This Series Is Tied

Pedro Martinez was good. A.J. Burnett, Mariano Rivera, and the New York Yankees were better.

In a game that starred the outside strike zone as much as the actual players themselves, the Yankees were able to beat the Phillies in a similar fashion to what the Phillies did to the Yankees in Game 1. After Matt Stairs got the go-ahead RBI, A.J. Burnett clamped down and did not allow the Phillies to come close to scoring again. Of the 22 batters he faced tonight, he threw 21 first pitch strikes. Credit to Burnett, a lot of people doubted him in this game and his past against the Phillies, but he was aggressive and came through big time for him. Shockingly, Tim McCarver just summed this game up best. Just like CC Sabathia was just not as good as Cliff Lee was, Pedro Martinez was just not as good as A.J. Burnett was. Do not look past the fact that the Phillies got the split in New York. They need that. That was absolutely vital. But it's on to Philly now.

Enough about Game 2 and moving on to Game 3. This is now the big game. Cole Hamels has struggled mightily this post-season. Andy Pettitte is Andy Pettitte. If Cole Hamels cannot get his act together, the Phillies are in deep shit as there is little doubt that Pettitte will be on top of his. In order for the Phillies to win, they are going to have to jack up Pettitte's pitch count, hope Hamels can miraculously channel his inner 2008-self, and then let it become a battle of the bull pens and hope that they can win that. The good news is that Rivera just had a 6-out save where he threw quite a number of pitches so it is unlikely, although not impossible, that he will make a game 3 appearance. The Phillies need to use that to their advantage. Rivera is nearly impossible to get to so any game they are going to have to win will be in a game that he does not pitch. They need to get the edge. Pettitte is on the mound, it is unlikely it will be a dominant offensive performance. Hamels is pitching for the Phillies. It is unlikely that we'll get a dominant pitching performance. Thus it is vital the Phillies get to the Yankees pen and win it late otherwise this series is in big trouble. Never in his career has Cliff Lee pitched on short rest. Always in his career Joe Blanton facing the Yankees does not end well for one Mr. Blanton.

The bottom line is if that the Phillies can't win Game 3, and I do have my doubts whether or not they can win this game, it is big time advantage and momentum for the Yankees. My thought process was if the Phillies are to win this series in 5 games, the game they would concede to the Yankees would be the Pettitte-Hamels Game 3 matchup. I thought for sure the Phils could rough up Burnett. They did not. They need to rough up Pettitte and it is 10 times harder to rough up Pettitte than Burnett.

Phils need to do their best against Pettitte, hope Hamels pitch the game of their life, and hope that that is good enough to get to a winnable bullpen battle. If that does not happen, then I do not see how this series does not end up being 2-1 New York.