Tagged: A-Rod
The Fightin’ Phillies Off to the Bronx for Game 6. Utley Chase-ing again.
Chase Utley’s bat seems to be on fire during the third inning.
On
Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees, the Fightin’
second baseman hit a home run in the right field. He did the same in
Game 1. But the difference with the home run in the third inning of
Game 5 were the two men on bases- Jimmy Rollins who got a base hit and
Shane Victorino who was hit by pitch as he tried to bunt the first
pitch.
Of course, the pitcher was no longer the big leftie CC
Sabathia but the right-handed AJ Burnett who was starting for the
Yankees on short 3-day rest.
AJ Burnett gave up a back to back
walk to Utley and Howard in the third inning. The home run hitter Utley
stole second base while Howard was batting and reached home plate on
Jayson Werth’s base hit. No Phillies was retired to the dugout yet.
With
Raul Ibañez’ base hit, Ryan Howard scored widening the gap with the
Yankees; 5-1 on board for the Phillies. Burnett, who was dominant in
and won Game 2, was chased in the third inning and replaced by David
Robertson.
The Phillies were not done fightin’. Ibañez was out
at second base but Carlos Ruiz stayed in first base while Jayson Werth
gave the Phillies another run. 6-1 on board.
The Bronx Bombers
were first to have a run in the first inning before Utley hit his 3-run
homer. Johnny Damon scored on A-Rod’s double. The Yanks had their
second run in the fifth inning. Johnny Damon grounded out to Ryan
Howard but the first baseman missed the throw to home plate allowing
Eric Hinske, who was pinch hitting for David Robertson and was walked
by Lee with just one strike, to score safely.
Brett Gardner,
replacing Melky Cabrera in Game 5 as centre fielder, kept Jayson Werth
from having extra bases with his speedy and golden catch on a flyball
in the centre field wall in the fifth inning. Werth, not sure if the
ball was caught, kept moving until Gardner who was taking some time to
recover from hitting the wall showed the ball safe in his glove.
It
was the first out for Alfredo Aceves, the second reliever for AJ
Burnett, in the fifth inning. Aceves retired the next two batters on
ground outs.
History seems to repeat itself, in a very quick
fashion. Chase Utley in the seventh inning in Game 4 with two strikes
hit a solo homer off CC Sabathia. Chase Utley, again, with two strikes
in the seventh inning in Game 5 hit a solo home run but off Phil Coke,
Burnett’s third reliever. It was the second homer of the night and the
fifth home run in the series for the Phillies’ second baseman.
Chase
Utley just tied Reggie Jackson for a World Series record with
multi-home runs. The Phillies were still on lead with 7 runs against
the Yankees’ 2 runs.
With two outs, the Phillies had another
home run in the seventh inning. It was off the bat of Raul Ibañez. Phil
Hughes then had to replace Phil Coke.
Hughes may have allowed a
back to back walk in the eight inning of Game 1 and gave up a solo
homer in Game 3, but the young pitcher had his command back in Game 5.
He struck out Pedro Feliz on three consecutive strikes for the final
out of the seventh inning.
Carlos Ruiz had a base hit in the
eight inning but he grounded into a double play along with Matt Stairs
who was pinch hitting for Chan-Ho Park. Phil Hughes retired the last
batter, Jimmy Rollins, on a ground out.
The Yankees line up in
the eight inning was back on top but with Johnny Damon leading. Again,
the left fielder kept the line moving. Damon singled and reached third
base on Mark Teixeira’s double. A-Rod hit the first pitch and earned a
2-run double, as well as a cheer from Kate Hudson, sending Johnny Damon
and Mark Teixeira at home plate. The Yankees were 4-7 on board against
the Phillies.
Cliff Lee may not be as impressive as he was in
Game 1 but he still earned cheers from the Phillies fans as he was
retired to the dugout and replaced by Chan-Ho Park.
A-Rod
reached home plate on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly. The slugger who
calls himself an “underdog” in the World Series gave the Yankees their
fifth run.
Not giving up, the Yankees rallied some hits in the
ninth inning. With Posada leading the line up, he hit a double and
reached third base on Hideki Matsui’s base hit. The veteran catcher
reached home plate for another run but Derek Jeter grounded into a
double play. Hideki Matsui was out at second base.
The ninth
inning of Game 4 has become historical. It all began with Johnny Damon,
who on two out and two strikes hit a single on a battle against Brad
Lidge. With Mark Teixeira batting, Damon stole second then third base
that was left uncovered. Teixeira earned a base on hit by pitch. Damon
scored in that inning on A-Rod’s double.
Yet again, Damon on two
out and two strikes singled on a line drive to keep the line moving in
the last inning of Game 5. But the Phillies were on guard to keep the
wheels of Johnny Damon from going any further. With Teixeira in the
batter’s box, Ryan Madson made sure that the game would be closed. And
he did as Mark Teixeira struck out swinging.
The Philadelphia Phillies won Game 5 with 8-6 on board for the last game in Citizens Bank Park.
AJ Burnett and Cliff Lee both wear #34 on their uniform, but the Phillies’ ace was the prevailing pitcher of Game 5.
The
Fightin’ Phillies are pushing the World Series to Game 6 in Yankee
Stadium for a battle against the Bronx Bombers who are one win away for
their 27th World Series Championship title.
Also posted in Bleacher Report.
Cliff Lee Striking and Phillies Fightin’
against the Yankees. He struck out two in the first as well as in the
second inning. As if those were not good enough, Lee struck out Mark
Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Jorge Posada in the fourth inning. It was
the second strikeout for Teixeira and A-Rod.
CC Sabathia, a
former Cleveland Indian teammate and a close friend of Cliff Lee,
scuffled in the first inning. He’s thrown 24 pitches in that inning
alone. And in the third inning, CC pitched eight times to Chase Utley
before giving up a home run in the right field near the foul pole.
Utley’s home run was the first homer of the 2009 World Series and the
first home run in the new Yankee Stadium in a post-season game.
As for CC, it was the first home run he gave up on a left-handed hitter
at home. The next time he faced Chase Utley, another home run was given
up in the right field. It was a back to back home run for Chase Utley.
Cliff Lee is just so striking and the Fightin’ Phillies lead by 2-0 against the Bronx Bombers in the first six innings.
Forget the chill in the Big Apple. The mound is on fire with the Big C.
Sabathia was hot in the mound.
CC did give up a walk to Kendry Morales in the seventh inning but no damage done.
In the top of the sixth, Sabathia had a 3 up, 3 down with the help of amazing
defensive performances from Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira,
respectively. Damon almost dived to catch Bobby Abreau’s line out hit
to
the left field. The next batter was Torii Hunter whose bunt grounded
out to Sabathia to Teixeira. The Yankees’ first baseman’s legs were in
full extension in almost a split as he caught the ball in the
first base. With two batters already out, Sabathia struck out the third
batter, Vladimir Guerrero, on one ball count.
One of CC’s amazing strikeouts was to Mike Napoli in the seventh
inning. The anticipated strike out earned a loud cheer from the crowd and a big “Yeah!” from CC himself. Napoli was the second batter
Sabathia struck out in the inning. The first was Juan Rivera.
Sabathia still pitched in the eighth. Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins,
the two Angels that gave the Yankees a run on Matsui’s pop out in the
bottom of the first, both grounded out. Next to bat was Bobby Abreu who
hit a fly out to left field.
allowed only one run earned from Kendry Morales’ line drive base hit
that advanced Vladimir Guerrero, who hit a double RBI, to the home
plate. Sabathia left the mound with 1.13 ERA.
Yankees were able to have 4 runs from Jeter, Damon and Cabrera. Damon
scored twice. A-Rod attempted to make a run in the bottom of the fifth,
but he was called out at the plate as he collided with catcher Jeff
Mathis.
In the top of the ninth inning, Mariano Rivera was called from the bullpen to
close the game. His first pitched was to Torii Hunter who earned a walk on
one strike count. Next to bat was Vladimir Guerrero who struck out on
Mo’s 91 MPH cutter. The last two batters, who had to hit nothing but
the Sandman’s cutter, flied out to right field and centre field, respectively.
Mariano Rivera sealed the ALCS Game 1 with the Yankees leading, 4-1, against the Angels.
Also posted in Bleacher Report.
July 1 in New York, July 2 in Manila..
Yankees against the Seattle Mariners. So, I just contented myself with MLB Gameday, like what I usually do in situations like this.
The Yankees won the second game of the series, 4-2, against the
Mariners. Good. It was their seventh straight win and Mariano Rivera’s
502nd save. Congratulations, Mr. Rivera! Also, A-Rod had another 2 run homer, right into The Monument.
I wanted to write about the game, but I haven’t watched it with my own eyes though I have the game details through the Gameday and Game Wrapup. I also want to write about Ramiro Peña. I’m going to miss this guy. He’s got talent, and he is good.
There was an article written, but it was my opinion about Joe Girardi’s
decision to pull Phil Hughes out and replace him with Brian Bruney.
It’s Mr. Girardi’s call, not mine. I have it posted in Bleacher Report. If anyone wants to read what I wrote, it’s here: The Arcane Eight Inning Decision of Joe Girardi
The next starting pitcher is CC Sabathia and I thank God that ESPN Asia will cover the game. 0700H GMT+8.
Music:
Bon Jovi – Thank You for Loving Me (acoustic)
Hope, Faith, Love . . . for the Yankees, and Baseball 