Yankees answer Buck’s question

Some of the highs and lows of watching Angels-Yankees Game 4.

Say hey

Joe Buck welcomed us with this: “Has momentum shifted to the Angels? Or will CC [Sabathia] ease the minds of Yankee nation? Answers coming up.” The answers came up, early and often.

Say what?

The “ ‘Ninja Assassin’ Keys to the Game” was an actual segment. Understanding that someone has to pay the bills, this brought to mind the idea that a player needed the ability to do some sort of karate kick.

Replay this

Set it to music and third base umpire Tim McClelland’s greatest misses in this game would be a hit. McClelland was egregiously wrong twice: for calling Yankee Nick Swisher out for tagging up but leaving the base too soon and for not noticing that Mike Napoli tagged out two Yankees at third when neither was on the base.

McCarver said, “Both are off the bag, that’s an easy call.” Apparently not.

Replay this II

Before McClelland’s miscues, second base umpire Dale Scott blew it when it seemed Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir and shortstop Erick Aybar had teamed up to pick off Swisher. Replay said so, Buck and McCarver said so, Scott said no.

Sharp shot

The close-up of Sabathia yawning during the top of the fourth. McCarver noted that Sabathia was caught yawning during his Game 1 start too.

Before and after

Pregame show analyst Mark Grace said, “The Yankees are starting to feel the heat a little bit.” The high-fiving Yankees weren’t sweating anything after the game. But McClelland was admitting his blown calls. Better late than never?

Not in the box score

The audio of a discussion between home plate umpire Jerry Layne and Mike Scioscia. Layne told Scioscia that Napoli wasn’t getting low enough to give Layne a good look at Kazmir’s pitches.

Shortly after, a wild pitch got past Napoli. McCarver said, “Napoli’s got too much on his mind, trying to accommodate Layne and block the pitches of Kazmir.”

And another thing

Buck was spot-on in his call of Alex Rodriguez’s two-run home run: “If you read the body language of Alex Rodriguez, that is an extremely confident hitter who seems to be picking up the ball really well as he hits one into left, back at the wall . . . Rodriguez goes deep and it’s 5-0 New York.” On the word “really,” Rodriguez clubbed the ball. It was as if he and Buck had rehearsed the entire moment.

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diane.pucin@latimes.com

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