The Phillies amazing ride to a repeat came to an end last night in the grandiose mausoleum in the Bronx. Pedro Martinez had nothing from the get-go, while Andy Pettitte gutted out another postseason win in his long career. Carlos Ruiz, a natural in the postseason, had a triple and scored the first Phillies' run on a Rollins' sac fly. Ryan Howard added two more with a two-run homer but by then it was too little, and way too late, in what was a convincing 7-3 Yankee win.
Hideki Matsui had six RBI in the game and was named MVP of the series. How do I hate the American League? Let me count the ways, starting and ending with the DH. Matsui won the award for his performance in game 6 but, really, how can a one-dimensional player, and that's all that the DH is, be the most valuable player?
It's easy to cast blame on the pitching, which was injury-riddled and often ineffective, but this series was a team loss. I keep thinking back to the Victorino at-bat in Game 3, when the Phillies early on had Pettitte on the ropes. With the bases loaded and no outs, Victorino hacked at the first two pitches, both of which were in the dirt. He ended up hitting a sac fly, but that at-bat shifted momentum--for the game and ultimately for the series.
Thanks for the memories. It was a season of intense highs and lows and a great ride till the very end. And, according to Jayson Werth, it's 97 days till spring training.
