Skip to main content

Cliff Lee Blows Away the Yankees in Game One

PHILLIES 6
YANKEES 1

So much for that great Yankee offense.

So much for the miracle comebacks.

So much for the dominance of C.C. Sabathia, the flaming bat of Alex Rodriguez, and the possibility that the Yankees would take it to the Phillies.

Instead it was Cliff Lee who mastered the Yankees, pitching a complete game six hitter, while striking out 10 Yankees. He was absolutely dominant in the effort, mowing right through the Yankees order like a knife through butter.

Lee never broke a sweat in the effort, making a lazy catch on the mound to record an out, and back-handing another out, as he spearheaded the defending world champions to a game one victory.

Lee's counterpart, C.C. Sabathia labored throughout the evening. In the first inning, Sabathia loaded the bases full of Phillies, before getting Raul Ibanez to ground out to second to end the Phillie threat.

That being said, Sabathia just didn't have it tonight. By the third inning he threw over 50 pitches, and by the time his night was over in the seventh, Sabathia threw 113. He was not good with his command, pitching to 3-2 counts for most of the night, and looked flustered with the strike zone.

The Phillies broke through in the third, when Chase Utley lifted a sinker and placed three rows deep over the right field wall to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.

In the sixth, Utley got into another Sabathia pitch, this one a fastball right down the middle, that Utley cracked deep into the bleachers in right to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies would tack runs on in the eighth and ninth innings. Shane Victorino's single to right brought home Carlos Ruiz to make it 3-0. That was followed up by Ryan Howard's RBI double down the right field line to drive in Jimmy Rollins to make it 4-0 Phillies, all but ending this ball game. Box score.

The Phillies lead the best of seven series 1-0, and will look to Pedro Martinez tomorrow night against A.J. Burnett. The Yankees have to win this game if they have any intention of getting back into this series, otherwise it's lights out, especially with Cole Hamels and Lee looming for games three and four.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...

Francisco Lindor Remains Red Hot as Mets Top Phillies

 Francisco Lindor remains the hottest player in Queens right now.  The Mets shortstop blasted two more home runs, including a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth inning, Monday night to help propel the Mets to a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.   Lindor who typically struggles in the month of April is putting together a heck of a month. Monday's two hit effort was the 10th game in the last 11 where Lindor has recorded a hit. In fact in the month of April alone this year, Lindor was hitting at .311 coming into Monday's action.  On the year, Lindor is batting .284 with five homers and 13 RBI.  Lindor's efforts proved to be prophetic, as the Phillies Alec Bohm crushed a three-run bomb off Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth to cut the Mets lead to a single run. Fortunately for New York, Diaz was able to shut the door with strikeouts of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.  New York (16-7) has now won five in a row.  

Mets Keep Rolling into Phillies Series

 The New York Mets are feeling pretty good about things right now!  The Amazin's swept a four game series from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, winning 7-4 Sunday afternoon. It was the first time since 1986 that the Amazin's had swept such a series from St. Louis. We all know what happened later that season.    Well, not to get too far ahead of ourselves, because the 2025 version now faces a very stiff challenge. The Mets will face their arch rivals the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday with only two games separating the two teams in the NL East.  The Mets took out Philly in the NLDS last October, so this figures to be a heck of showdown. The Mets begin a month long stretch against teams that are likely postseason contenders like the Phillies, D-Backs, Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.  If the Mets (15-7) are this good, we will know for sure in a month.