When Pedro Feliz hit the game-tying homer in the 8th, it seemed like a series shift. Then Brad Lidge came in for the 9th. After dispatching the first two batters with ease, he almost had Johnny Damon on a foul tip that was not held by Carlos Ruiz. What happened next will live in Philadelphia baseball infamy. Damon got a soft single, stole second, then, with the shift (how I hate that play) on for Texeira, hightailed it to third. I could only watch in stunned disbelief. No one was covering third. Aaaaargh!
With a runner on third, Lidge abandoned his nasty slider. Eventually Alex Rodriguez hit the double that put the Yankees on top. By the end of the inning they had claimed a 7-4 lead, the Yankee fans were leaving the park. Most Phillie fans, I give them credit, stayed till the bitter end, but Mariano Rivera treated them to the same old, same old bloodsucking performance.
Joe Blanton actually hung in against C.C. Sabathia, who again was not at his sharpest. Chase Utley seems to do that to him. Utley and Feliz accounted for the Phillies' offense. Each doubled and homered. But one team took advantage of their opportunities, while the other did not. For the second time in the series, an inning started with Rollins and Victorino reaching base but ending up stranded at 1st and 2nd. The big boys are not getting it done.
It's frustrating to see Texeira and Rodriguez, batting something like .071 and .044 respectively, come up with key hits. Except for Utley's staggering numbers against Sabathia, Phillie lefties have been neutralized by the Yankee lefty arms. Ryan Howard, MVP of the NLCS, has been a cipher in the World Series. Ibanez pretty much looks clueless.
It's sad irony that Hamels and Lidge, the stars of last year's postseason, are the goats this year. The year has simply unraveled for both.
The first thing I did last night on getting to my seat, down the first base line, was to look for the infamous camera. There it was, in the corner by the foul pole, and what do you know, it was moved back from the field of play. A day late.
Watching the Yankees in person, which I have not done for several years, makes it easy to root against them. Johnny Damon is an amiable mercenary; Texeira is a bland one. Melky Cabrera acts like a punk, Cano seems shiftless, and Jorge Posada a 'me' player. No wonder that Alex Rodriguez draws so much ire. He is such a drama queen. When he got plunked early in the game by Blanton--and I hardly think it was intentional--he posed and carried on like a schoolgirl.
Hard to say anything bad, though, about Derek Jeter, though I doubt that he would be the player he is if he were not on the Yankees. But that's how it goes. Some people get the chances and make the most of them. Over and over, the Yankees remind the rest of baseball that life is not fair.
