World Series Game 2: Phillies at Yankees

Before I get into the game, I feel the urge to mention another addition to Derek Jeter's success, as he won the 2009 Roberto Clemente award. This is an award given for outstanding dedication to their community as well as on the field, and who better to give it to than the longtime captain of the Yankees? Congratulations to Derek Jeter for a great accomplishment.
Now on to game two...

This is more like the type of game I was expecting to see in game one. Another fabulous pitching duel down to the last out, but this time it wasn't a red-capper doing all the dirty work.
It was the Yankees' turn to dominate the mound, and A.J. Burnett did just that. He was almost as dominant as Cliff Lee was in game one, pounding both sides of the plate and changing his speeds effectively. Lee punched out ten batters in nine full innings, while Burnett took out nine in just seven innings. There was no doubt that Burnett was on his A game.

What appeared to be another key start to the Phillies' game plan, Pedro Martinez looked like he was going to finish off where Cliff started. Then when it was their turn to bat again, the offense jumped on the run wagon early on as they did in game one. It had already seemed as though the Yankees were headed down the same road. A-Rod struck out and Ibanez made a great dive to steal a base hit away from Cano. Then Jeter struck out and what can you do? Pay it forward.

With Raul Ibanez at the plate, Jason Werth fell asleep on first base as Jose Molina took it upon himself to pick him off. Then Burnett finished it off by striking out Ibanez. That seemed to be the eye-opener for the Yankees. They knew they caught the Phillies off guard and it was time to capitalize on it. Mark Teixeira went long off or Martinez and that tied the game at 1-1.

Then comes Matsui. This poor guy seems to be caught in little jams here and there, but this time his blunder paid off. He gets a tricky pitch at his shoe-tops, which WAS meant to make him swing... and he did. Goodbye, baseball. That was a homer to right field. 2-1 Yanks.

Then along comes Posada. Pinch hitting for Molina, Posada hammered a base hit back up the middle to add an insurance run to the board. They didn't even need it. A.J. Burnett took care of the remaining batters in the seventh inning to allow Mariano Rivera the opportunity to take over for the last two innings.

Just like I mentioned before, if either team has to rely on their closer to take the mound, it all depends on what the score is at that time, because that's probably how it's going to stay. Rivera did get himself in trouble, but was able to get out of the jam. It wasn't the RIGHT call, as it shouldn't have been a double play (the throw to first was not in time) but hey, it was a payback for the double play the Phillies were able to attain, even though Rollins didn't actually catch the line drive (it was a short hop into his glove). What comes around goes around. At least for the first base umpire who made both wrong calls, they were honest mistakes. The plays were very close and deceptive. With Rivera on the mound, I don't think it would have made much of a difference whether or not they got the double play. What WOULD have made a difference is if the Phillies would have started running on the pitch, which they SHOULD have done. They would have had a runner in scoring position with the only play being at first base. This would have put considerable pressure on Rivera. It was a costly mistake leaving Howard on deck, the price being a lost game.

The Yankees did what they do best. They came from behind and kept the lead to even the series at a game apiece. I can't wait to see what happens in Philadelphia. Maybe A-Rod won't strike out.