A.J. Burnett was signed in the offseason for these types of games. With the Yankees down a game in the World Series, they needed Burnett to give them a lift. I am sure many Yankee fans where very nervous going into the game, including me. Throughout the season, we never knew which A.J. Burnett would show up.
Last night we got the pitcher with ace stuff. You can usually tell how well Burnett is pitching after the first inning. He has the stuff to dominate a game. Last night, he did just that. You could see from the start that Burnett's pitches had good movement, especially his curveball. The command was there all game long. Burnett often gets himself in trouble by walking batters. Last night, he walked just two Philadelphia hitters in his 7 innings of work. His command and movement of pitches kept the Phillies off balance and unable to really put any good swings together. Burnett gave up just one run on four hits while striking out 9 batters. The only run the Phillies scored came in the second inning. With two outs, Raul Ibanez hit a double that landed on the foul line and went into the stands. The next batter, Matt Stairs, hit a hard ground ball to third base that Alex Rodriguez should have caught. The ball got past Rodriguez for a run scoring single as left fielder Johnny Damon could not throw out Ibanez at the plate. That was all the Phillies could do against Burnett.
The Yankees would tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by the slumping Mark Teixeira. Two innings later, Hideki Matsui would give the Yankees the lead for good with a solo home run of his own. Matsui was 2 for 3 and a walk on the night.
With the Yankees up 3-1 after 7 innings, manager Joe Girardi turned the game over to closer Mariano Rivera for a two inning save. All the talk about the struggling setup guys was mute last night. Rivera was his own setup man. In his two innings of work, Rivera gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two Phillies batters.
The series is tied one game a piece as it moves to Philadelphia starting Saturday night. The Game 3 starters are a pair of lefties. Andy Pettitte takes the mound for the Yankees opposite Cole Hamels for the Phillies.
Other Game 2 Notes
- Phillies slugger Ryan Howard was 0 for 4, striking out all four times.
- Former Yankee, Paul O'Neill threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
- Backup catcher, Jose Molina got the start as Burnett pitched and made a beautiful play by picking Jeyson Werth off of first base.
- Jerry Hairston Jr. started in right field in place of the struggling Nick Swisher. Hairston was a .370 career hitter against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez.
- Speaking of Pedro, Yankees fans had the "Who's Your Daddy?" chant going many times throughout the game and serenaded his with boo's as he left the game in the 7th inning. We just love to hate this guy!
- Joe Girardi said the Yankees will not announce their Game 4 starter until Game 3 is over.