Game Recap:
The Phillie bats went silent tonight as A.J. Burnett and Mariano Rivera combined to shut down the Phillies and tie up the World Series at a game a piece.
What went right?
Raul Ibanez was 2-4 with a run scored.
Matt Stairs struck out to end the game, but he also had the only RBI for the Phillies on a base hit in the second inning.
Pedro Martinez was solid, allowing three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out eight.
What went wrong?
Ryan Howard was 0-4 with four strikeouts.
Pedro Feliz was 0-3 and saw all of nine pitches the entire night.
Chase Utley was 0-3 and hit into a double play in the eighth inning.
Game Analysis:
That's why winning yesterday's game was so important for the Phillies. After taking down C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees had their backs against the wall tonight, and they came out swinging. A.J. Burnett struck out nine in seven innings, and despite allowing baserunners in both innings he worked, Mariano Rivera got out of trouble in the eighth and ninth for a two inning save. Overall, it wasn't a pretty game for either side, but it goes down as a win for the Yankees, and the World Series is tied at a game a piece heading to Philadelphia.
You can't fault Pedro Martinez for his showing tonight. For a 38 year old to go out and throw six innings, strike out eight and only allow three runs, it's quite impressive. He was on from the moment he stepped onto the mound tonight, and aside from two bad pitches to Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui, he was on point all night long. I think Charlie Manuel made a mistake by having him even start the seventh inning, and that came back to bite the Phils in the form of an insurance run for the Yankees in that frame. Again, I can't praise Pedro enough, but, much like C.C. Sabathia last night, the offense let him down.
Yesterday, the Phillies were able to work deep counts against C.C. Sabathia because he was throwing first pitch balls. Tonight, A.J. Burnett never let the Phils get comfortable, throwing first pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 batters he faced. Once he got ahead in the count, he was able to work the corners and use his breaking ball to keep the Phillies off balance for the seven innings he was in the game. Burnett struck out nine and only walked two, and one of those was an intentional walk to Chase Utley after he started out with a 3-0 count. Simply put, Burnett had all the pressure in the world on his shoulders tonight, and he came through it looking like the man the Yankees paid an $82 million contract for in the offseason.
Last night, the Yankees couldn't get their offense going, and they wasted a solid start by C.C. Sabathia, while tonight, the Phillies let a great outing by Pedro Martinez slip by the wayside because of the pitching of A.J. Burnett. Now, the World Series becomes a best of five affair, with the next three games in Philadelphia. That's why the win last night meant so much. While it would be awesome to be up 2-0 on New York, I said in the preview that a split was imperative for the Phillies in the first two games. They have home field advantage, and they've lost just one game in Philadelphia during the last two postseasons. Also, the Phillies lost Game Two of the 2008 World Series, 2009 NLDS and 2009 NLCS, and those all turned out fine. Saturday's game is still very important though, because the Phillies want to try and keep this series from going back to New York, no matter what.
Game Three is Saturday night, making it possibly the best Halloween ever in the New York/New Jersey area. Cole Hamels (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will hopefully get his mojo back against Andy Pettitte (2-0, 2.37 ERA).
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