My Two Cents

Thanks to three straight singles to open the seventh –Jerry Hairston, Melky Cabrera and pinch-hitter Jorge Posada (RBI), the Yankees now lead 3-1, in the bottom of the eighth in Game 2 of the World Series.

Mariano Rivera got a huge — and very close — double play to end the top of the eighth and keep the score at 3-1.

Hideki Matsui has just homered, golfing a low slider from Pedro Matinez into the right field bleachers to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead as Game 2 of the World Series heads to the top of the 7th at the Stadium.

The Phillies and Yankees are tied 1-1 through five innings in Game 2 of the World Series.

Pedro Martinez: 5 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 6 K’s, 2 walks

A.J. Burnett: 5 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 5 K’s, 2 walks

Doesn’t get much closer than that.

Mark Tiexeira took a 1-0 changeup from Pedro Martinez and crushed it some 414-feet into the right center field bleachers for a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to tie Game 2 of the World Series at 1-1.

Before the home run, Teixeira had been hitting just .182 (8 for 44) in the postseason.

Hello from Yankee Stadium and Game 2 of the World Series.

The Philadelphia Phillies have taken a 1-0 lead over the New York Yankees as we stand in the bottom of the third inning. Pedro Martinez has silenced the “Who’s Your Daddy” chants with two solid innings, including strikeouts of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Pedro also got a great defensive play from LF Raul Ibanez, who made a diving catch to rob Robinson Cano of a hit in the second.

The Yankees weren’t as lucky. A-Rod let Matt Stairs’ grounder go right under his glove for an RBI single (probably should have been scored an error), scoring Ibanez, who had doubled before him in the top of the second.

As he head to the bottom of the third (Cabrera, Molina, Jeter, due up), Phillies 1, Yankees 0. At a very quiet Yankee Stadium.

By Chris Elsberry
STAFF WRITER
NEW YORK – As dominant as Cliff Lee has been through the first two rounds of the postseason, he saved perhaps his best performance for the biggest stage, Game 1 of the World Series.
Lee was masterful, throwing a complete game, allowing just six hits and one unearned run as Philadelphia drew first blood with an impressive 6-1 win over the New York Yankees Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
He came into his World Series debut with a 2-0 record and a 0.74 ERA in three 2009 playoff starts and made those numbers even better with his dominance of the Yankees.
Lee is now 3-0 with a microscopic 0.54 ERA in four playoff starts. In the postseason, he’s allowed just 20 hits in 33 1/3 innings, struck out 29 and walked just three.
“He was tough on us,” Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter said. “He pitched well. He’s been pitching like that for the last couple of years. He was mixing his pitches up and he did a great job.”
Setting the Yankee hitters up with fastballs, Lee made them pay with his change-up. Twice, he burned Alex Rodriguez with a devastating change-up for strikeouts. And if it wasn’t the change, it was Lee’s breaking ball, which frustrated the New York lineup all night.
“He was great,” Yankee manager Joe Girardi said. “He kept us off balance. He got us to chase some pitches down in the zone. He used his cutter very well. He used his curve really well. He was really, really good.”
Lee showed no butterflies standing in the bright lights of his first World Series. And in Yankee Stadium, no less. Before the ninth, when shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ error ended his chance for a shutout, Lee didn’t allow a Yankee hitter past second base. The 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup – Mark Teixeria, Rodriguez and Jorge Posada – went a combined 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts.
“This is the stage that I’ve wanted to be on since I was a little kid. There’s no reason to be nervous,” Lee said. “It’s been a log time since I’ve been nervous playing this game. I’ve been doing this for so long, this is the time to go out and have fun and let your skills take over.”
Lee came over to the Phillies in a six-player trade with Cleveland on July 29. He reeled off five straight wins with Philadelphia before coming to earth a little, winning just two of his last six decisions.
But in the playoffs, Lee has pitched like the pitcher he was in 2008 when he went 22-3 and won the Cy Young.
“I knew he was good but if you want to know the truth, I didn’t know he was as good as he’s been,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He had all of his pitches going and he used every one of them. He went right through a good lineup, a tremendous lineup.”

Thanks to a pair of solo home runs off the bat of Chase Utley and a complete game from starter Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies have defeated the New York Yankees 6-1 in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Lee went 9 innings, allowing six hits. The only run he allowed in the bottom of the ninth was unearned. He threw 122 pitches, 80 for strikes.

Derek Jeter had three of the six hits for the Yankees. Alex Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

C.C. Sabathia did not pitch badly for the Yankees, allowing 2 runs and 4 hits in 7 innings but the New York bullpen gave up two runs in the eighth and two in the ninth.

“He was great tonight. He kept us of balance. Cliff Lee was really good.” said Yankee manager Joe girardi

Phil Hughes couldn’t find the plate. Neither could David Robertson and the questionable Yankee bullpen has made it 4-0 Phillies. Hughes walked the first two batter he faced in the eighth and after Damaso Marte got two outs, Robertson came in and issued a walk to load the bases and then gave up a two-run single to Raul Ibanez.

Cliff Lee has gone all the way, so far with 8 strikeouts and just 4 hits allowed through 8.