Yankees Fallout: Not So Dandy

FINAL: Yankees 2 Orioles 3 -- Series Tied 1-1

First of all, if you're a baseball fan -- or a non-Yankee-Oriole fan -- you have to be enjoying these last two games. Great postseason baseball.

Now to my Yankee side: It was tough, tough lost, but the Yankees did what they had to do. They took a split. You hardly can't expect any team to start the ALDS on the road and take two.

And I know we seen the Cincinnati Reds did it to the San Francisco Giants, but it hardly happens.

Nick Swisher: If he continues to struggle in big situations, you would have to think that Joe Girardi will pull the plug on Swisher and replace him with Raul Ibanez.

Girardi cannot -- and I repeat -- cannot, have a clutch hitter like Ibanez sit on the bench while Swisher is not producing. We seen this last year when the Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers 3-2 because they couldn't get that run home with the bases loaded, numerous of times. Yankees can't have that again.

Swisher struck out against lefty Brian Matusz with two runners on, and I think Ibanez -- whose a lefty -- has more of a chance to get a hit off Matusz.

Now, Girardi won't have to replace Swisher with Ibanez at Game 3 -- with the right-hander Mike Gonzalez for the Orioles -- because Ibanez will mostly likely be in the lineup and DH.

Alex Rodriguez: Oh A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod ... It's easy to complain and bash A-Rod, but it's also tough to get mad at him.

It's strange with A-Rod, because he'll swing and miss on a bevy of fastballs that are right down the middle, but the pitchers are giving him tough pitches to hit. If you look at the way the Oriole pitchers pitch to him and see how they pitch to everyone else in the Yankee lineup, it's not even fair to him.

A-Rod gets nothing to hit. Darren O'Day has pitched well all season and pitched well to A-Rod in these last two games.

Although, (Alex) Rodriguez is swinging through a lot of pitches that over the plate that he should be sending them out of Camden Yards.

Rodriguez's struggles is all about low confidence in the plate. Yea -- he's not what he once was, but it's mainly because he's not feeling it. You have to want to play and compete in those big spots in the postseason. If you don't, you will crumble.

Andy Pettitte: Great game. The only blemish was that bottom 3rd when he gave up two runs with to outs. I don't what happened in that inning.