ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Had Tuesday gone as planned for the red-splashed sellout crowd, it would have been defined by a Rally Monkey. Instead, the night began with the tail wagging a dog as Major League Baseball determined that Mariano Rivera’s spitting image on a YouTube video was a mirage.
So of course, that’s not what baseball fans are talking about at water coolers and on computers today.
On a night when the Evil Empire, as Bostonians know the Yankees, won again 10-1, tightening their grip on the American League Championship Series, now leading three games to one, another episode of the Umpire Strikes Back broke out.
For Rockies fans still seething over calls in the division series, this can provide solace. It’s not just your team. It’s everyone this fall.
Fortunately for baseball, none of third-base umpire Tim McClelland’s calls impacted the outcome, but they fueled more conversation about whether instant replay should be expanded.
As for the Star Wars, the players on the field, the Yankees buried the Angels with a relentless offense that stopped relying solely on the home run. Win Thursday and the Yankees clinch their first World Series berth since 2003.
That seems like a formality with the way the lineup is clicking and CC Sabathia, their first true ace since Roger Clemens, is dominating. The game changed in the fourth inning, Angels starter Scott Kazmir tumbling.
With the Yankees 3-for-34 with runners in scoring position in the series and 0-for-6 in the game, Melky Cabrera snapped the drought by grounding a two-run single to left. Alex Rodriguez would later follow with his fifth home run of the postseason, tying Reggie Jackson for second all time on the Yankees’ list.
McClelland, however, took center stage in the fourth. The Yankees’ Nick Swisher appeared to be picked off at second base. In what smacked of a makeup call, McClelland called Swisher out for leaving too early on a potential sacrifice fly moments later. Replays showed McClelland was wrong. Then it went from bad to worse in the fifth as Jorge Posada got trapped in a rundown between third and home. As Posada retreated to third, catcher Mike Napoli tagged him and Robinson Cano, who inexplicably stopped two feet from third base. McClelland ruled only Posada out.
The Yankees’ bats ultimately bailed him out, hammering a slew of Angels pitchers while Sabathia, working on three days’ rest, allowed just one run in eight innings.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
