre, but perhaps even a permanent reprieve.
The Indians will not use left-hander C.C. Sabathia on three days’ rest in Game 4, a wise decision considering that Sabathia threw 114 pitches in 4 ⅔ innings in the series opener.
In the past three seasons, Indians right-hander Paul Byrd is 0-3 with a 6.86 ERA against the Yankees.
Those numbers include a two-inning, seven-run start at Jacobs Field on Aug. 11, yet the Indians are sticking with their plan to pitch Byrd in Game 4 of the Division Series at Yankee Stadium on Monday night.
Basically, they believe he’s their only option.
Indians left-hander C.C. Sabathia has made only one career start on three days rest, and the Indians were reluctant to use him that way again after he threw 114 pitches in 4 ⅔ innings in Game 1.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime for our club,” Indians pitching coach Carl Willis said, “getting back to the postseason for the first time in six years. We can’t put players at risk…Personally, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. We’ve got a guy (Byrd) who won 15 games.”
Byrd, 36, was indeed 15-8 in the regular season, but with a 4.59 ERA. Still, he’s a 13-year veteran. He pitched in the postseason in 2004 and ’05. It’s not as if he’s going to rattle.
“He just needs to throw the ball where he wants to — in and out of the zone,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. That’s why he has had the career he’s had — his ability to do that.”
The problem for the Indians is that their alternative, right-hander Paul Byrd, is the type of junk-baller the Yankees normally devour. And if the Yankees’ offense gets rolling, look out.
Byrd vs. Yankees’ right-hander Chien-Ming Wang looks like a mismatch for New York, even with Wang working on three days’ rest following a start for the first time in his career.
Game 5 at Jacobs Field, if necessary, would be far more problematic for the Yankees, who would start lefty Andy Pettitte against Sabathia, with the Tribe’s other ace, righty Fausto Carmona, also available on normal rest.
Then again, who knows how the Indians, making their first postseason appearance since 2001, would respond to the pressure of possibly blowing a two-games-to-none lead?
At this point, all Torre can do is cling to such hope — and heaven knows that he again would be in peril if the Yankees advanced and then lost to the Red Sox in the AL Championship Series.
Steinbrenner left no doubt in his comments to The Record of Bergen (N.J.): Torre will lose his job if the Yankees fall to the Indians. As always, Steinbrenner made sure to remind the world that he’s paying Torre a lot of money — $7 million this season, to be precise.
Several Yankees players — notably right-hander Carl Pavano, reliever Kyle Farnsworth and first baseman Jason Giambi — give Steinbrenner far less of a return for his millions, but never mind such details.
The truth is that Torre is managing a team in transition — and never was that transition more apparent than Sunday night, when rookie right-hander Phil Hughes, 21, earned the victory after replacing Roger Clemens, 45, who lasted only 2 ⅓ innings.
For Clemens, it was a re-enactment of his abbreviated start for the Astros in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, right down to his strained left hamstring. Hughes rescued Clemens — and Torre, and the Yankees — by working 3 ⅔ scoreless innings.
Clemens, who had pitched only six innings since Sept. 3, recorded just three swings-and-misses in 59 pitches. Hughes had only six in 63 pitches, but his fastball had far more life, his curveball had bite and he even mixed in his changeup, too.
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