Chase Utley is playing like a man on a mission. A mission to get the Phillies their second straight championship. Last night, his 2 homerun, 4 rbi performance keyed the Phils’ 8-6 win over the Yankees.
He’s also playing like a World Series MVP. For the Series, he’s batting .333 with five homers. He could easily get that MVP award assuming Philadelphia wins it all. Not an easy task considering that they’re down 3-2 going into the heart of the Evil Empire for Game 6.
Cliff Lee was on his game last night despite his linescore. He left the game with an 8-3 lead. It’s not his fault that the Phillies seem to find value in Chan Ho Park and think he can get the job done. Rumor has it that Lee might be ready for Game 7 should there be one and he might give Chase a run for his money for that MVP award. Lee is already 2-0 for the Series with a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings.
World Series bits
Looks like the frequency and duration of mound meetings by Yankee pitchers and catcher Jorge Posada are giving MLB some pause. They’ll most certainly be discussing it this winter.
Nice going, Jorge.
The LA Times’ headline reads Another tight game means big numbers for Fox. Nice sentiment but I’m giving more credit to the fact that the Series is taking place in two big market cities.
On a related note, Business Weekly notes that World Series TV ratings are indeed up despite the influx of web streaming of the games.
YFSF presents: Reason(s?) Why The World Series Isn’t Over
Finally, who doesn’t like a little trash talk?
I really thought the Yankees were coming back in this one in the 9th, Derek Jeter had a 2-0 count & took a fastball down the middle, the next pitch moved in on his fists & jammed him, he tried to do too much with the pitch, rather than simply, “keep the line moving”, by hitting into a DP the threat was ended. Mark Teixeira repeated this error against Ryan Madson, striking out, going for the tying homer, rather than simply, “keep the line moving”, after Johnny Damon lined a two out base knock.
Pedro vs Pettitte is a big time game #3 matchup!
“Mark Teixeira repeated this error against Ryan Madson, striking out, going for the tying homer”..
I see this time and again throughout the majors. Everyone’s trying to be a hero. I guess part of it is human instinct. Our egos take over where the brains leave off.
I remember Sammy Sosa was one who did this. He would do this at the most inopportune moments when all we needed was “just a hit” or christ, even a walk, and he would be swinging for the fences.