MLB

Following the Yankees 7-4 defeat of the Phillies on Sunday night, I had all but conceded in my mind that the 2009 World Series was over.

The Yankees had erased a 4-4 tie in the eighth inning to score three runs off Phillies closer Brad Lidge. The win gave the Yankees a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

But with Cliff Lee going in Game 5 in Philadelphia, I thought there was a more than better chance of getting the series to at least a Game 6 in New York on Wednesday.

If you have been watching the Major League Baseball playoffs this season, you know the umpiring has been far from perfect.

Whether it was Joe Mauer’s line drive a foot inside the line being called foul or Robinson Cano being called safe when tagged well off the base, there is no doubt that umpires have gotten some crucial and obvious plays wrong.

It just wasn't going to happen in Philadelphia.

The baseball season will go at least one more game. Chase Utley was once again the spark for the Phillies as he set the tone in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run homer off A.J. Burnett.

According to my Arizona Diamondbacks wall calendar today is Election Day. Initially I thought they were talking about voting on the Hall of Fame candidates for 2010, but I realized that we were still a month away from that occurring.

The Cy Young, Most Valuable Player, and Rookie of the Year voting has already occurred and we will wait until after the conclusion of the World Series before the winners of those awards will be announced.

The Minnesota Twins may be on the verge of completing a major deal to improve the infield for 2010 and beyond.

Mark Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that the Rays are close to dealing second baseman Akinori Iwamura to an undisclosed team.

The pitchforks and burning torches are out for Joe Girardi today; this in the wake of A.J. Burnett's epic failure in Philadelphia.

They're saying that Girardi's decision to use Burnett on short rest has set in motion a chain of events that will now bury the Yankees.

This is all about as predictable as the failure of a Michael Strahan buddy sitcom.

In a perfect world, Chien-Ming Wang was on the mound in Game Five, coming off another 19-win season and primed for postseason vindication.

We all know the story of the 1951 New York Giants.

They mounted a historical comeback on the Brooklyn Dodgers and finally won the pennant on the final day of the season behind Bobby Thompson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

But, as it would be discovered later on, they did it with the help of a camera mounted in centerfield.

Now let’s flash forward to 2007.

The New York Yankees have been going with a three-man rotation for the entire postseason even with a fourth starter, Chad Gaudin, looming in the bullpen.

Gaudin was a midseason acquisition for the Yankees to fill a spot in the bullpen, to be a possible spot starter for the struggling Joba Chamberlain, and to fill the spot left by Phil Hughes, who has settled nicely into a setup role for Mariano Rivera.

Will the Phillies win Games Six and Seven this week at Yankee Stadium?

Probably not.

The 1985 Kansas City Royals were the last team to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series.

However, if the Phillies do pull off some kind of miracle in the Bronx, Joe Girardi’s decision to start A.J. Burnett in game five on three days rest will be second guessed all winter.