Game Two: Yankees Get Even
Hideki Matsui's big blast on a Pedro Martinez curve ball made the difference.
BY JOSEPH STONE
STACHE WRITER
It was a well known nemesis taking the mound against the New York Yankees this evening. A pitcher they have seen dozens of times faced them wearing a new uniform. The man who once called them daddy was now facing them again, intent on ending their self-ordained destiny of earning ring #27. Pedro stood in the way of the Yankee machine once again.
And once again, the Philadelphia Phillies, Pedro’s new running mates, scored first. A ground rule double by Raul Ibanez and an uncalled error by A*Rod led to a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. The Invisible Man, A. J. Burnett, who has been having a terrible post season, looked a little better, but still is letting too many balls be put into play.
The game was extremely slow paced, as both starters continued to run counts high, dragging out at bats. Finally, in the 4th, Mark Teixeira hit a lasershot out over the right center fence. The Yankees tied the game, and for the first time all series looked like the dangerous team that led all of baseball in wins.
The play that sparked the Yankees and brought the home crowd back into the game, was the throw out of Jason Werth by Jose Molina. It was a beauty of a throw to peg Werth, who was caught leaning.
The game crawled along to the 6th, when Pedro struck out Tex and A*Rod, only to get stomped on by Godzilla. Matsui slashed a low ball out to right to give the Yankees their first lead of the series.
In his half of the 7th, Burnett got dialed in, smoking Ibanez and Stairs on filthy backdoor curves for strike 3, and getting Feliz to ground out weakly to Jeter. Pedro’s half of the inning did not go quite so smoothly. Two hits chased him from the game, and I loved it. It was wonderful seeing him lifted while on the hook for the loss. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
Charlie went to Chan Ho Park to try and put out the fire of first and third, no outs. No such luck, as pinch hitter Jorge Posada laced a shot to center to make the score 3-1. Captain Intangibles decided to help out the Philly cause by bunting foul strike 3, and Damon lined out into a double play to end the inning.
Girardi, who looks like he is suffering some interminable illness, went to his go-to guy, Mariano Rivera, in the top of the 8th for the six out save attempt. He has gone to this well so many times, the last one being the clincher against the Angels. Rollins walked, Victorino singled, and up came the heart of the order. A full count later, Hair Helmet did his best Fernando Tatis impression by grounding into an inning ending double play. End of threat. Ryan Madsen came on for Philly and struck out the side to end the 8th.
The ninth promised to be exciting. The Phillies sent Howard up to face the most dominant closer over the past 15 years. A Golden Sombrero was Ryan’s parting gift for his effort. Werth was the next contestant and a lineout to second ended his evening. Nosferatu Ibanez was the last man standing, and a fly ball to center left him standing on second. The beer league candidate, Matt Stairs stepped into the box next. Two quick strikes had him buried in the count. And a final curveball took care of business.
The series is now tied at one game a piece, with Game 3 on Saturday at 8 pm. Pettite vs Hamels. This is a crucial game for the series, with the winner taking the lead and control of the series. Should be a good game. Enjoy.
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I’m glad the Phillies went quietly into the night in this one because if they had come back, Yankee fans would be crying their eyes out over how the 1B umpire cost them a bases loaded, 1-out situation when he blew the call on a short hop grounder that was taken by Howard but was called a line out and consequent double play to end the inning. That play was bang-bang and, though the umps got it wrong, it was a tough call to make. It’s weird to see a call go against the Yankees, though. I guess the umps are starting to fall in love with the Phillies just like they did with the Yanks in the late 90s. Don’t dare say that to a Yankee fan though. Even though the whole world knows the umpires were in the Yankees’ back pocket for the better part of a decade, there isn’t one Yankee fan who thinks their team has gotten one beneficial call from the umpires since their dynasty began in 1996. And that’s counting the unforgetable Jeffrey Meier home run ball. So, despite it being to the Phillies’ benefit, it’s finally nice to see the Yankees on the short end of the umpiring stick.
One point of disagreement, Joe. You mention AJ Burnett’s “been having a terrible post season,” but I say otherwise. In comparison to Sabathia and Lee, maybe Burnett’s seemed mediocre. But AJ’s gone at least 6 innings in all 4 of his starts, and in only one of those starts did he give up more than 2 runs. Also, he’s holding the opposition to a .182 average, he hasn’t given up any home runs (which is impressive considering 3 of his 4 starts have been at the launching pad in the Bronx), and he’s struck out 22 over 25.1 innings, which is right on pace with his season ratio. So, to me, he’s been anything but “terrible.” Maybe confusing him with Phil Hughes?