Yankee pitching danced in and out of trouble on Friday, but their lack of offensive punch ended up biting them in the end.

Andy Pettitte walked the tightrope and somehow kept the Indians scoreless into the seventh inning and Melky Cabrera contributed with his bat and glove to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead, but Joba Chamberlain couldn't withstand the swarm of insects in the eighth and Travis Hafner finally broke through against Luis Vizcaino as the Tribe downed the Yanks 2-1 in an emotionally draining 11 innings.

How anemic was the offense?  Eleven innings of baseball and the Yanks managed three hits (one was an infield single), two walks and had a runner reach base on an error.  Now, Fausto Carmona pitched great and Rafael Perez is a tough lefty, but you have to do better than that.  Bronx Bombers indeed. 

Cleveland now owns a commanding 2-0 lead in the best of five series.

This was a great playoff game to watch if you didn't have a vested rooting interest.  Unfortunately, I did and this loss feels like someone punched me in the kidney.

The Good:

Andy Pettitte.  Pettitte did his best Houdini impersonation on Friday.  The veteran lefty worked in and out of jams in almost every inning.  Pettitte allowed the leadoff batter to reach base five times in his seven innings, but the Indians couldn't push a run across.  How did Andy do it?  It was a big pinstriped sampler.  Melky Cabrera gunned out Jhonny Peralta out at home to end the second, Pettitte picked off Kenny Lofton at second (technically it goes down as a "caught stealing" since Lofton took off for third) to end a Cleveland rally in the fifth and after allowing a leadoff triple to Grady Sizemore in the sixth, Pettitte locked in and induced a ground out back to the box and struck out the next two batters.  His performance wasn't for the faint of heart, but Pettitte showed why he's still a big game pitcher.  Pettitte's no decision: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K.

Melky Cabrera.  The Melk-Man has been missing some deliveries lately (.180 average for September), but he came through on Friday afternoon.  Cabrera erased Peralta at home in the bottom of the second and then blasted a solo homer in the top of the third to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead.  Who knew that would be all the offense the Yanks would muster?  I didn't.  Melky finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and the lone RBI.

The Bad:

Joba Chamberlain.  The rookie sensation came into the game in the seventh with runners on first and second and one out and calmly took care of business -- a strikeout and a fly out -- to end the inning.  Then the flying ants hit.  It looked like something out of Exodus.  Yankee trainer Gene Monahan came out and sprayed Chamberlain with OFF, but it looked like he doused him with ON instead (That's from a Far Side cartoon, but I couldn't find the picture).  The bugs were everywhere -- his eyes, his neck, his mouth.  It was uncomfortable to watch so I can imagine it was difficult to pitch.  Still, Joba needed to preserve a lead and he failed miserably.  Chamberlain was wild and it cost the Yanks dearly.  It will go down as a "blown save" for Joba, his first, and it came at the worst possible time.  Chamberlain's plagued night: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 hit batsman, 2 WP.

Luis Vizcaino.  There's always a goat once a game hits extra innings and Vizcaino has to wear the horns on Friday.  The Viz's leadoff walk to Kenny Lofton was especially frustrating.  Franklin Gutierrez followed with a base hit and, well, you could just see the wheels starting to fall.  I got to give Vizcaino credit though, he almost worked out of a bases loaded, one out jam and managed to keep the drama level high by giving up the game-winning hit on a 3-2 pitch with two outs.  Vizcaino picked up the loss with this: .2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB (1 intentional).

Alex Rodriguez.  I really could put the entire Yankee lineup here since they collectively did nothing on Friday, but A-Rod had a chance to put all the "A-Rod watchers" in their place in the top of the ninth.  Bobby Abreu reached on an infield single with two outs and then swiped second.  I thought for sure Cleveland would take the bat out of A-Rod's hands with first base open, but they challenged him.  And Rodriguez struck out.  Again, the whole team isn't hitting and it's trendy to dump on A-Rod, but he had a golden opportunity to be a hero on Friday and didn't come through.  A-Rod finished 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts.

The Ugly:

The voice of God.  The legendary Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard will not be behind the mic when the ALDS heads to the Bronx on Sunday.  Sheppard has a bronchial infection that will keep him from introducing players for the first time since 1951.  That's a string of 121 consecutive post-season games.  He'll be missed.

It's do or die time for the Yanks.  Roger Clemens (6-6, 4.18) and his aching elbow and bloody feet will have the ball placed in his shoe on Sunday.  The Indians will go with Jake Westbrook (6-9, 4.32).

An 0-2 hole in a best of five is daunting, but it can be overcome.  Yankee fans should know first-hand.  The Yanks were up 2-0 against the Seattle Mariners in 1995 only to lose in heartbreaking fashion in Game 5.  In 2001, the Bombers dropped the first two games at home against the A's and went on to beat Oakland in five.

It has happened before.

It can happen again.

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