(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 1 | |
| NYY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
WP - Cliff Lee (1-0)
LP - CC Sabathia (0-1)
The story of tonight's game was Cliff Lee and his complete domination of the Yankees lineup. The Phillies' ace struck out Derek Jeter to start the game and rolled from there. He had great command of all three of his pitches (curve, change, cutter), worked quickly, pounded the strike zone, and had Yankees batters off-balance all night. Going the whole way, Lee allowed just one unearned run on 6 hits, did not walk a batter, struck out 10, and of his 122 pitches, 80 were strikes.
He also made one spectacular (and lucky) behind the back catch on a grounder up the middle off the bat of Robinson Cano. Earlier in the night he made a very nonchalant catch on a popup on the infield that made me want to punch him. Wanting to hit him or not, he was brilliant tonight and showed why he's been the best pitcher in baseball this October.
The mighty Yankees lineup was only able to put three runners as far as second base and the only Yankees run came in on a Jimmy Rollins throwing error in the ninth. From the first pitch the Yankees never had a chance. One positive on the offensive side was Jeter, who picked up three of the Yankees six hits.
CC Sabathia was also good, but not as sharp as he was against the Angels. The Phillies also made him work very hard and the two mistakes he made killed him. Both mistakes came against Chase Utley and both ended up as solo homers landing in the right field seats. In seven innings the big lefty allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, walked 3, struck out 6, and needed 113 pitches to get through six, 70 of them were strikes.Like I said, it wasn't a bad start, but with the way Lee was throwing it wasn't good enough.
The lack of offense tonight doesn't worry me too much, Lee was great and sometimes you just have to tip your cap. But something that has me very considered about the rest of this series is the state of the Yankees bullpen. A pen that was once a strength of this team is now in complete shambles. Some people have blamed Joe Girardi for not giving these guys defined roles, and there's some validity to that, but the bottom line is that nobody is getting outs. Well, besides Damaso Marte and Phil Coke, and when the only effective pitchers out of your pen not named Rivera are lefty specialists you could be in some serious trouble. Had they done their job tonight and held the Phillies to a 2-0 lead the Yankees might have had a shot, but after two runs in the eighth and ninth the game was all but over.
It was another terrible performance for Phil Hughes tonight, who walked the only two batters he faced. To make matters worse, according to Chad Jennings, Hughes ducked out of the clubhouse before the media could get to him. Coward. David Robertson also walked a man and allowed a two-run single. And Brian Bruney capped off the terrible night for the Yankees pen by allowing two run on three hits in just one-third of an inning. If the Yankees are going to capture no. 27, they're going to need their pen to find itself, otherwise this could be a pretty quick series.
This is certainly not the way you want to start a series, especially against a team like the Phillies. But if they can still manage a split things won't be too terrible. That task falls on the right arm of A.J. Burnett who looks to rebound off his rough start in Anaheim. It will be no easy feat for Burnett who will have to be on top of his game against a lineup like the Phillies'. He will be matched up against veteran right-hander Pedro Martinez who will certainly be pumped up for a World Series start against the Yankees.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | |
| Jeter, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .750 |
| Damon, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Teixeira, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .000 |
| Rodriguez, A, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .000 |
| Posada, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .250 |
| Matsui, H, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| Cano, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Swisher, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Cabrera, Me, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 32 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9 | |
BATTING 2B: Jeter (1, Lee, Cl). TB: Jeter 4; Damon; Posada; Matsui, H. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon; Posada. Team RISP: 0-for-4. Team LOB: 4. FIELDING Outfield assists: Swisher (Victorino at home). DP: (Rodriguez, A-Cano-Teixeira). | ||||||||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
| Sabathia (L, 0-1) | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2.57 |
| Hughes, P | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -- |
| Marte, D | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Robertson, D | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Bruney | 0.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 |
| Coke | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Pitches-strikes: Sabathia 113-70, Hughes, P 15-7, Marte, D 7-4, Robertson, D 13-6, Bruney 13-7, Coke 9-5.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cliff Lee (W, 9 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K)
HONORABLE MENTION: Chase Utley (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, 2 R)
GOAT OF THE GAME: Brian Bruney & Phil Hughes (combined - 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K)
Game 2
Yankees vs. Phillies
Game Time: 7:57 p.m. | TV/Radio: FOX, WCBS
RHP A.J. Burnett (0-0, 4.42) vs. RHP Pedro Martinez (0-0, 0.00)
