Category: MLB (Page 156 of 448)

      Yankees win 2009 World Series

      November 5, 2009 /

      What a difference a year makes.

      This time last year, the New York Yankees were at home on their couches watching as their 2009 World Series counterparts, the Philadelphia Phillies, defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to become world champions.

      One of the big reasons the Bronx Bombers were at home during the Fall Classic and not participating in it was because their pitching wasn’t good enough. That’s why GM Brian Cashman opened George Steinbrenner’s fat checkbook to sign starting pitchers CC Sabathia (7-years, $161 million) and A.J. Burnett (five-year, $82.5 million). And just to make sure he had enough offense, Cashman also inked the top bat on the free agent market, Mark Teixeira, to an eight-year, $180 million deal.

      The end result is that the Yankees got what they paid for.

      With their 7-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series, the Bombers won their 27th championship in club history. Hideki Matsui (who was later named Series MVP) went 3-for-4 with six RBI and a run scored, while Derek Jeter finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Long-time veteran Andy Pettitte earned the victory, yielding three runs on four hits over 5.2 innings of work.

      The Yankees are clearly at an advantage because they’re willing to spend. But at least they spend their money the right way unlike clubs like the Mets, who spend widely only to miss the postseason every year. The Yankees want to win and they knew last year that they’re pitching wasn’t good enough to match their offensive firepower. So yes, they spent and spent big. But they spent to win and they accomplished their one and only goal: To win a World Series.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      Five reasons the Phillies could still win

      November 4, 2009 /

      SI.com’s Jon Heyman compiles five reasons why the Phillies can still pull off an upset and rally to beat the Yankees in the World Series.

      Here are his top 3:

      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.”

      MLB

      Martinez will oppose Pettitte in Game 6

      November 3, 2009 /

      Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has confirmed that Pedro Martinez will start Game 6 of the World Series, while Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has said that Andy Pettitte is on track to oppose Pedro in the pivotal game.

      Martinez allowed three runs over six innings while striking out eight in a Game 2 loss. With Philadelphia’s backs to the wall trailing 3-2 in the series, Pedro will be expected to save the Phils’ season.

      Pettitte’s situation is interesting and worth following because he hasn’t worked on just three days rest in the past two seasons. In four starts this October, he has worked on extra rest so it’ll be interesting to see how he copes with not having an extra day or two to rest his arm.

      There has been plenty of offense on display so far in this series, so we could be in store for a Game 6 slugfest as the pitchers start to wear down.

      MLB

      Utley keeps season alive for Phillies

      November 3, 2009 /

      In the end, it wasn’t Cliff Lee who saved the Phillies’ season, but second baseman Chase Utley. Okay, so Lee definitely helped. But it was Utley who supplied most of the spark.

      Utley hit two home runs and finished with four RBI as the Phillies hung on to beat the Yankees 8-6 in Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night. Utley hit a three-run dinger in the bottom of the first inning to kick the scoring off for Philadelphia, and then later added a solo shot in the seventh to give the Phillies a much-needed scoring cushion. Only Utley and Reggie Jackson have hit five home runs in a single World Series.

      This is a game that many expected the Phillies to win with Lee on the mound. The ace wasn’t as dominant as he was in Game 1, as he allowed five runs on seven hits, but he did go seven innings to earn the win and only walked three batters.

      With two games left, the Yankees are still in a great position to wrap this series up. It’s hard to beat the same team three times in a row, nevertheless twice on their home field. The pitching matchups also favor the Yankees if the series goes seven games, because CC Sabathia would start Game 7 in New York, while Philadelphia won’t have Lee for that potentially pivotal game.

      That said, crazier things have happened and I’m sure the Phillies are taking things one game at a time. They needed three before tonight and now they only need two. Utley and Lee have given them a shot to come back.

      MLB

      Can Cliff Lee save the Phillies’ season?

      November 2, 2009 /

      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.

      MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑