The powerful offense of the AL Champion New York Yankees was on full display Saturday night. The Yankees rallied from an early 3-0 deficit , capturing vital game 3 over the defending Word Champion Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 at Citizens Bank Park in Pennsylvania . After erupting for 6 runs in the 4th-5th & 6th innings, the Yankees led 6-3 and never looked back. Yankees star 3B Alex Rodriquez came out of his slump in a big way, hitting a huge momentum changing homer in the 4th with a runner on. RF Nick Swisher and regular DH Hideki Matsui(Pinch hit in htis game) added bombs for the AL Champs. Underrated Phillies RF Jayson Werth connected twice and now is now one homer shy of the ML single season postseason homer record of 8. LH Andy Pettitte added an rbi to help his own cause while earning the win with 6 innings of gritty pitching.
Game Notes:
1- The series? The winner of tonight’s game 4 takes this series. Just my opinion but that is how I feel. Hard to see Philadelphia winning 3 games in a row vs. that offense, the Yankees have too many power bats to hold them off for a sustained period of time.(See tonight’s game) The Phillies need Joe Blanton, who has talent, to step up and keep the home crowd int he game early. I have never been sold on CC Sabathia and do not think he is a clutch, big spot pitcher.
2- Paging Mr. Howard! The Phillies star 1B Ryan Howard(45 homers, 141 rbi) and NLCS MVP is now 2 for 13 with 9 strikeouts in the series. If he does not come out of this funk, Philadelphia has no shot.
3- Its the scouting, stupid! Hint to all fans of teams who are not in this series. Money is great, drafting-player development is vital but you can find players off other teams rosters as well. The Phillies picked up Werth off the scrap heap while their spark plug CF Shane Victorino was a rule 5 draft pick-up. Not bad for 2 starting OFs on the 2 time defending NL Champions.
4- Shot ace? Phillies star LH Cole Hamels does not look healthy and has had an off year(10-11,4.32 era ). Have to wonder if he is hurt or just worn down after his stellar 08 campaign(14-10,3.09 regular season, 4-0, 1.80 in 5 post season starts).
5- Got it right! Nice to see the use of replay working and helping the umpires. Look, they have a tough job and it is not easy. But lets not mince words here, they have been both awful and embarrassing this season. Rodriquez’ homer hit a camera in right and bounced into the field of play. The play was initially called a double but changed after video review. Rare that I say this but good job, MLB!
6- Win the battle, lose the war? The object of any 7 game series is to win 4 games. The Yankees have now won 2. Yankees skipper Joe Girardi, who makes Dick Cheney resemble Crusty the Clown at times, is making a questionable decision starting Sabathia on 3 days rest. He is trying to take a 3-1 lead here but if he starts someone else(Chad Gaudin is the most frequently mentioned alternative) he would have his 3 best starters set up on normal rest to pitch games 5,6 and 7. I think this is mistake and could blow up in his face FAST.
