Wow. Just wow.

I don't have a ton to say that hasn't already been said. What a night of baseball. My opinions are admittedly biased, so I won't throw them at you (at least not all of them, I do have a few below). You know I'll defend the Yanks and laugh at the Red Sox and take pleasure in their collapse, even though the Rays pitching is scarier in the playoffs than what the Sox would have run out there. I've been on the other end of an epic collapse, and it's nice to now have this in my back pocket.

I have found myself defending the Yankees all morning to the countless Sox fans I work with. In typical fashion, they are blaming the Yankees for not using every weapon possible to win last night's game. I will say that blowing a 7-run lead is never a good thing and nothing to be celebrated, but it wasn't the A squad out there at that time, and I'm fine with that. There was no need for it and they've earned the right to rest their players. A guy in my office said, "The Phillies had Lidge in against Atlanta, why wouldn't Rivera come in for the save?" To which I responded, "Mo pitched Tuesday...do you really think the Yankees are going to throw 41-year-old Rivera four out of five days (assuming he is used Fri and Sat in the playoffs) in order to save a meaningless game? The Phillies don't play until Saturday, so Lidge has two days off." Reasonable argument to me, in which he responded, "you play to win the game" and I said "you play to win the World Series." The Yankee starters shelled David Price. What more do you want? The Yankees were also responsible for stranding Jacoby Ellsbury on third base with no outs, right? The Yanks wanted to give their guys a few ABs to stay sharp, which they did, and then they rewarded them with a half game on the bench. Not a bad way to spend #162.

I'm looking forward to the postseason. The Yankees rotation has glaring holes and I'm concerned with that. I love what Ivan Nova has done lately, but who knows how he'll react to his first post-season start. A gem or a shelling just wouldn't surprise me either way. CC has been far from lights out the past six weeks. Sweaty Freddy's stuff works well against bottom-feeders, but in the playoffs? Verlander is great, Fister was a terrific pick up, and their offense is on fire. The Tigers are a strong team, five game series are crapshoots, and it's going to be exciting.

I'll be at Game One in person. Go Yanks!