As I wrote earlier, I really didn't expect the Yankees to win tonight. I just didn't see the Phillies going out with a fight. I also expected Cliff Lee to be great. He wasn't but unfortunately, the bad A.J. Burnett was back. Was it because of the three days rest? Perhaps. But sometimes, A.J. can just be just really bad.
On the other hand, the Yankee bullpen kept the damage at six runs - until Phil Coke torched the game, giving up homers to Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez. Utley is getting on my last nerve. The Cycle blog sez Utley is bringing Pat Riley's hairstyle back. Ha! He's no Mr. October, though - three of the homers are in November!
As for Coke not being it, I'm sure glad the Yankees took the lead Sunday night - and didn't have to use him to pitch then.
The only thing Burnett did that I liked was him hitting Shane Victorino with a pitch. Yes, I'm mean-spirited that way.
The good news, of course, is that thanks in no small part to Alex Rodriguez, who drove in three runs, and scored on Robinson Cano's shallow sac fly, the Yankees had actually battled back. And in the ninth, thanks to Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui, they actually brought the tying run to the plate. But Derek Jeter shockingly grounded into a double play. Johnny Damon got on base again, but Mark Teixeira had another bad at-bat (he's only had two hits this WS) and struck out. And A-Rod never made it back into the game, even though it sure seemed like the game was going to end in his hands.
Anyhow, I'm glad the Yankees battled back, wish they could have won, but they will beat Pedro Martinez to win Wednesday. That is all.
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
7 comments:
First off, thanks for the mention on the Utley/Riley hair, appreciate it. About the game, I made the point that A.J. Burnett is the rich man's Oliver Perez. He's a better pitcher, but just like Ollie, you don't know which A.J. shows up; good A.J. or bad A.J. Game 2 was the good one whose curveball was devasting. Tonight, we had the one whose curveball stayed over the plate.
I was begging Jeter not to ground out and for Tex not to keep swinging at junk.
Tomorrow night? I'll keep my mouth shut. ;)
Wouldn't it be nice if Teixeira could listen to A-Rod's unintentional advice and stop giving Philly pitchers all the strikes they can't find themselves. Since the first two games, Alex has been getting good hits since he talked about not expanding the strike zone.
I felt the same relief about the Yankees battling back into the game. There has only been one game in which the Yankees seemed out of it this postseason and that's incredible. I think we're in for a great game on Wednesday, as Andy continues his postseason stat padding by collecting wins. ;)
The Phillies are too good a team and too proud a team to not win at least one game at home. That's what happened to them in 1983: They won Game 1 in Baltimore, then dropped the next 4, including all 3 at the Vet.
This Phillies team has a different pride, and they may have seen what I saw on TV in the 9th: A lot of fans looking very worried that this might be the Philly choke to end all Philly chokes. Granted, blowing a 6-run lead in the 8th -- 3 in the 9th -- when you already trail 3 games to 1 isn't as bad as leading by 6 1/2 with 12 to go, as in '64 when it was still single-division play, no wild card, and blowing it entirely. But I could see it in the fans' faces, and these Phils said, "Not tonight. Not in our house."
Fine. It's better to clinch at home anyway. It gives us a chance to smack the Punk around.
It's 27 outs to go for Title 27. And a net +1 in runs. And even with the "travel day," how effective can the Philly bullpen be when Pedro, inevitably, either gets knocked out of the box or runs out of gas?
I plan to be in the City tomorrow, if not in The Stadium (II) itself, for the big celebration. I'm ready. Is everybody else ready?
I'm ready Uncle Mike!
I said from the beginning Yanks in 6 and also the win would be sweeter at home. I stand by that.
Hopefully the Punk will get a nice smackdown! No. 27 tomorrow night!!
I am hoping and praying so hard that we will win this Series.
What worries me is Pettitte on short rest while Pedro is on full rest.
If Andy can keep the Phillies from scoring a lot of runs and if our offense can try and get Pedro's pitch count up so we can get into their pen, maybe we can clinch this tomorrow.
I don't know how much longer my nerves can hold out. :-)
It is a nerve racking ride for Yankee fans, but it will be so much sweeter for NY if they win at home. Enjoy!
Noreen (a very jealous RS fan)
Pettitte's best games on short rest were World Series games for NY. Even if he flounders a bit I think last night's game spoke volumes about how fragile the Phillies are - Lee was only out there as long because Manuel is so afraid of his bullpen. Suppose the Phil's pull off a miracle - who the heck pitches game 7 against CC? I just can't see the Yankees losing this series. I'm sure I'll end up watching most of it - just in case :)
Uncle Mike - I imagine a ticket to a potential clincher is going to cost a pretty penny, but best of luck in your pursuit.
Cheers!!
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