Yankees coast in Game 4, hang 10 on Angels

Offensive outburst gives New York the victory and a 3-1 series lead

ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- So firm is their grip on this series, so ascendant is their vantage point, the New York Yankees can now watch all the commotion down below with the amusement of a spectator. That's the privilege of a high seat. This American League Championship Series has its own social order now, where the umps and the Angels get all the hardship, and where the Yanks get to celebrate.

New York's 10-1 victory against the Angels in Tuesday night's Game 4 at Angel Stadium is perhaps best presented as a dividing line, separating those who have it good from those who probably shouldn't read many fan blogs today. The Yankees, to be sure, have it good. They're up 3-1 in this series. They have CC Sabathia, an ace who can pitch on short rest and in turn make pitching look like rest. They have Alex Rodriguez, who's now homered in three straight postseason games, all but fighting Reggie for the rights to his month. They have only one game left to win. Then it's on to the World Series, and everybody can argue whether baseball's highest-paid pitcher or highest-paid position player deserves to be series MVP.

But the grandeur, in Game 4, belonged exclusively to the 25 visitors in gray. The umpires will catch the greatest scorn -- all for a series of calls in the fourth and fifth inning that were equally inexplicable and inconsequential. On a fourth inning pickoff play at second, a diving Nick Swisher was tagged out but called safe. Shortly after, Swisher was called out for leaving early on a tag-up play from third, the erroneous judgment of a third base ump (Tim McClelland) who wasn't even looking at the third base bag during the play.

By the time the game reached the fifth inning, pro-replay fans had already been armed with enough ammo to last the winter. Even so, McClelland was responsible for one more puzzling call. With the Yankees trying to build their comfortable lead in the fifth -- Jorge Posada on third, Robinson Canó on second, one out -- Swisher hit a comebacker to the mound that trapped Posada in a rundown. Posada eventually retreated toward third; in fact, he and Canó both stopped just feet away from the bag, as if huddling around a campfire. Catcher Mike Napoli tagged both of them. McClelland ruled Posada out and Canó safe.

The Angels, of course, caused enough bellyaching in their own right. They have no ace capable of matching Sabathia, who could pitch a Game 7 if necessary on full rest. They had just five hits on Tuesday. They've hit just five home runs this postseason, as many as Rodriguez alone.

Sabathia and Scott Kazmir, the opposing starting pitchers in Game 4, subscribed to entirely opposite crafts -- one antagonized those who faced him, the other agonized those who watched him. As Sabathia cruised, allowing just one hit through the first four, Kazmir struggled to find the strike zone. He threw at least three balls to six of the first 12 hitters he faced. With three hits, a walk and a fielder's choice in the fourth, New York scored its first three runs. The game broke open in the fifth, when Mark Teixeira, Kazmir's final batter of the night, led off with a single on a 3-1 count.

In came Jason Bulger.

Up came Rodriguez.

Out went the first pitch, a fastball, smoked to left.

Though Sabathia lost his shutout with a fifth inning Kendry Morales solo homer, he continued his imperious postseason, where he now has a 1.13 ERA in three starts, all New York victories. Those late-inning insurance runs on Tuesday -- Johnny Damon's two-run homer in the eighth; a merry-go-round three-hit ninth -- felt like gifts to somebody who didn't need them.

Evidently, Sabathia on three days' rest is equal to Sabathia on four days' rest, and still superior to every other pitcher in this postseason but Cliff Lee. With a fastball that touched 96, the left-hander was a model of efficiency. He threw just 101 pitches, including 38 for the first 12 outs. Kazmir, for what it's worth, recorded 12 outs and threw 89 pitches.

By the ninth inning, Angel Stadium was half-empty, and Chad Gaudin, the last New York pitcher to appear in this game, was on the mound. The Angels will have to fight back against all odds just to make this a series. They have now been outscored by the Yanks 22-10 in these four games.