Phillies-Yankees Game Six Notes: Watching the Guillotine

> Coming into tonight's game, despite my love for Pedro Martinez, I knew that a win was going to be all on the offense. They weren't ever going to win a 2-1 game in New York, not against this offense, and not with this bullpen. There was hope that they can slug their way to a win, of course; the Yankee starters weren't used to working on three days rest, and the bullpen wasn't airtight. But it's still a disconcerting way to start a game.

> I tuned in a little late, as part of my continued effort to avoid Fox pre-game, and wound up only seeing the Utley double play to end the first. Not an auspicious start to what felt like a coronation anyway. At no point was I seeing how Pedro Martinez's last meaningful start against the Yankees ends in happiness. Anyhoo, eight pitches. Way to make Old Man Pettite extend himself on short rest, guys.

> After one pitch, Pedro needed a conference and a new ball. Considering how often Jorge Posada has been out there this series, I'd like to see that happen after every pitch. Let's just go all the way towards killing the sport with delay.

> On a 2-2 count to Damon, Pedro turned, spit violently, then threw a 77 mph change up to strike the man out. When you are hacking up stuff between pitches, you are officially getting them out with guile; Fox later informed us that he didn't break 85 on the gun in the inning. The man doesn't look well; HD is doing no favors. I'm pretty sure he's not over the illness he had in Game Two. Either that, or he's fantastically old, which is what we were sure of before the year started.

> Pedro got a little squeezed to start the A-Rod at bat, and it went to 2-0 on a near HBP. The 3-0 pitch is low and away, and McCarver was all over Martinez's lack of velocity; you have to wonder how fast a hook would come. Four pitch walk ends the at bat, and here we go... Matsui up, Pedro not paying any attention to A-Rod, who used to be a threat to run before the hip prolem. He got ahead of Matsui on a loud foul off an 86 mph fastball, then got it up to 88 on a high fastball. A 2-2 pitch was ripped a foot foul; a break. Ball three is inside, and watching this game is like waiting for the guillotine. Matsui fouled off a 3-2 change up, then gives up a home run to right, just fair down the line, for the 2-0 lead. Yeah, that was unexpected. Just a batting practice fastball there, and honestly, if I were Manuel, I'd be warming up pitchers. Pedro's got nothing, and that's two straight at bats where Matsui has gone deep against him.

> Pedro recovered with a sad little strikeout of Posada, an 80 mph fastball that was up, and the catcher looked disgusted to have missed. A moment of Not Happiness for Yankee Fan: Posada will make a ridiculous amount of money over the next two years to be the second coming of Jason Varitek. Anyway... Cano followed with a first pitch line drive at Utley, and the inning ended with a 5-pitch fly ball to Francisco in left. After two innings, it's 2-0 Yankees, and if the offense doesn't answer fast, this will get out of hand.

> Francisco started the third with a fast ground out, and Pettite's working with very few pitches so far. Chooch Ruiz then did what he's been doing his entire post-season, which is hit balls hard into the left field gap, slamming one off the wall. Brett Gardner misjudged the ball off the wall, giving Ruiz the opportunity for his fourth career triple. Huge. The Rollins at bat started with some pinching and a 2-0 count, and the shortstop flies out to medium right to score the runner. The inning ends on a first pitch pop up from Victorino, and that's really not helpful on the pitch count, but at least they are on the board 2-1 Yankees after 2.5.

> Martinez starts Gardner with pitches on the corners for an 0-2 count, and finished him off with an up and away 86 mph fastball. Jeter then used his Jedi skills to get Victorino to take a bad route to a sinking liner for a single, and that's just a big damn deal, really, especially with Jeter a threat to steal. Damon worked the count to 3-2 as part of Pedro's game-long problem of not being able to finish hitters off, then draws a walk, all of it outside. That's Pedro's 51st pitch, and the Phillies call to the bullpen to get J.A. Happ warm.

> Teixeira with the kill shot opportunity, and on the first pitch, Pedro drills him square on the leg, near the knee. Good grief. Bases loaded for A-Rod, and while you can't bring in anyone but Happ here, he's not ready. Considering the importance of the hitter and situation, you could argue for Chan Ho Park or Ryan Madson, but that's not how baseball works. Guillotine time again with the bases loaded and one out.

> First pitch is 82 and on the black, and A-Rod misses it. Second is bounced, and Ruiz keeps it in front of him. Third is up and 82 again, but A-Rod misses it as well, and the called strikeout is on the outside. Rodriguez and West get into each other, but the third basemen isn't ejected. A man can dream. Matsui up, and he's owned Pedro, of course. First pitch fastball is fouled off. Second pitch fastball is crushed down the line and foul. Fox tells us the last pitch was 90, a game high. The 0-2 pitch is a high fastball that's lined to center for a 2-run single, and Matsui now has all 4 RBIs in this game. The Japanese DH is now hitting .636 for the Series, and he just might have won it. Posada ends the inning on a fly ball to right, and it's 4-1 Yankees after three. The fact that they couldn't even waste a pitch to Matsui and see if he'd get himself out is just telling, really.

> Damon out in left field on a pulled muscle for Jerry Hairston. Well, that might help; if the Series goes to nine or ten games, the Yankees might run out of outfielders. Wih Fox touting his 1 for 11 lifetime mark against Pettite, Utley whiffs on 7 pitches to start the fourth. Howard followed with a soft line drive to second, and we're getting fairly close to counting outs to Rivera territory, especially with Pettite at just 47 pitches as I write this. Werth draws his second walk of the game to extend things to Ibanez, and it seems like Pettite's avoiding him when possible. The runner advances on a passed ball swinging strike, which you don't see every day, and Ibanez draws a 5-pitch walk. Balls one and two to Feliz continues a squeeze play by West, and strike one is in more or less the same place. Strike two is a no doubter with late movement. Ball three is in the same place, and ye gads, Pettite's sharp on the black here. The drama ends with a ground ball to third, because you only get one huge hero moment from Pedro Feliz in a series.

> Martinez started the fourth, and I'm not sure why. Chad Durbin warmed up in the bullpen, and Cano sent Francisco to the track in left. Have I mentioned how Pedro's got nothing in this game? It might be relevant. Martinez picks up his fifth strikeout of the night up and away against Swisher. A line drive by Gardner to Utley ends the inning, and you'd think that 4 innings, 5 base runners and 5 strikeouts would be better than this. 4-1 Yankees after four.

> How many outs to Rivera? Probably not enough, really. Francisco goes down on three pitches, and wow, he's been useless. Ruiz drew a 5-pitch walk to improve matters. Durbin appears to have the bottom of the fifth, and at least we'll be spared a farewell chant for Pedro. Pettite got ahead of Rollins, then induced a 2-2 double play, his second of the game, and that's a fast and awful end to the inning. Six outs to Rivera, twelve outs to elimination.

> Durbin for the sixth for the top of the order, with Happ up as well. Why not Park? One more run makes this game just about impossible, and Park's been your best reliever in this series, but what the hey, he's got to work the seventh, I suppose. Jeter greets Durbin with a ground-rule double to left that's just out of reach of the cursed Francisco, and I swear, every one of Jeter's hits in this series has been a foot from being caught. It's what he does, really. Hairston in for Damon and bunts Jeter to third perfectly on the first pitch, nearly beating it out. Teixeira against a drawn-in infield, and the guillotine feeling is back. Shrugging off his 2 for 20 to date, Teixeira laces a single to first for the RBI, and it's 5-1, Yankees. This one's just about over, with a 93% expected Yankee win on the ever-annoying ESPN app that I'm using to track pitch counts. Durbin loses A-Rod inside on a one out walk to end his evening, and I'm struggling to pay attention. There's laundry to do, and other posts to write, and just a million better ways to spend the next hour, really...

> Poor J.A. Happ gets to face Matsui for the killshot, and he follows his postseason habit of falling behind the first hitter, because he's really not a reliever, he's a starter. On a 3-1 count, Matsui sews up his MVP with a double off the wall, and it's 7-1 Yankees. I kind of hate that I have to watch the rest of this game. Posada whiffs, Cano whiffs, and they might be the only people in the building who care. Twelve outs to over.

> In the sixth, Joe Buck starts to fellate the Yankees for signing Pettite to a trivial $10.5 million contract for this year, ignoring the fact that no other team in baseball had money to spend. On cue, Victorino grounds out to start the inning, and the next hour of my life would be better spent on mute. Utley with a loud foul on a 3-1 pitch, then drew Pettite's fifth walk of the night. Howard then shrugs off the goat horns to muscle a ball out to left for a 2-run Yankee Stadium special homer, and hope creeps into the conversation. Werth can't keep up the momentum on a called third strike; Pettite on the black there again. Ibanez with a 2-out double, and that's the end of Pettite's night: 94 pitches and a very likely season-ending win.

> Joba Chamberlain on to face Game Four nemesis Pedro Feliz. Really not counting on repeat lightning here. On a 2-1 count, Chamberlain rears back and throws it by the hitter, the induces the inning-ending ground out to third. Nine outs to over, and the Yankee pen has been, even independent of Rivera, better than advertised.

> This is the point in the game where the Phillies give back any momentum with weak relief pitching. Happ goes 2-0 to Swisher, then fought back to 2-2 with a foul ball that The Cursed Francisco just barely misses in the stands. The at bat ends in a leadoff walk, because the Yankee offense never takes an inning off, really. With McCarver in full fellate mode over his bunting skills, Gardner fails to get it down on 2 of the first 3 pitches, and winds up getting rung up on a nice low fastball from Happ. That ends his night, as Phillies manager Charlier Manuel goes to Chn Ho Park. Park got Jeter on a ground ball to Howard for the second out, and Hairston on a soft fly to right. Had Manueal gone to him earlier, this game might not be out of reach. A man can dream.

> Joe Buck lobbied for a pinch hitter for Francisco, and the only problem with that strategy is that I'm not sure who else on the bench can play left field. The cursed one whiffs for the first out, and Chamberlain looks like his old seventh inning self again. Ruiz continued the magic with a single to center, the third time he's been on base tonight. Rollins watched a hanging slider for strike one, then grounded out weakly to second for the second out of the inning. The leadoff hitter has been less then helpful, really. I'd have Rollins try to steal second here, just to see if it could rattle Chamberlain a little, and he just made it on a perfect throw from Posada. A four pitch walk to Victorino puts two men on for Utley, and that's it for Chamberlain. It'll be Damaso Marte to try to keep the game locked down.

> Utley against Marte in the last actually dramatic moment of the Series. Marte has retired his last 10 hitters. First pitch strike on the outside black, or just off. A slider with movement for strike two. And a called third strike on a checked swing. And that's your ball game, Utley's MVP award, and the series; decided by pitchers that appeared to be a weakness before the Series, and were not when the game was on the line.

> After the 9/11 Hootenanny, Park whiffed Teixeira, then got A-Rod to duck on a breaking ball that was almost a strike. If I were Park, I think I'd hit him with the next pitch on general principle, but instead, he gives up a bleeding eye single to left, and that's his night; Scott Eyre in to face the most valuable porn enthusiast. Rodriguez stole second on a checked swing strikeout of Matsui, setting up an intentional walk to Posada, and an inning-ending Cano whiff. It's amazing to me how the Yankees are going to win this Series with auto-outs all over the lineup, but that's the nature of baseball.

> Marte to start the eighth against Howard, and he merely strikes the man out on three pitches, which means he's gone through Utley and Howard on six pitches. Girardi over-manages and goes to Rivera now for the final five outs, because heaven knows that Marte was so ineffective, really. It's not going to matter, but if Rivera is actually ineffective here and the Yankees somehow blow the game, the over-managing will be the reason why. Honestly, there was no reason to replace Marte here; you let him pitch until someone reaches base.

> Hey, it's not a real save opportunity! That means Rivera's gonna stink. Or, um, not. Werth whiffs, four outs to finish. A shattered bat from Ibanez as the rain suddenly falls, not that anyone in New York seems to care. Yankee Fan screams for a punchout on a pitch that's a foot outside. Ibanez battles to a nine pitch at bat and double to center, and why Gardner was playing shallow, I've no idea. Rivera gets Feliz to pop up, and that's the eighth.

> Feliz with a great play on Swisher to start the bottom of the eighth, just one of those bare-hand do-or-die plays that the third basemen makes maybe one try out of ten. After Gardner grounds out to Utley, Manuel brought in Madson just to make sure he works every possible game, and to ensure that the game doesn't end before midnight. Oh, MLB. My grandkids will wonder what the big deal was, really. Jeter greets him with his usual inside-out single to right, and the man now has 175 post-season hits. Ridiculous. Madson gets Hairston to pop out to shallow left, and that eight innings.

> Matt Stairs in to star the ninth, because this just always works -- ignore the 1 for 11 postseason to date. A tiny shread of hope on a 3-1 count, and Stairs hits an upper deck foul to make the count full. A line drive to Jeter ends the at bat, and all semblance of hope, given how Rivera is already up to 20+ pitches from the ridiculously early move away from Marte. Ruiz is smart enough to see a lot of pitches, and even draws a one out walk; I can't say enough about his post-season. Rollins, the true goat of the lineup, with a chance to redeem a little, but anyone who has watched him all year knows that won't happen; he flies out to the track in right for the second out. Victorino tries to avoid the history at bat, and falls behind 1-2 on a cutter at his ankles. Victorino battles to a full count and nine pitches, but eventually dribbles out to Cano.

> And that's your ball game; Pettite beats Martinez, and the Yankees are the champions of baseball. My team tried hard, but the New Yorkers were just better, and not by a little. Congratulations, you humble and plucky people, you.