Phillies seek 2-0 lead with Pedro Martinez on Yankee Stadium mound
Cliff Lee is certainly going to be a tough act to follow in this World Series, but Pedro Martinez will have that task on Thursday for the Phillies in Game 2 against the Yankees.
Has it really only been six years since Grady Little made the fateful decision to leave Pedro Martinez in to pitch that eighth inning at Yankee Stadium?
Funny how time can play tricks on a mind, especially an old one like mine. Some events in my life from the 1970s seem like they happened yesterday, while that Game 7 seems much longer than six Octobers in the past.
Pedro and the Red Sox entered the eighth inning of the final game of the 2003 ALCS with a 5-2 lead and seemed destined to head to the World Series. Martinez got Nick Johnson to pop up in the infield for the first out, and then the wheels came off. A Derek Jeter double was followed by a Bernie Williams RBI single to cut New York's deficit to 5-3, and that was followed by a trip to the mound by Little.
It seemed an obvious decision to pull Martinez and being in lefty Alan Embree to face Hideki Matsui, the next pinstriped batter. Pedro had 120 pitches under his belt at the time, the only real mistakes before that inning being solo jacks by Jason Giambi. But Little left Martinez in. Matsui tied it with a two-run double and Aaron Boone slugged his way into Yankees lore with a walk-off homer in the 11th to give New York their 39th AL Pennant, their last before this season.
Down goes Zimmah! Down goes Zimmah! More
great moments from the 2003 ALCS
Martinez did get a little revenge when his Red Sox pulled the biggest postseason rally of all-time the next year, winning the AL flag after being down to the Yankees three games to none in the 2004 ALCS. Grady Little was fired -- technically, his contract was not renewed -- and he caught on with the Dodgers for the 2006-07 seasons before resigning and presumably leaving baseball for good.
I'm not sure why all of that seems so long ago, but I do know that back here in the present Pedro is going to be back on the mound for the Phillies at the new Yankee Stadium Thursday night opposing the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2009 World Series. New York will counter with A.J. Burnett and opened as -185 to -190 favorites with the total set at 9.
Both Martinez and Burnett will have a tough time topping Cliff Lee's performance on Wednesday in the Phillies' 6-1 Game 1 win. Lee went the distance for Philadelphia in a masterful effort, losing his shutout in the ninth on a couple of singles and a Jimmy Rollins throwing error. The 10 strikeouts Lee recorded, three against Alex Rodriguez, weren't nearly as impressive as a couple of his plays in the field, the nonchalant snare of a Johnny Damon pop in the sixth destined to be part of the highlights of this Series.
C.C. Sabathia was also solid in the start for New York, the pair of Chase Utley homers his only downfall over seven innings.
But tonight we figure to get to see more of both bullpens, with Yankees relievers charged with four runs over the course of the final two frames last night. Lee obviously saved Manuel from having to make any relief decisions, something that won't happen this evening. Forget about Manuel being forced into the same decision as Little six years ago and wonder if he should send Martinez out to the mound in the eighth. The Phillies skipper will be lucky if his starter can get through the sixth this evening.
The question in this one is about the Yankees offense. Can they rebound from the voodoo Cliff Lee put on them last night and get to Martinez early? I think they can, and with the Phillies just a hit away in the first inning on Wednesday from getting to Sabathia before he settled down, I find myself liking the Over more than any other play in Game 2. There's certainly some value in the prospect of Philly taking the 2-0 lead at a +170 price, but give me the Over 9.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 2, Thu, Oct 29, 7:57 p.m. (ET): Pedro Martinez (8-1, 3.63 regular season / 1-0, 0.00 postseason) vs. A.J. Burnett (21-12, 4.04 regular season / 2-1, 4.41 postseason)
UMPIRE
Jeff Nelson should have the task of calling balls and strikes in this one, coming in with an 18-16 Home-Visitor mark from the 2009 regular season and big 22-12 lean to the Over.
Part of the crew that worked the Dodgers, Cardinals NLDS earlier this month, Nelson didn't get a shot to work the plate with LA sweeping the Pujols Posse in three. His last game behind the plate in the playoffs was Game 3 of the 2008 NLDS when the Dodgers completed their sweep of the Cubs in LA.
Nelson's World Series experience is limited to the 2005 Fall Classic between my beloved Astros and White Sox. He was at the plate in Game 2 of that Series in Chicago, a 7-6 win for the Pale Hose in what was another postseason sweep. Hmmm, am I the only one detecting a pattern here?
WEATHER
Though the thermometer will dip into the 40s during the game, it should begin in the mid-50s and the skies should be clear at Yankee Stadium Thursday evening without any wind affecting play.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
Cliff Lee is certainly going to be a tough act to follow in this World Series, but Pedro Martinez will have that task on Thursday for the Phillies in Game 2 against the Yankees.
Has it really only been six years since Grady Little made the fateful decision to leave Pedro Martinez in to pitch that eighth inning at Yankee Stadium?
Funny how time can play tricks on a mind, especially an old one like mine. Some events in my life from the 1970s seem like they happened yesterday, while that Game 7 seems much longer than six Octobers in the past.
Pedro and the Red Sox entered the eighth inning of the final game of the 2003 ALCS with a 5-2 lead and seemed destined to head to the World Series. Martinez got Nick Johnson to pop up in the infield for the first out, and then the wheels came off. A Derek Jeter double was followed by a Bernie Williams RBI single to cut New York's deficit to 5-3, and that was followed by a trip to the mound by Little.
It seemed an obvious decision to pull Martinez and being in lefty Alan Embree to face Hideki Matsui, the next pinstriped batter. Pedro had 120 pitches under his belt at the time, the only real mistakes before that inning being solo jacks by Jason Giambi. But Little left Martinez in. Matsui tied it with a two-run double and Aaron Boone slugged his way into Yankees lore with a walk-off homer in the 11th to give New York their 39th AL Pennant, their last before this season.
Down goes Zimmah! Down goes Zimmah! More
great moments from the 2003 ALCS
Martinez did get a little revenge when his Red Sox pulled the biggest postseason rally of all-time the next year, winning the AL flag after being down to the Yankees three games to none in the 2004 ALCS. Grady Little was fired -- technically, his contract was not renewed -- and he caught on with the Dodgers for the 2006-07 seasons before resigning and presumably leaving baseball for good.
I'm not sure why all of that seems so long ago, but I do know that back here in the present Pedro is going to be back on the mound for the Phillies at the new Yankee Stadium Thursday night opposing the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2009 World Series. New York will counter with A.J. Burnett and opened as -185 to -190 favorites with the total set at 9.
Both Martinez and Burnett will have a tough time topping Cliff Lee's performance on Wednesday in the Phillies' 6-1 Game 1 win. Lee went the distance for Philadelphia in a masterful effort, losing his shutout in the ninth on a couple of singles and a Jimmy Rollins throwing error. The 10 strikeouts Lee recorded, three against Alex Rodriguez, weren't nearly as impressive as a couple of his plays in the field, the nonchalant snare of a Johnny Damon pop in the sixth destined to be part of the highlights of this Series.
C.C. Sabathia was also solid in the start for New York, the pair of Chase Utley homers his only downfall over seven innings.
But tonight we figure to get to see more of both bullpens, with Yankees relievers charged with four runs over the course of the final two frames last night. Lee obviously saved Manuel from having to make any relief decisions, something that won't happen this evening. Forget about Manuel being forced into the same decision as Little six years ago and wonder if he should send Martinez out to the mound in the eighth. The Phillies skipper will be lucky if his starter can get through the sixth this evening.
The question in this one is about the Yankees offense. Can they rebound from the voodoo Cliff Lee put on them last night and get to Martinez early? I think they can, and with the Phillies just a hit away in the first inning on Wednesday from getting to Sabathia before he settled down, I find myself liking the Over more than any other play in Game 2. There's certainly some value in the prospect of Philly taking the 2-0 lead at a +170 price, but give me the Over 9.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 2, Thu, Oct 29, 7:57 p.m. (ET): Pedro Martinez (8-1, 3.63 regular season / 1-0, 0.00 postseason) vs. A.J. Burnett (21-12, 4.04 regular season / 2-1, 4.41 postseason)
UMPIRE
Jeff Nelson should have the task of calling balls and strikes in this one, coming in with an 18-16 Home-Visitor mark from the 2009 regular season and big 22-12 lean to the Over.
Part of the crew that worked the Dodgers, Cardinals NLDS earlier this month, Nelson didn't get a shot to work the plate with LA sweeping the Pujols Posse in three. His last game behind the plate in the playoffs was Game 3 of the 2008 NLDS when the Dodgers completed their sweep of the Cubs in LA.
Nelson's World Series experience is limited to the 2005 Fall Classic between my beloved Astros and White Sox. He was at the plate in Game 2 of that Series in Chicago, a 7-6 win for the Pale Hose in what was another postseason sweep. Hmmm, am I the only one detecting a pattern here?
WEATHER
Though the thermometer will dip into the 40s during the game, it should begin in the mid-50s and the skies should be clear at Yankee Stadium Thursday evening without any wind affecting play.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
