Normally, I don’t write about games the Yankees win, but this is the World Series, I kind of have to. :)
Game two of the World Series goes to the Yankees. To be honest, I figured the teams would leave the Bronx tied. Obviously, I would have preferred my Phillies take 2-0, but it pretty much turned out the way most people expected.
On paper, I thought the Phillies had a good chance if Pedro could hold up. He had a great game in LA, but somehow I didn’t think he’d be like that again. He wasn’t, but he was still pretty good. AJ Burnett I saw as the weak point in the rotation, I figured we could get to him. We didn’t. Their lines:
Pedro: 6IP, 6H, 3ER, 8K, 2BB
Burnett: 7IP, 4H, 1ER, 9K, 2BB
Pedro gave up solo home runs to Texieira & Matsui, which was all they needed. The Yankees tacked on another run later, but the last two innings were pitched by Mariano Rivera, who didn’t give up anything (although he had a somewhat shaky 8th).
Jayson Werth was picked off first base by the catcher, which was embarrassing, and seemed to issue a change in tone for the game at that point.
Both teams benefited by a bad call. The Yankees by a called DP where replays showed the Philly runner was safe. The Phillies by that lineout double play that was really a short hop that Howard “caught”.
Really odd to see Jeter bunt with two strikes. That makes me wonder. You can foul off 50 pitches, and it stays strike two. You tap at one, and you’re out. Who decided that?
Finishing off with Pedro, I felt he shouldn’t have been out there for the 7th. I think he should have been done after six, and some national media were saying after 5. But overall, his line was not bad at all. Really.
Looking forward to the games in Philly. My family is in town for my son’s baptism this weekend, so we’ll be watching the games here.