MLB 2009 Season

[Chalupa]

How the Phillies and Yankees match up

I agree w/ most of that except for the BP. The writer is putting too much weight on the closer. The Yankees Achilles heel as I see it is the rest of their BP. Not to mention I think Lidge has pitched better so far in October. YMMV. Another thing to consider is when the series moves to Philly the Phillies will have the edge in LF because Ibanez will be playing, not Francisco.

Really I think the series may come down to the Pettitte/Hamels match up. Andy looked real sharp in his last start. Hamels has been awful. I really wish they were starting Happ instead.

Question for Mets fans. Who do you want to lose more - the Phillies or the Yankees??

[ghost of miles]

Hamels much better at home than on the road though this year, right? Maybe that's why they slotted Pedro for Game 2 at Yankee Stadium?

[Chalupa]

I don't know about "much better" probably more like "less worse".

[Chalupa]

I still would rather have Happ. He would have beat the Yankees back in May except Bradley Thomas Lidge gave up a tater to Arod.

[ghost of miles]

Here's the home/away split on Hamels.

7-5 w/3.76 ERA at home, 3-6 w/4.99 ERA on the road.

Burnett's got a somewhat similar home/away split for NY, which is why they've been trying to rotate him through Yankee Stadium as much as possible.

Edited October 28, 2009 by ghost of miles

[vajerzy]

Everyone's wondering whether the Phillies can beat the Yankees. They got it all wrong.

The real question is whether the Yankees can beat the Phillies.....

Go Phillies!

[Soulstation1]

Phillies In 6 Games

[vajerzy]

Dat's what I'm tawkin' about!!

Even though I live in VA- I'm from South Jersey.

[ghost of miles]

Well, I was booting up the computer to express some anxiety about how the game is going when Utley hit that homer off CC. Cliff Lee definitely getting the better of him so far--CC is working like hell to get through each inning, already at 60 pitches after 3 innings, and Lee is just mowing down the Yankees... hardly breaking a sweat while doing so.

[ghost of miles]

OK, CC really settled down after that home run and is looking very good now...but Cliff Lee is looking just about unhittable at this point, having just struck out the heart of the NY order. Even a one-run lead is too much to give that guy.

[BERIGAN]

TAKE THAT YANKEE BITCHES, TAKE THAT!!!!

Errr, umm...I mean...good game! :blush2:

Ghost is such a nice Yankee fan, hard to get too uppity.

I do worry about Lidge though....Yankees are patient, his fastball just isn't good enough to blow by guys if they lay off the slider.

Edited October 29, 2009 by BERIGAN

[ghost of miles]

Not lookin' good, B, you're right about that... CC's pitch count already around 110, and I can't see Girardi bringing him back for the 8th if he has any intention of pitching him on Sunday. Biggest problem is trying to now overcome a TWO-run lead held by Cliff Lee, who's making NY look sad tonight. Utley's sure had CC's # tonight. A good game indeed, but it'd be an even better one if the score were reversed.

[Soulstation1]

Too bad we don't have CC and Lee on the indians staff

[ghost of miles]

...and the middle-relief looking very weak again. Looks like NY's going to lose the home-field advantage out of the gate. This whole game's vibe reminds me unpleasantly of the '76 WS...a NY team very happy to be returning to the WS after a postseason dryspell running into a badass, supremely confident NL outfit. Certainly a badass, supremely confident pitcher in the form of Cliff Lee.

EDIT: ...and lest I forget, in '76 that was a defending-champion badass, supremely confident NL outfit. Just to extend the analogy a bit further. It probably can't carry much farther, but that's what tonight's game has reminded me of.

EDIT: Even worse! Man, CC leaves the game and NY's given up 3 runs in less than two innings so far.

Edited October 29, 2009 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Damn, what a different game this is if NY's bullpen doesn't give up FOUR runs in the 8th and 9th!

[BERIGAN]

You know what seems funny??? Utley hits two homers off a leftie, and they keep tossing lefties at him. It worked, but it's just funny. What if he hit yet another homer off a lefty??? Would they still not bring Joba in to face him, or Howard???

I feel better, at least not a sweep, and it has the making of a real series!

[Patrick]

I used to be disgusted. Now I try to be amused.

Cliff Lee!!!!

Phillie fans everywhere better have Indians GM Mark Shapiro on their holiday card mailing list this year. And no complaining if your minor league pitching prospects aren't filled to the gills.

[ghost of miles]

That was painful. Spanked hard by Cliff Lee and Philadelphia at home in Game 1...but what disturbs me the most is how badly the bullpen performed again. NY put the first two runners on in the bottom of the 9th, but so what? They're down 6 runs! I'm surprised Lee was left in the game that long--his pitch count must have ended up close to 120. Are the Phillies planning on using him again in Game 4 or in Game 5? If Game 5, I can see keeping him in there after the first two batters got on, but still thought it strange that they didn't pull him, especially after the shutout got spoiled by the throwing error.

Phillies definitely looked like the superior team tonight. NY better turn it up more than just a notch.

[Chalupa]

That was painful. Spanked hard by Cliff Lee and Philadelphia at home in Game 1...but what disturbs me the most is how badly the bullpen performed again. NY put the first two runners on in the bottom of the 9th, but so what? They're down 6 runs! I'm surprised Lee was left in the game that long--his pitch count must have ended up close to 120. Are the Phillies planning on using him again in Game 4 or in Game 5? If Game 5, I can see keeping him in there after the first two batters got on, but still thought it strange that they didn't pull him, especially after the shutout got spoiled by the throwing error.

Phillies definitely looked like the superior team tonight. NY better turn it up more than just a notch.

The Phils haven't announced a game 4 starter. Lee threw 122 pitches only 9 more than CC. So if CC comes back for the 4th game you can bank on Chollie going w/ Lee.

[MartyJazz]

That was painful. Spanked hard by Cliff Lee and Philadelphia at home in Game 1...but what disturbs me the most is how badly the bullpen performed again. NY put the first two runners on in the bottom of the 9th, but so what? They're down 6 runs! I'm surprised Lee was left in the game that long--his pitch count must have ended up close to 120. Are the Phillies planning on using him again in Game 4 or in Game 5? If Game 5, I can see keeping him in there after the first two batters got on, but still thought it strange that they didn't pull him, especially after the shutout got spoiled by the throwing error.

Phillies definitely looked like the superior team tonight. NY better turn it up more than just a notch.

You notice that Jeter got 3 of the 6 hits while the 3 (Tex), 4 (A-Rod) and 5 (Jorge) non-hitters in the lineup struck out 7 of the 10 Ks that Lee got. That was a real pathetic performance by those three in particular.

[Dave James]

I had a dinner to go to tonight, so I didn't see the game. Thank God for small favors. Just looking at the box score creates some major concerns. First of all, the Yanks waste a three hit effort by Jeter. Texiera and Rodriguez go a combined 0 for 8 including three A-Rod strike outs. Phil Hughes has another disastrous outing and Bob Bruney, who hasn't pitched in a game for what seems like half a season, gets lit up like a neon sign. If you're Girardi, you have to think about shutting down Hughes. He's done bupkus in the post-season and this isn't the time of the year when you try to correct problems by letting a guy throw. Interesting that Chamberlain didn't come in at all. Makes you wonder if they have him in mind for a starting role at some point in the festivities. Other than Mo, the most effective guy out of the pen has been Dave Robertson. Seems to me, you give guys like that a chance and forget about dancing with the gal that brung you.

Up over and out.

[skeith]

Too bad we don't have CC and Lee on the indians staff

Yeah...

[ghost of miles]

I had a dinner to go to tonight, so I didn't see the game. Thank God for small favors. Just looking at the box score creates some major concerns. First of all, the Yanks waste a three hit effort by Jeter. Texiera and Rodriguez go a combined 0 for 8 including three A-Rod strike outs. Phil Hughes has another disastrous outing and Bob Bruney, who hasn't pitched in a game for what seems like half a season, gets lit up like a neon sign. If you're Girardi, you have to think about shutting down Hughes. He's done bupkus in the post-season and this isn't the time of the year when you try to correct problems by letting a guy throw. Interesting that Chamberlain didn't come in at all. Makes you wonder if they have him in mind for a starting role at some point in the festivities. Other than Mo, the most effective guy out of the pen has been Dave Robertson. Seems to me, you give guys like that a chance and forget about dancing with the gal that brung you.

Up over and out.

Yes, Hughes is definitely a problem reliever to bring in right now, nowhere near as effective as he was in the regular season. Truth be told, nobody in the NY bullpen outside of Mo makes me feel really confident right now. Robertson's been good, you're right, though he gave up a damaging hit last night.

Whatever happens, I really, REALLY want to beat Cliff Lee. In Philly. All of the basket-catch, Posada-ass-tag stories today are starting to irk me. Jeter solved him...he's not invincible. If the bullpen had kept the game at 2-0, we would've had a very different vibe in the bottom of the 9th. When it comes to the overall shape of the series, NY's middle relief worries me more than another Cliff Lee start.

[Chalupa]

I had a dinner to go to tonight, so I didn't see the game. Thank God for small favors. Just looking at the box score creates some major concerns. First of all, the Yanks waste a three hit effort by Jeter. Texiera and Rodriguez go a combined 0 for 8 including three A-Rod strike outs. Phil Hughes has another disastrous outing and Bob Bruney, who hasn't pitched in a game for what seems like half a season, gets lit up like a neon sign. If you're Girardi, you have to think about shutting down Hughes. He's done bupkus in the post-season and this isn't the time of the year when you try to correct problems by letting a guy throw. Interesting that Chamberlain didn't come in at all. Makes you wonder if they have him in mind for a starting role at some point in the festivities. Other than Mo, the most effective guy out of the pen has been Dave Robertson. Seems to me, you give guys like that a chance and forget about dancing with the gal that brung you.

Up over and out.

Yes, Hughes is definitely a problem reliever to bring in right now, nowhere near as effective as he was in the regular season. Truth be told, nobody in the NY bullpen outside of Mo makes me feel really confident right now. Robertson's been good, you're right, though he gave up a damaging hit last night.

Whatever happens, I really, REALLY want to beat Cliff Lee. In Philly. All of the basket-catch, Posada-ass-tag stories today are starting to irk me. Jeter solved him...he's not invincible. If the bullpen had kept the game at 2-0, we would've had a very different vibe in the bottom of the 9th. When it comes to the overall shape of the series, NY's middle relief worries me more than another Cliff Lee start.

Don't forget Lee's behind the back catch of Cano's grounder. That was amazing.

[Phillies hat off] Dave it's too bad you missed the game last night. Lee's performance was simply one of the 4 or 5 best pitching performances ever in a World Series game.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4604260

[Hat on]

Ghosty, like I said in a post yesterday I can't believe that writer from the Times gave the Yankees BP the edge. If the Yankees lose the WS it will be because of the "bridge to Mo" problem. Conversely, if the Phillies lose it will be because of their "Lidge oh no!" problem, otherwise their BP is pretty solid.

Interesting pitching match up tonight. Obvious must game for the Yanks but the Phillies need it too. Don't want the Yankees to have any momentum going into Philly. Especially w/ Hamels due to pitch game 3. Message to Chollie - start Happ.

[blind-blake]

Phillies in 5. Go Fightins!!!!!!!!!!!!!