Yanks In (More Than) A Sentence: Phillies 8, Yankees 6
1. Anyone else get the impression we’ll be seeing two more games like this one? Right now, only seven pitchers out of the 24 who are active (Sabathia, Pettitte, Rivera and Marte for the Yanks, Lee, Park and Madson for the Phils) have the trust of the guys pulling the strings. I count six more (Gaudin, Coke and Bruney for the Yanks, Hamels, Lidge and Bastardo for the Phils) who are as stable as nitroglycerine and will only get used if a bus crash on the way to the stadium disables everyone else. Pitching is dead. Long live pitching.
2. Burnett obviously had nothing from the outset. Lee was better but still barely north of decent; the Yankees had more good at-bats against him in the first inning last night than they did in Game 1. There’s not a starter in this series with much life left in his arm, which is why the Phillies might have an advantage in Game 6 with Pedro. The whole magician-who-uses-multiple-speeds-and-angles-and-OMG-was-that-just-a-back-door-knuckle-slurve? act should play well against a lineup that’ll be gripping the bats a bit tighter than usual.
3. I’m just gonna throw this out there: Perhaps the Yankees might want to contemplate the possibility of pitching Chase Utley a bit more carefully, maybe.
4. Congratulations to Mark Teixeira on inheriting the can’t-hit-in-the-clutch mantle from Alex Rodriguez, who is now the Mayor of Clutchyville (Paul O’Neill is its Deputy Mayor, Reggie Jackson is its Public Works Commissioner and John Wetteland is its Librarian). Meanwhile, just imagine the response from the WFAN mouth-breathers if anyone besides Jeter had hit into that ninth-inning double play. “Get ridda this guy already! They should trade him and Alfonzo Aceves and Bill Coke to the Twins for Joe Mauer!” Etc.
5. I honestly don’t know what to expect going forward. The momentum the Phillies picked up has to be tempered by the fact that they were barely able to protect a six-run lead. The good feelings that the Yankees have after taking two of three on the road are scuffed by the realization that their Game 6 and 7 starters likely don’t have much left. The only thing that would surprise me is a 1-0 game.
