If you were looking for the theatrics and gut check emotions which go with two evenly matched teams meeting in the ultimate test of talent, tonight exemplified those sentiments in a nine inning game. With the Yankees up 2-1 in the series, it was ace, CC Sabathia against the clear-cut Phillies' 4th starter, Joe Blanton. It was Girardi's gutsy decision against Manuels, a rematch in Philly, the driver's seat on the line with Cliff Lee, the "other" ace set to go in Game Five in a 2-2 series tie if the Phillies won, or anybody set to go for the Yankees with a 3-1 stranglehold if New York won.
By that description alone, tonight was going to be a fun one for anybody who enjoys watching the sport. Factor in the fact whenever the Yankees play there is strong emotion of love and hate and that their opposition is located within 150 miles and has their own emotionally charged fanbase, and you have yourself a real heavyweight fight. None of this includes the other fact the two cities had its football teams match up across the street earlier that day or that the team at home is the defending world champions.
The game itself didn't disappoint either.
The Yankees jumped on Joe Blanton, who has a history of bad starts against the Bombers, with two runs in the first, set up by a Jeter single and Damon double to begin the game. Finally, perhaps as an encore from last night, the Yankees manufactured runs with back to back productive outs to drive in both runners from scoring position.
Up 2-0 it was the Phillies' turn not to roll over and die on a field they were previously confident and labeled nearly unbeatable on, and they came back to tie the game against a non-dominant, CC Sabathia, on short rest.
You know the Yankees are playing their best baseball when they can take a shot to the chops and strike right back and that's what happened multiple times tonight. Instead of jarring back and forth tied at 2-2, New York immediately answered, producing another two run rally to eventually take a 4-2 lead into the sixth where Sabathia would get through the inning unscathed.
With neither bullpen invoking much trust, Girardi elected to stick with Sabathia, who pitched through two thirds of the seventh before Chase Utley took him deep for the third time in the series to cut the lead to 4-3. The Phillies to that point had hit six homers in the series, and none of them came with a runner on base.
Even so, as a fan you wait for the other shoe to drop naturally. I had all the faith in the world the Yankees would win tonight in a pitching mismatch but once the game is taking place and it's 4-3 and you're on the road in a must win for the defending champion home team, you're more praying to not lose than to win.
So clearly when Joba Chamberlain was cruising right along, looking like the Joba of old and the Phils' had a patented game tying home run (another solo shot) with two strikes and two outs in the eighth inning at home, you figured this was the moment the series reached the next level. This was when the Phillies did what they do to everyone lately; avoid the finishing move and reverse with one of their own. I can fully admit for a few minutes I expected Ruiz to go back to back, but unlike in year's past, once he struck out, I didn't think the game was over and the series would be tied. In 2008? Definitely. In 2007? 2006? 2005? It was probable.
In 2009 these are the games which have made the Yankees the best in the game. These situations moved them from a third place team to the best in the league in one year. With this team, the fans never feel it's over regardless of how much "momentum" may be favoring someone else. This Yankees team has had that "special" feeling all year because of it. You simply wait for the happy ending instead of over-thinking it.
When Brad Lidge entered from his exile having not pitched for 10 days and coming in in a non-save situation to face the top of the Yankees' lineup, it was almost like a fairy tale. Lidge, if you remember, was the only other closer besides Rivera in this postseason not to make a fatal mistake. The Phillies' bullpen was supposed to be their biggest weakness, but to that point both middle relief's had been shaky and it was the Yankees' who had given up the biggest hit the inning before.
If you truly look deep within yourself, you could see the fatal flaws in your favorite team year in and year out. Any Red Sox fan could tell you they didn't feel in 2009 what they felt in 2007 or 2004, or probably even 2008. Any Yankees' fan could tell you the 2005-2008 teams just didn't have that "it" factor. They were good enough to win, they had the moments where you could convince yourself, but in your heart of hearts you knew something was off. For the Yankees, it's been timely hitting and starting pitching in the playoffs. After producing it most of the year, those two traits have carried over into the postseason and so you could tell this 2009 team isn't like any team we've rooted for since the beginning of the decade. Winning will never be guaranteed, but expecting not to lose can be felt. It's felt with this ball club.
So when Lidge retired the first two batters only to have Johnny Damon draw a full count, you knew one mistake there could lead to a series of events. Sure enough Damon singled after a terrific at bat which included a dropped third strike to keep the at-bat going. Then, with Lidge just starting to probably believe in himself again, Damon put himself in scoring position by stealing second.
With the shift on, Damon also stole third on the same play with nobody covering the bag. I think Damon running to third and winning the foot race was the biggest key to the inning. Two things happened once Damon was 90 feet away:
1. It more than likely got into Lidge's head. He had barely made a mistake yet all of a sudden any bad luck bounce could cost him the game. Never underestimate the psyche of a closer. There's a reason so many of them can't pitch unless it's a save situation. Especially never underestimate the psyche of a psychotic closer who has been in the slums of disaster and on top of the world before. That's Brad Lidge.
2. It took away Lidge's confidence in his slider. Let's face it, Lidge has a nasty slider. The problem is sliders are usually meant to get buried, especially against lefties, which Teixeira was for that at-bat. No closer wants to give up the go-ahead run on a wild pitch so I wouldn't bet the house against Lidge being much more reluctant to throw his best pitch after letting a runner reach third.
The unraveling advanced a little more when Teixeira was hit by a pitch setting the stage for perhaps the most psychotic World Series showdown of all time. The embattled closer who reached the top of his profession with a perfect season last year against the embattled slugger who is trying to gather every bit hit possible to erase his own past demons this year.
Oh and by the way, A-Rod had already blown a save for Lidge earlier this year in the Bronx. Now he was trying to beat him on his own field in the World Series.
Sure enough, like clock work, Alex Rodriguez delivered another enormous hit, a double to left to score Damon and set the table for Posada. With that inning, Damon and A-Rod have cemented themselves as the top two WS MVP candidates, capped off by another Posada breathing room double to extend the lead to 7-4.
Here's my random side tangent.
At the end of 2004 if you told a Red Sox fan that within five years the Yankees would be on the verge of a World Series and Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon would be the top two candidates for MVP, would their head explode? I set the over-under of simultaneous heart attacks at three.
Once Posada delivered that second punch the Phillies were finished and Rivera used just eight pitches to dispose of them in the ninth.
All of a sudden the Yankees are up 3-1 and have taken the series in Philly regardless of what happens tomorrow. No more home field advantage. Now just three shots for New York to win one game and two of those shots coming in the Bronx. Girardi has supposedly chosen AJ Burnett to pitch on short rest in Game Five. I appreciate the desire to go for the jugular, but there's a difference between killer instinct and irresponsible stupidity. This borders on the latter.
You have a desperate team and home crowd rallying behind the only pitcher they believe in for this series on full rest and you're sending out a guy who hasn't pitched on short rest all season to counter him on the road when he's a much better pitcher at home? Why? So Pedro can face either Chad Gaudin in a much more important Game Six or Andy Pettitte also on short rest for no reason just to have Sabathia on short rest again in Game Seven when he's been good but not dominant?
Why not have Gaudin go tomorrow in what is the closest thing to a throw-away game anyway in case Lee has his Game One stuff again? You were going to go with Gaudin if the Yankees lead 3-0 so why not up 3-1 coming off three straight wins? Then have AJ and Andy ready for games six and seven against Pedro and Hamels, two pitching advantages on paper, then have Sabathia as a third option on short rest in Game Seven? Isn't that the safer and smarter thing to do? Isn't that better than using your best pitchers in uncomfortable situations against an offense relatively held in check but capable of exploding at any moment?
Hopefully Girardi rethinks this move. Still, the fact Girardi's final decision comes down to which pitcher he is comfortable with winning the final game of the World Series feels pretty good right about now.
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