Every time we drive into Yankee Stadium, all I think about is ?Seinfeld.? I remember the episode where George Costanza parks his car out in front of the ballpark and leaves it there so that George Steinbrenner thinks he?s always working, and he keeps getting promoted.

But I also think about all the playoff games that have played here. We?ve all seen the playoff games since ?96 or ?97. We know what it?s going to be like. It?s going to be great. It?s going to be Roger Clemens in Yankee Stadium in October. It doesn?t get any better than that.

The trip here to New York was fun. I sat in front of Victor Martinez and Rafael Betancourt on the plane. They were blasting their music and having a good time. It was big that we won that game Friday in that fashion, because the plane ride was so much fun. It would have been a drag if we had lost.

We?ve still got work to do. Once we landed, we knew that game was over and the celebration was over. It?s time to start getting ready for Game 3.

With the off day we have a chance to exhale a little bit. But as soon as we stepped onto the field for batting practice today, you see it?s Yankee Stadium and it?s October, and everybody kind of realizes the moment.

My brother and sister and my aunt and uncle are coming into town for the games here. My brother Michael and I can?t stop talking about October baseball in New York. It?s going to be cool. A lot of it is surreal and hasn?t really sunk in with my family yet. My mom and dad have been at home in California watching on TV. They can?t believe it. It?s been my dream since I was a kid.

Tonight the whole game felt like the first two or three innings in Game 1. We went 11 innings where you could just feel the tension in the stadium. We kept getting guys on base and kept getting guys on base but just couldn?t get the big hit. That had a lot to do with the way Andy Pettitte was pitching. He really clutched up for them.

You really want to win these kinds of games, because there?s so much emotion. Because when you go into extra innings and start using all your pitchers, it?s tough. It would have been a tough flight going to New York losing a game like that after all the opportunities we had.

The win is big, because, if we lose this game, it would have taken away all the momentum we had from Game 1. And we would have had to go into Yankee Stadium  needing to win a game, or else our season would be over. To win is just nice. The Yankees are a team of All-Stars, and it?s Yankee Stadium in October, so it?s going to be tough to go there. But we?re not going to relax. Eric?s not going to let us relax. We have to play this next game just like it?s an elimination game,
because it?s the playoffs and we?ve got to get after it. But obviously, the pressure?s not going to be what it could have been.

It?s not like we go to New York and relax and see what happens. We need to keep focused. By no stretch can we relax one bit, just because we?re up 2-0. It?s about winning three games, not two.

The bugs caused a lot of drama tonight. But Fausto didn?t flinch. He didn?t blink. That says a lot about him. You?ve got to give him credit. There was some adversity thrown at him. That might have been my favorite part of the game. He didn?t step off the mound once, and the other guys on the Yankees were acting like there were bullets flying around their heads, not gnats. I mean? this is the big leagues.

My grandparents [Frank and Vera Rimolt] were in town from Pittsburgh for these two games.
They?re loving this. That Yankee mystique hangs over everybody. You throw out the records, and it?s still a David versus Goliath kind of thing. My grandparents were sitting at dinner Thursday night and just kept saying, ?I can?t believe you guys beat the Yankees.? They remember all those great players on the Yankees. All of us do.

We knew coming in that C.C. and Fausto were two aces. They?re pitching like it. Hopefully Jake and Byrdie can carry this on.

Tonight was great. I didn?t start feeling it until the pregame introductions and seeing them calling the Yankee lineup. It was amazing seeing all those guys I used to watch as a fan in college. That was pretty much the same lineup I watched in the last four or five playoffs. And the crowd? you could just feel the excitement in the air.

I came up in my first at-bat with two guys on and two out. I was so bad all year with guys in scoring position and two outs. It was nice to wipe the slate clean and trade in all the times I got out in the regular season for one postseason RBI with two outs. It was great, in that sense.

I had never faced Chien-Ming Wang, so it was a weird spot. I always hit fifth, and I?m always hoping if I come up in the first inning that there?s going to be guys on base. That was a great spot to come through in, because it changes the momentum. If Wang gets me out there, he goes back to the dugout and it?s still 1-0. Two-out hits are golden. They?re the best kind of RBIs you can get.

On the solo home run in the eighth, I was behind in the count, 0-2. I was in battle mode. Phil Hughes has got a great fastball. I was just choking up and trying to put something in play. I was fortunate to get a fastball. It was down the middle. That was so exciting to get a home run on only my fifth at-bat in the postseason.

The win was great, but this is just Game 1. We can?t lose sight of it being a five-game series, not a one-game series. We need to keep playing hard. Early on, they got up early, and we?ve struggled against the Yankees all year, and it was kind of like, ?Oh man, here we go.? But one thing Eric [Wedge] has talked about all year is separating. If you?re up five, you can get up eight. If you?re up eight, you can get up nine or 10. You have to put people away. That?s what he?s said from day one, and that?s what we did tonight.

Andy Pettitte is a great pitcher. He?ll be ready in Game 2. I don?t care if we lost by 20 or won by 20 tonight. He?ll be ready to go. We?ve got to be just as ready to go tomorrow as we were today.

The thing we talked about the last three days in the workouts was to enjoy this. Instead of putting pressure on ourselves, we want to go out and have fun. This is what we worked for — as individuals and as a team — for all our lives. The last thing we want to do is go out there and be tight and try too hard and squeeze the bat too hard and all that stuff. Tonight, we just got in the box and we were just let everything go. You saw that with the home runs. We were letting it go. We were trying to get out there and do something with the opportunity. Because who knows if we?ll ever have another one like this?