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.
My other thought, was as well as the Yankees played and came from behind, the Phillies were due for an offensive breakout. This lineup top to bottom, especially the bottom, is better than the Yankees.
Chase Utley hit a three-run home run in the first inning and the Phillies continued to pound the ball all game long.
Yankee starter A.J. Burnett was lifted in the third inning with the Phillies holding a 6-1 lead.
Burnett's line? Two-plus innings pitched, four hits, six runs, four walks, and two strikeouts.
Burnett was working on three days rest and by his own admission, location was a problem all night.
When Burnett got knocked out in three innings, I was confident that the Phils could get to the Yankees’ bullpen. Burnett was 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA on three days' rest and won Game Two of the series.
Not a problem. Especially for Chase Utley, who is now batting .333 in the World Series, with five home runs, tying a record set by Reggie Jackson in 1977. He also has eight RBI in the five games.
A nail-biting 8-6 Phillies win moved the series back to New York and put the defending World Champs in a 2-3 hole.
Yeah, but the Yankees have two games at home to close the series with Andy Pettitte and C.C. Sabathia, both on three days’ rest.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi was lauded by many baseball experts for his success with a three-man rotation of Sabathia, Burnett, and Pettitte through the playoffs. But Pettitte has a 4-6 record with a 4.15 ERA on three days' rest heading into Game Six. He will be faced by Pedro Martinez, who has a 0-1 record in the World Series with a 4.50 ERA.
So I can see the Phillies offense continuing to stay hot and the sooner they get Pettitte out of the game, the better.
I also heard on 660 AM WFAN that Rivera could pitch three innings if needed in Game Six. That is assuming that Pettitte goes six innings.
Martinez is working on full rest.
So I can see my way out of Game Six and the Phillies forcing a Game Seven.
It would be Sabathia, likely facing Cole Hamels. But Hamels will be on a short leash and could be followed by Lee and J.A. Happ.
Will the Yankees just roll over and die? Nope. They have not done so all season.
But it is my theory that the three days' rest experiment will fall flat on Girardi’s face. Blow up, explode, New York sports stations' radio lines burning up with criticism.
Starters will not go past five innings in either game and the Phillies will feast on the rest of the Yankee bullpen. The Phillies bullpen will assuredly have to patch together to preserve consecutive wins.
The Phillies? Why did they pitch Joe Blanton Lee in Game Four and not Lee?
Blanton would then pitch Game Five, Martinez in Game Six, and Hamels in Game Seven.
“I’ve see it work, and I’ve seen it not work …” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel in today’s Philadelphia Daily News.
So let the baseball experts criticize Manuel and laud Girardi.
Who was considered the smart manager in last year’s World Series? Manuel, the country bumpkin or Tampa Bay manager Joe Madden, who spoke eloquently and lost the series in five games?
It is an unmovable force in the Yankees against a Phillies team that believes it can win every night. The Yankees climb back from huge leads, but as the series rolls on I am sure the Phillies bullpen is better than the Yankees, save Rivera.
It is the first World Series to go more than five games in six years.
The Phillies are trying to become the first team since the Kansas City Royals came back from a 1-3 deficit against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985.
In my mind I can more easily envision a Yankees’ series win and the players running out onto the field while “New York, New York” plays on the loud speaker.
I cannot envision the Phillies rolling out onto Yankee Stadium in victory.
That’s OK.
The Phillies can see it.
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