Pulling Out All The Stops

A lot was made of two big NY-Philly games occurring on the same day in the same venue. But there was only one game that was played like a big game. Only that terrific World Series Game 4 will be remembered. The Yankees won it 7-4 and they took it from a very determined Phillies team that in the end were only one relief pitcher short of tying the Series at 2’s.

To get it out of the way, let me first say the football Giants were awful in the afternoon game. They have no pass defense. They have no cover guys, they have no defensive line and they have no Steve Spagnuolo anymore. They do have a defensive coordinator with not much nerve and not much imagination. So the Giants lost. The score doesn’t even matter. The Eagles scored at will.

The first intriguing thing about the Yanks-Phils Game 4 was the starting pitching matchup. The Yanks pitched their ace, C.C. Sabathia, on 3 days rest. The Phillies pitched Joe Blanton, their regular guy in the rotation. Phils Manager Charlie Manuel can’t be faulted for not starting his ace, Cliff Lee, as he had never pitched on just 3 days rest before. And the Phillies had beaten Sabathia in the past.

And, if the Phils had managed to survive Game 4, they’d have had their ace going on normal rest in a Game 5, and they’d have likely been up 3-2 in the Series 9 innings later. So the move made sense, I guess. But while it made sense, it seemed to me the game meant more to the Yankees. They were going all out to win. They were pulling out all the stops. The Phillies were doing business as usual.

As things turned out, of course, the game didn’t hinge on the starters. Blanton wasn’t as tough as was Sabathia but he managed to give up just four runs after six full innings. And, when C.C. left in the seventh, immediately after Chase Utley banged a long solo home run to right, the Yanks were still up 4-3.

Damaso Marte managed to get the Yanks out of the seventh and Joba struck out the side in the eighth. There was just one problem. Before he struck out the side, he gave up a tying dinger to Phils 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz. So the game rested on those ninth inning pitchers. The Phils selection was their closer, Brad Lidge, even though Ryan Madsen had just finished pitching a very nice eighth.

Lidge looked just terrific for 2/3 of an inning. It was Johnny Damon who did him in. After taking some pitches and fouling off some pitches and pretty much wearing Lidge out, Damon stroked a single to left. It was an at-bat that a few players mentioned after the game, one that will probably be remembered fifty years from now when youngsters in the stands today discuss the 2009 World Series. Lidge was never the same after Damon.

Lidge then had to face Mark Teixeira, which would have been bad enough. But then Damon stole second, and, as the Phillies had shifted their defense to the right hand side for Teixeira, Damon popped up from the keystone and stole third too, as nobody was covering the bag.

Lidge was a mess now because he couldn’t really use that slider of his that bounces in the dirt with a runner on third. So he proceeds to hit Teixeira with a pitch. Of course, with the Yankees lineup, things never seem to get any easier. Now he just had to face Arod, he of the many post-season homers and rbi’s.

Arod didn’t disappoint either, smacking a double to left that scored Damon with the eventual game-winning run and a hustling Teixeira went first to third. It was academic after that, but Posada drove in both Teixeira and Arod anyway. The game was all but over as they handed a 3-run lead to Mariano Rivera.

But it was a classic World Series game. Jeter and Damon were workmanlike in putting the Yanks ahead and Joe Blanton was cool as he managed the Yankees through the first six. Utley’s at-bat versus Sabathia in the 7th was a beauty and his homer seemed to give the Phils momentum even though they were still down a run. Then Feliz’s shot to left off Joba in the 8th to tie the game at last could have spelled the end for the Bombers.

But even before that, there were unusual things. I mean, how often do you see Ryan Howard steal a base? How often do you see any quick pitches, not just one but two for strikeouts? How about all those meetings on the mound with Sabathia? What gamesmanship was employed by both sides, and Posada and Sabathia were definitely playing with Werth’s mind when they struck him out with two men on. Once again, it was the Yankees who were pulling out all the stops, even the psychological ones.

Charlie Manuel’s supposed reliance on hunches wasn’t so evident for this game. He seemed to be doing everything strictly by the book. He pulled Blanton after six for no particular reason. The move to Chan Ho Park didn’t seem particularly wise as Joe had been pretty much coasting. That Park got them through the seventh isn’t really my point.

Ryan Madsen was pretty good in the 8th too, but that didn’t stop Charlie from pulling him for Lidge in the 9th, probably his last disastrous and fateful move in this Series. Lidge couldn’t handle the adversity Damon threw his way. No, I didn’t see many hunches being played by Manuel last night.

The Yanks go with Burnett on 3 days rest now and, even with Lee going for the Phillies, I expect the Yanks now to finish this one off in 5. The Yanks are playing to win, pulling out all the stops. The Phillies, with as much talent as they possess, are playing by the book.

Red Hot Phillies May Only Need Five

Wow. What can you say? The Phillies continued their drive towards the World Championship last night by embarrassing the stumblin' bumblin' Rays in Game 4 by a score of 10-2 to take a 3-1 lead in the Series. After eking out just a 1-run victory in Game 3, it seemed the guys in the home reds might just finish these hotshot Rays in five games.

Over the weekend, the Phils hurlers Moyer and Blanton outdueled the Rays Garza and Sonnanstine while a little-known guy named Carlos Ruiz showed why he can be added to the list of nobodies to star in a World Series. And Ryan Howard showed everybody why he's Ryan Howard.

But last night it was all about Joe Blanton. He was friggin' magnificent. It's so good to see a guy come up big in the World Series. He not only pitches great, he hits a home run too. Now, this shouldn't have come as so much a surprise as it was. Joe had actually helped win 9 of the 13 games he pitched for the Phils since he was acquired from the A's in July. And any fantasy player knew how good he was.

But Joe was lost in the whoop-de-doo over the Rays starters and the Phils ace, Cole Hamels. And he was only the fourth starter behind Hamels and Myers and Jamie Moyer, who is about a hundred and three years old. So big Joe looked like he meant business last night as he pitched 6 strong innings for the NL Champs, surrendering just two solo home runs. Oh, and he cranked a low fastball over the fence in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-2 Phillies. The place became electric.

This self-proclaimed pundit thought it would be the Phillies in seven when this whole thing started. But I didn't count on Jamie Moyer coming up quite so large in Game 3. I figured that game for the Rays. And I thought either Myers or Blanton could come up big. But it seems like everything is going the Phillies way.

The Rays are having some trouble in the field as of late. When had that last happened to the sure-handed Rays? When they do make a play, the umpires miss it. But between Longoria and Iwamura, they've produced adventure to rival some Indiana Jones movie. And then Ryan Howard came to life with two dingers, and Jayson Werth came back to life too.

And then there's a guy like Carlos Ruiz behind the plate for the Phillies. Ruiz just took over a large part of this Series from Game 2 on. Just when the Rays have finished with the likes of Rollins, Utley, Werth and Howard, here comes Carlos Ruiz. It's really been kind of comical. The Phils catcher got the game-winning ground ball the other night and has been just a real pest since Game 2.

But, here's the funny part about baseball. The worm could turn at any time. Now the Rays are up against the wall. And the Phillies have been riding high. And , while the Phils have their ace Hamels going one more time, the Rays Scott Kazmir ain't exactly chopped liver. And, if the Rays get Game 5, it's back to that monstrosity of a ball field in Florida for Games Six and Seven. The Rays would like that.

Would they ever. Then it would be just a matter of winning two straight at home. With Shields and Garza on the mound. They would have to like their chances.

So the real key is tonight. If the Phils can't win this one tonight, they might have to wait another twenty years or so to win a World Series. Not that they can't beat Shields and Garza in Tampa but can guys like Moyer and Myers do it again? I don't even want to think about it.

But it would make this Series one for the ages rather than just a footnote in Red Sox history. In five games, it’ll just be the year the Rays shocked the world but fell apart against a veteran Phillies team. In seven games, it’s something else entirely, and maybe guys like Longoria and Upton and Pena make more of a mark on this Series.
<>If the Phillies really are a smart veteran team, they’ll realize that Game 5 might be the now or never game. They’re hot now and have the Rays on the run. Let the team that beat the Red Sox live one more day at their peril. <>

I’d still like the Phillies to win this thing, even if they do lose tonight. I sense that they’re a team that’s ready now. The Rays have too many excuses for a breakdown with that much youth on their squad, no matter who’s on the mound. And the Phillies do have Utley and Rolo and big Ryan Howard. And that little sparkplug of a Victorino whose “I Got It I Got IT I Got It” is the loudest in either league. <>

But for a New York fan, even a rabid National League and Mets fan, who’d like nothing better than a World Series victory for the team that knocked off his team, yesterday wasn’t all about the baseball. There was a whole lot of football being played in Pittsburgh by the defending champion Giants. And the Jets managed to play a bit more football than the lowly Chiefs.

As well as the Giants played down the stretch, I did see the single ugliest play I’ve ever seen by a secondary man in safety James Butler’s horrible coverage on Roethlisberger’s long pass to Nate Washington. Not only did he appear to just let his man run by him, but when he caught up, he pirouetted away from his man.
<>The Jets are just awful. But not as awful as a Herman Edwards team that ran three into the line when they desperately needed a first down. Count your blessings, Jets fans.

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