Yankees 7, @Orioles 2: It was close all the way, and then it wasn’t. Jim Johnson, the MLB saves leader who had never allowed a HR to any current Yankee (127 PAs), hung a 2-0 pitch to Russell Martin leading off the 9th, and the dam burst, washing away all prior impressions of what had been a close-fought game. But some memories of exciting plays and interesting decisions seeped back the day after:

• Robert Andino nipping the lead run at home in the 7th, with a sweet scoop by Matt Wieters.
• That play followed DJ’s two-strike bunt that made him the career postseason SH leader. The Captain also extended his massive leads in postseason hits, runs, total bases, and (of course) games.
• Outstanding efforts by Martin & Teixeira to get a big out in the 5th. (Did Teix control the ball in time? Impossible for the 1B ump to see.)
• The pitch of the game deserved its own clip, I think, but go to 0:50 for CC’s pinpoint placement that caught McLouth on a full count with men on the corners and one down in the 5th.
• I wonder if Joe Girardi considered a pinch-runner for Martin when he reached 3rd with 1 out in the 7th? Probably not, and rightly — Martin’s faster than the average catcher, and there’s just one backup catcher, with 3 more defensive innings and CC working well with Martin. Maybe if they’d been down by a run, instead of tied. But when Martin was thrown out at home, it created a possible storyline of NY outs on the bases: Ichiro had made the game’s 1st out trying to steal 3rd, and Teix had been cut down in the 4th trying to stretch his 1-out tying single, with a runner in front of him. The Yanks didn’t score after any of those outs.
• Were you as shocked as I to see Brian Matusz facing Swisher and Teixeira in the 8th? I’m all for using Matusz against a lefty — he dominated them this year, despite his poor over-all numbers. But Matusz against a righty was gruesome: .327 BA, .932 OPS. And the switchers were sandwiched in between Cano and Granderson. Swisher does have less power from the right side, but Teix in recent years has been much more dangerous swinging righty. ‘Tusz clearly wanted no part of him with 2 outs, giving a 4-pitch walk, then whiffing Grandy on 3 straight. I guess that if Swisher had gotten on, Buck would have made a move.
• Ichiro‘s last postseason AB was a tap to 3rd against Mariano, the next-to-last out as the 116-win Mariners were overwhelmed in a 5-game ALCS.
• Darren O’Day‘s 7th-inning escape job showed how he stranded 37 of 43 inherited runners this season, the 5th best rate among 68 relievers inheriting 30+ runners. Well, sort of … The odd thing is that he’s an extreme fly-ball pitcher, and K rate is good but unexceptional for a reliever. He just gets the outs.

Nationals 3, @Cardinals 2: No Nats pinch-hit all year had more game impact as Tyler Moore‘s 2-out, 2-strike poke to RF that plated the tying and lead runs. Moore whiffed in 27% of all PAs this year and more than half his 2-2 counts, but he also had 17 of his 29 RBI with 2 strikes.

• Has enough been made of Werth’s outstanding catch, battling the late sun? The A.P. story I saw dumped it in the last ‘graf: “Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth robbed Daniel Descalso of a two-run homer off with a leaping catch to keep it at 2-1 in the sixth.” Oh, by the way…. And was it a lucky break that Werth drifted into shade just before the leap? He’s back in sun at the point of impact, but the light seems filtered; the shadow he casts against the fence is not as crisp as it was against the grass. Who knows if it made a difference; he seemed to have a bead on the ball the whole way. But I don’t envy any right fielder at that time of day.
• The number-cruncher in me says it’s just anecdotal observation — but the fan in me sure thinks that rallies often follow big-time escapes like this one. That’s no gimme DP that Ryan Zimmerman started, either, with the runner crossing in front just as he starts his throw. I remember Zimmerman last year when he had the abdominal condition and just could not throw normally; he may not be back to his former Gold Glove standard, but he was involved in 28 DPs this year, 2nd in the league to Freese.
• St. Louis scored their runs in the 2nd on 3 walks, a wild pitch and a sac fly.
• Washington this year won 9 of 59 games that they trailed to start the 8th. That’s 4 more wins from those 59 games than the typical NL rate would have produced.
• The other biggest pinch-hit by the Nats this year was exactly 6 months earlier, in game 2, a 2-run single to RF by Chad Tracy reversing a deficit with 2 gone in the 8th. Tracy was the PH whom Moore pinch-hit for in the Davey Johnson/Mike Matheny tactical battle.
• 41 31 years to the day since the first postseason game in Nats/Expos history, with Rogers besting Carlton, 3-1; the ‘Spos went 3 for 20(!) with RISP.

Reds 9, @Giants 0: Bronson Arroyo‘s dominance — he retired the first 14 men and allowed 2 runners in 7 IP — reminded me of Jose Rijo‘s WS-clincher (2 H, 1 R in 8.1 IP, retired his last 20 straight). But this game lacked all tension once the Reds went up 4-0 in the 4th.

• At home this year, SF allowed just 3.36 runs per game.
• Biggest margin in a Giants postseason loss since game 5 of the 1951 WS. (Yankees romped 13-1 in the Polo Grounds and seized control of the Series; Gil McDougald broke a tie with the first WS slam by a rookie.) In SF’s last LDS appearance, they allowed 9 runs total over 4 games.
• Times on base for SF’s #1-5 hitters in two games: Posey 4 for 9, others 4 for 34. Two of those 8 times on base came with 1 out left in last night’s game.
• Here’s the only prior postseason win by an Arroyo — exactly 51 years earlier, against the Reds. In 11 previous games (3 starts), Bronson had no decisions and a 6.04 ERA.