Mound Masterpeice

The city of brotherly love sent their finest arm to stump and shut down the Bronx Bombers Wednesday night. Desperate for runs to match the Phillies’ six in the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees scored once to avoid the shutout. Cliff Lee outdueled his former Cleveland teammate, C.C.Sabathia, in game one of the World Series in New York. The left-handed Lee pitched about as well as you could ask a game one starter last night in a brisk, damp Yankee Stadium. He was nonchalant and exhibited a calm demeanor in his fourth superb post-season start for Philly. His ridiculous 0.54 ERA over 33 1/3 playoff innings is more phenomenal than the Philly Fanatic himself. Sabathia’s has pitched nearly as well, posting a 1.54 ERA with a 3-1 record. Southpaw Sabathia struck out twenty batters over his 222 innings in the post-season. Philadelphia’s Chase Utley hit a pair of homeruns to give the defending champions a 1-0 series lead. The Phillies skated out in front on the second baseman’s first blast, a third inning, full-count blast off Sabathia. The game remained that way until the top of the sixth. Utley connected again for his second RBI and a 2-0 Phillies advantage. Sabathia tossed seven innings and allowed just those two earned runs, but still took the loss for the Yankees in the 6-1 final.
The Bombers pounded out five hits against Lee. The 2008 CY Young hurler smoked the New York lineup, striking out ten batters in a complete game effort. Lee fanned three of the first four Yankees he faced in one of the most brilliant World Series performances I can remember. C.C. was pretty gnarly in his first two frames too. The big lefty escaped a first inning bases-loaded jam, and settled down to retire the Phillies in order in the second. Sabathia recorded six strikeouts of his own and his command improved as the game went on. Joe Girardi replaced his starter in the seventh with reliever, Phil Hughes. Hughes walked leadoff man, shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Rollins promptly stole second and Shane Victorino drew Hughes’ second pass of the inning. That was enough for Girardi, who summoned Damaso Marte from the Yankees’ bullpen. The ten year veteran struck out Utley and forced slugger Ryan Howard into a fly out. Marte was pulled perhaps too early by Girardi because he was pitching well. Dave Robertson came in to record the final out. He walked Jayson Werth on four pitches to load the bases. Raul Ibanez smacked a single to right field to drive in two tallies. The Yankees could muster little on offense. The Bombers sent the minimum six to the plate in the seventh and eighth inning. Lee’s dominance resulted in Alex Rodriguez going hitless and striking out three times. That matched ARod’s entire strikeout total in the championship series. Derek Jeter slugged a double and a pair of singles in the Yankees’ 40th World Series appearance. Lee needed only a few runs in support because the Yankees couldn’t grind out any base hits nor draw walks. Lee threw 122 pitches and didn’t allow a single walk.
Three runs were scored in the ninth inning, two by the visiting team. With Brian Bruney on the mound, Victorino singled Carlos Ruiz in for a Philadelphia run. The Phillies padded the lead off Yankee reliever, Phil Coke. Utley flied out to center to advance the runner to third. Rollins, the third base runner, scored on Howard’s double. Down six runs, the Yankees had one final chance to cap a crazy comeback. Jeter led off the ninth with a single up the middle. Damon added a base hit to put two runners on with no outs. Mark Teixeira grounded into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners for Rodriguez. Jeter scored on a Rollins’ error to give the Bombers their only run. Rodriguez and Jorge Posada were sent packing, victims of Lee’s ninth and tenth strikeouts. Game one done. Phillies win. Now the Yankees must navigate another way to win this series. It is the first time they have trailed in the post-season. The Bombers need to unload on Pedro Martinez tonight. The Yankees can’t look as off-balanced with the bats as Lee made them look last night. The 31 year old Lee pitched a complete game in the Fall Classic and wrapped up an important win while humbling the AL pennant winners. The Yankees had no answer for Lee’s moxie. They should fare better against Martinez. A.J. Burnett appeared with the Florida in the World Series when the Marlins stunned New York. Tonight Burnett returns to the series, this time wearing pinstripes and with his team down a game. Burnett has to do his best Philly-slayer impersonation as he shoots for his first post-season victory. Jose Molina will replace Burnett behind the plate and Jerry Hairston, Jr. will fill in for the benched Nick Swisher in right field. Whatever formula Girardi mixed up for game two has to be close to as masterful as Lee’s mound magic.

Parting Points: I am pleased to see in print: Kansas basketball the preseason number one team.