While it is true that Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees came to know bugs as a new four letter word tonight, it was their poor hitting that came back to bite them in the end. It would be easy to place the blame on Chamberlain tonight. After all, he was the one that lost his control in the 8th inning, throwing two wild pitches that led to a blown save of the Yankees 1-0 lead. Granted, he had almost as many gnats on his face and neck as he did hair. But even if he did lose his nerve- and he didn’t, as he came back to strike out Jhonny Peralta to end the inning and limit the damage- there’s no way you can realistically expect to win a baseball game having scored just a single run. The real blame tonight should go squarely on the Yankees offense, both the batters, and hitting coach Kevin Long. Maybe he isn’t telling the players because of their caliber, or perhaps he’s told them and they just aren’t executing, but the Yankees have a grand total of three opposite field hits this series. Now having only three opposite field knocks may not seem substantial, because the Yankees have just 8 hits total in the series, but consider this: Shelly Duncan and Bobby Abreu are the only two Yankees to have taken the ball the opposite way. They are batting a combined .333, compared to the rest of the team’s .088 average. The Yankees as a team are in a slump. They don’t look energetic at all, and that’s mainly because they haven’t had a successful rally yet. All but one of the Yankees runs have come on solo shots by left-handed hitters, pulled to right field. This is surely a sign that, while the Yankees on a whole may still be a veteran team; they are playing as nine individuals, all trying to win the game on one swing of their bats. We’ve seen throughout the year that the Yankees strongest hitters perform best when they take the pressure off, and drive the ball the other way. For instance, Alex Rodriguez (who I can only imagine has packed his bags mentally for his exodus from New York after this season), is not driving the ball to right-center field as he did in the regular season, for which he’ll most likely win an MVP award. Hideki Matsui, who shouldn’t even have been in the starting lineup tonight because of his knee injury, has looked helpless against righties and lefties alike, as he bails out of his swing of towards the 1st base dugout seemingly every time. Even Derek Jeter, with his classic inside-out swing, has only managed one hit this series, as he seems to be swinging for the fences on nearly every pitch. This is not to discredit the Indians pitching staff, and in particular tonight, Fausto Carmona, who have been lights out ever since the bases-loaded strikeout of Posada in the 5th inning of game one. For a 23 year-old pitcher to come into his first career postseason start, and dominate as Carmona did tonight, is no small feat or fluke. TBS may have chosen Travis Hafner to be their player of the game because he was readily available for interview down on the field, but it was Carmona, who kept a usually potent Yankees lineup in check for nine full innings, giving up just one run and six total baserunners. Carmona deserves even more credit for outdueling Yankees starter, Andy Pettite, who gave a tremendous performance tonight as well. It was not only the fact that Pettite held the Indians scoreless over six and a third innings, but how he did it. Allowing the leadoff man on base in five of the seven innings he started, Pettite showed some serious composure by allowing not one of them to score. The pinnacle of his gutsy performance had to be in the 6th, when he let up a lead off triple to Grady Sizemore. Pettite then came back to retire the next three Indians he faced. Two of them, the Indians strongest hitters Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner, Pettite sat down on strikeouts. The Yankees can only hope that they get a quality start out Roger Clemens on Sunday that will give them the same chance to win as Pettite did today. Tragically, the Yankees will have to battle it out without their vaunted voice. Bob Shepherd, the Yankees Stadium PA announcer for the last 57 years, has come down with a bronchial infection, and is now being monitored by doctors. Shepherd, who won’t confirm his age, is believed to be in his late 90s. If he does not return to call another game at the Old Cathedral in the Bronx, it will have been a pleasure to have had him grace us with his correct, deliberate, and distinct diction.