1. The Phillies aren’t called the Fightin’ Phils for no reason. And they aren’t the defending champs for no reason, either. As Yankees GM Brian Cashman said, “We’re playing the world champions, and it’s going to take a world-championship effort to beat them.” Being down 3-2 isn’t going to faze the Phils. They create comebacks without the fanfare and cream pies that have marked the Yankees’ wonderful season, but the Phillies did post a National League-high 43 come-from-behind wins. Manager Charlie Manuel considered talking to them as a team before Game 5, but Jimmy Rollins said Manuel merely threw up his hands when it became clear the Phillies were as focused as ever. According to Rollins, the only major change they made going into Game 5 was to remove Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind from their pregame clubhouse soundtrack. (Not sure if Elton John’s Philadelphia Freedom is a worthy replacement, but New York-based songs are definitely not the way to go.)
2. They are road warriors. The Phillies were a baseball-best 48-33 on the road this year.
3. Chase Utley is currently unstoppable. Reggie Jackson couldn’t be found for the first time this Series on Monday, but it would have been interesting to see what he would have had to say about Utley tying Jackson’s World Series record with five home runs. Utley’s five have come in one less game (five to six) and mostly against left-handers (four of five were vs. lefties, three vs. CC Sabathia). “He’s not missing pitches. He’s tough,” Sabathia said. “He’s not missing, so you have to make (all) quality pitches.”
Not to be a downer, but it’s tough to beat any team three times in a row, especially the Yankees. I realize the Phillies are a quarter of the way there, but winning two in a row at Yankee Stadium will be tough, especially with CC Sabathia on the bump in Game 7.
We’ll see though – I know a lot of casual baseball fans will be rooting for them to knock off the “Evil Empire.”
The Phillies acquired Cliff Lee at the trade deadline this season to help bolster their starting pitching and help get the back to the World Series. But now that they’re back in the Fall Classic, the Phillies need one more thing from Lee: To save their season.
Lee will pitch Game 5 against the Yankees tonight in a do-or-die game for the Phillies, who trail 3-1 in the best of seven series. So far, Lee is 3-0 in the postseason and has only allowed two earned runs on 20 hits over 33.1 innings of work. He has also fanned 30 batters, has only walked three and has a sparklingly 0.54 ERA.
But even though he has been masterful so far, the problem is that this is the second time the Yankees will be facing Lee this week. Even though they lost, the Rockies fared a tad better against Lee in Game 4 of the NLDS than they did in Game 1. And Colorado doesn’t have near the offensive firepower as New York does.
If the Yankees are going to be crowned world champions tonight, the top of their order must come through, unlike in Game 1 of this series. Outside of Derek Jeter, who had three hits and scored a run, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez combined to go 1-for-12 against Lee in their first outing. While A-Rod has been on fire since then, he looked lost in all four of his at bats against Lee in New York while striking out three times.
Time will tell if Lee can continue his dominance in the postseason, or if A.J. Burnett and the Yankees will put the final touches on their championship run.
What this means is that Lee won’t be available for a possible Game 7 because he’ll pitch Game 5 now. Considering Lee has never started on short rest in his career, Manuel may have had little choice but to pitch Blanton in Game 4.
Blanton started Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays in last year’s World Series and combined with four relievers on a five-hitter in a 10-2 Philadelphia win. So he has World Series experience and shouldn’t be fazed by the pressure, although he did allow four runs in six innings against the Dodgers in his only postseason start this season.
It’ll be interesting to see how New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi counters the move. There was talk that CC Sabathia would start Game 4, but Girardi may decide to save his ace to face Lee again in Game 5. Considering several Yankees (including Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez) have had success off Blanton in the past, Girardi might want to save Sabathia in order to go toe to toe with Lee.
The Yankees needed a strong outing from starter A.J. Burnett on Thursday, and that’s exactly what they got.
Burnett held the Phillies to one earned run over seven innings as the Yankees won Game 2 of the World Series, 3-1. Burnett attacked hitters with his fastball and his curve was nearly unhittable as he struck out nine and limited one of the best offenses in baseball to only one run. Closer Mariano Rivera didn’t allow a run in the eighth or ninth innings to earn his 38th career postseason save.
This win was huge for the Yankees on a couple levels. Not only did they tie the series, but they also don’t have to go to Philadelphia down 0-2. While the Phillies accomplished their goal of winning at least one game in New York, the momentum has swung in the Yankees’ favor and now they have confidence heading into Philadelphia.
Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel will get some heat for allowing Pedro Martinez to start the seventh inning (the Yankees wound up tacking on another run to go up 3-1 after Martinez allowed the first two batters to reach base), but Martinez wanted to go back out and Manuel showed confidence in his starter. If Martinez got through the seventh, Manuel would have been lauded for saving his bullpen and trusting Pedro to work through the inning. Instead, he’ll likely receive criticism for not going to his bullpen.
In a move that will no doubt bring a smile to most Yankee fans’ faces, the Bronx Bombers have decided to bench Nick Swisher in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr. for Game 2 of the World Series.
Hairston is 10-for-27 (.370) lifetime against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez and Swisher is 11 for his last 77 (.143) with one homer dating back to the regular season. Of course, it’s also worth noting that Hairston hasn’t faced Pedro since 2004 and hasn’t started in right field since joining the Yankees.
This move won’t be the difference in whether or not the Yankees can even the series, but something had to be done. Swisher has been awful so far in the postseason and Joe Girardi had waited long enough. If Hairston is productive right away, I doubt Swisher will return to the starting lineup the rest of the series.
Then again, if Hairston is just as brutal, then who knows what Girardi will do in order to conjure up some more production from his outfield.
As he prepares to start Game 2 of the World Series tonight against the Yankees, Phillies’ pitcher Pedro Martinez had some interesting things to say about the New York media and fans.
“You guys have used me and abused me,” he said. “I remember quotes in the paper, ‘Here comes the man that New York loves to hate.’ Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me or rice and beans with me to understand what the man is about. You might say the player, the competitor, but the man? You guys have abused my name. You guys have said so many things, have written so many things.
“There was one time I remember when I was a free agent, there was talk that I might meet with [George] Steinbrenner. One of your colleagues had me in the papers with horns and a tail, red horns and a tail. That’s a sign of the devil. I’m a Christian man. I don’t like those things. I take those things very serious. Those are the kind of things that the fans actually get used to seeing, and actually sometimes influence those people to believe that you are a bad person, that you are like an ogre.”
“I don’t know if you realize this, but because of you guys in some ways, I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that,” Martinez said. “I have all the respect in the world for the way they enjoy being fans. Sometimes they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you’re wearing. All those things you can hear when you’re a fan. But at the end of the day, they’re just great fans that want to see the team win. I don’t have any problem with that.”
He also addressed the fight he had with Don Zimmer when he was a member of the Red Sox:
“It was an ugly scene,” Martinez said Wednesday during a pregame World Series news conference, adding this was probably the first time he was discussing it publicly. “Zim charged me and I think he’s going to say something, but his reaction was totally the opposite, [he] was trying to punch my mouth and told me a couple of bad words about my mom. I just had to react and defend myself.
Zimmer wasn’t having it though:
“Pedro is full of crap,” Zimmer told the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s what, six years later? If Pedro wants to be a big man, I don’t care what he says.”
Zimmer, however, was more forgiving in an interview with the New York Daily News.
“I told the whole world I was wrong and that I was embarrassed by what I’d done and I apologized for it,” Zimmer told the Daily News. “I was definitely wrong and Pedro didn’t do nothing. I told the whole world that, even though the Yankees didn’t want me to hold a press conference because they were afraid I might say something to stir things up more.”
There’s definitely an added element to tonight’s game with Martinez taking on the Yankees in New York. The Yankees are almost in a must-win seeing as how they lost last night and would no doubt love to stick it to their old Boston nemesis.
The Philadelphia Phillies recently made two pitching moves in preparation for their upcoming battle with the New York Yankees in the World Series, one was naming Pedro Martinez the Game 2 starter and the second was adding Brett Myers to their roster.
Martinez will oppose A.J. Burnett at Yankee Stadium, while Cole Hamels will start in Philadelphia for Game 3. Martinez is obviously familiar with the Yankees from his days in Boston and has pitched in his fair share of tough environments throughout his career. He gives Philadelphia loads of postseason experience.
Held out of the NLCS, Myers was added at the cost of Miguel Cairo, whom was subtracted from the roster. Myers got two outs without allowing a run in his only playoff appearance this year, which came against the Rockies in the NLDS. He had a 6.43 ERA in eight relief appearances after returning from hip surgery in September.
His wife on national TV also rejected him when he went in for a kiss:
