Schadenfreude 216 (A Continuing Series)

Bill Madden, "Yankees Are Not The Best Team Left In The Playoffs, But They Are The Most Lovable":

America is watching and finding them ... well ... kind of lovable, an adjective never before associated with the Yankees outside of the Bronx. ...

They may not have the most talent, but they play the game with a certain verve — in direct contrast to the Red Sox, who beat them for the division title in the regular season but never looked like they were finding any joy in their work. Once again, the Yankees will be the underdogs in the ALCS, but the Astros are going to find them a very different animal from the Red Sox.

John Harper, "After Emotional ALDS Comeback, Yankees Seem Destined To Beat Astros And Advance To World Series":

The signs were there all season, really. ...

At some point you couldn't help but think there was something special about this group, and indeed as they peaked in September scouts were telling me to beware these Yankees. ...

[I]t just feels like the Yankees are playing at such a high level right now, riding a wave of confidence and relishing their status as underdogs, that they'll find a way. ...

[T]hese postseason games often come down to the type of mental toughness that has defined the Fighting Gardners, if you will, throughout this season. ...

Yankees in seven.

Peter Botte, Daily News:

They have a problem. ...

Dallas Keuchel continued his career-long domination of the Bombers with seven scoreless innings to send the Yankees' to a 2-1 loss to the Astros in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series on Friday night ...

[Jose] Altuve heard chants of "MVP" all night from the home crowd ... [After an infield single behind second base with one out in the fourth,] He promptly stole second base and scored on a single to left by Carlos Correa, who sprinted home later in the inning on an RBI knock by Yuli Gurriel for a 2-0 Houston lead. ...

Closer Ken Giles recorded the final five outs for Houston, including a strikeout of Didi Gregorius with the tying runs on base to end the eighth.

Bird ripped a solo shot off the right-field foul pole against Giles in the ninth for his third home run of the postseason, but Giles struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the game.

Ken Davidoff, Post:

If the definition of insanity truly is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, then what do we make of the Yankees' decision to play against Dallas Keuchel on Friday night?

They could have forfeited and saved themselves the trouble, right? ...

Keuchel threw seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out 10 ...

The Yankees' best scoring opportunity against him wouldn't have occurred if not for a fifth-inning error by Houston's AL MVP candidate Jose Altuve, and even then, the Astros stifled it as left fielder Marwin Gonzalez fielded Aaron Judge's base hit and threw out Bird at home for the third out. The visitors made some noise in the eighth off the Astros' vulnerable bullpen, putting men on first and second with two outs, only to see Houston closer Ken Giles strike out ALDS hero Gregorius to put out the fire.

John Harper, Daily News:

Keuchel was tough again but far from his precision-pitching best. ...

In fact, there was a stretch in the fourth and fifth innings where six of eight Yankees hit the ball on the screws, and yet they came away with nothing, largely because Greg Bird got thrown out at the plate on Aaron Judge's single to end the fifth inning on the biggest play of the game.

It was 2-0 Astros at the time, and had Bird scored there, the complexion of the game might well have changed dramatically. ...

So the Bird play proved pivotal, and here's the thing: I'm still trying to figure out how he got thrown out at the plate when he had a running jump with two outs and a 3-2 count on Judge.

Bird is slow, obviously, but it looked like he didn't break quickly enough on Keuchel's delivery, and that wound up costing him. ...

It still took an accurate throw from left fielder Marwin Gonzalez, but even then Bird might have been safe if he'd made a good slide to the outside edge of the plate.

Instead he slid directly into Brian McCann's tag, even veering slightly toward the catcher, it seemed.

Mike Mazzeo, Daily News:

[Aaron] Judge actually did his part for the Bombers, matching his hit total from the entire ALDS on this night -- one. But Judge's single to left off a 3-2 hanging slider from Dallas Keuchel with two on and two outs in the fifth went for naught, as Greg Bird, who underwent ankle surgery in mid-July, was thrown out at home in an ugly display of baserunning. ...

The 25-year-old rookie Judge, who went 1-for-20 with a postseason-record 16 strikeouts in the ALDS, also was the victim of a massive strike zone in his second at-bat, as a low strike two call in his second at-bat ultimately resulted in another K. ...

Judge represented the tying run when he got up for the final time in the eighth, but he grounded out to third against Ken Giles. And Gary Sanchez and Gregorius went a combined 0-for-7 with five strikeouts ...

Joel Sherman, Post:

At this point Joe Girardi might want to see what Ronald Torreyes could do or if Alex Rodriguez would come off of the FOX set — heck, the Yankees were still paying him this season — or just what kind of shape Ron Blomberg is in.

For at this moment, the Yankees' DH stands for — take your pick — Dismal Hitting, Dreadful Hitting, Dreary Hitting. Whomever Girardi has Designated has been Decidedly Hideous.

The choice for ALCS Game 1 was Matt Holliday, who until Friday night had played as often this postseason as Babe Ruth. ...

Holliday joined the oh-fer parade, never getting the ball out of the infield ...

The Yankee DH spot is now 0-for-24.

And Bonus Shit, from the ALDS: