Series Over?

Last night, the Phillies suffered a crushing defeat that has just about everyone thinking this series is over for all intents and purposes.

I'm sure everyone saw it or at least the highlights and boxscore by now so I won't bore you with the details. A couple thoughts I had while watching:

The Phillies have let the Yankees off the hook time and again (see game 3, bases loaded 1 out for Victorino) and they did it again last night. After the Ynaks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Phils had a real chance to re-capture the lead in the bottom half after Chase Utley doubled in Victorino with 1 out and Howard stepping up to the plate (by the way, does anything sum up how good the Yanks are running this post-season like the A-Rod home run off the camera that shouldn't have gone out vs. Utley hitting that double off the top of the fence? It's a game of inches and the Yanks have been winning those inches)...and the Phils failed to score again that inning despite CC missing locations time and again.

Speaking of CC, he put together a gutsy performance but I think the innings are finally taking their toll as he was really laboring out there...the velocity was down on average, he missed a lot of spots, relied on his off-speed stuff and at times just looked flat out gassed out there.

To me, this game was won and lost in the 5th inning. In the top half the Yanks break a 2-2 tie and make it 4-2. The Phils brought the top of their order to the plate and Rollins delivered with a single, Victorino walked, and the table was set for the Phils to throw a knockout blow to CC Sabathia and even up the series 2-2. Utley watched a couple pitches right down the middle and couldn't hold back on a check swing on a 1-2 curve at his ankles and popped out weakly to short. Ryan Howard came up and impatiently popped out to left field. CC then got ahead on Werth and got him to chase a breaking ball in the dirt for strike 3...they got out of the inning unscathed and that to me pretty much ended the game and the series..

But the Phils did get another chance with the top of the order against CC surprisingly enough to me and I think Girardi made a big mistake letting CC pitch to Utley despite Rollins and Victorino scorching balls right at fielders and Utley delivered a solo homer.

In the bottom of the 8th, Joba came in and finally looked as electric as when they first brought him up and put him in the pen. He was throwing 96 mph fastballs that no one appeared capable of catching up to. He gets the first two outs and then has Pedro Feliz 1-2. Feliz looked about as far behind Joba's fastball as I usually did against an upper 80's fastball. Then Joba threw a 1-2 slider in the dirt immediately following McCarver's announcement "I don't think we'll see anything but the fastball with how hard Joba is throwing right now." Funny, but I actually think McCarver was right to say that..I don't think Feliz had a chance to catch up to the fastball there if he had to think about the slider in the back of his mind. When it went to 2-2 however, Joba had set him up perfectly and should have reared back and fired one as hard as he could..instead he got fancy and threw another slider in the dirt which Feliz was able to lay off. 3-2 count and every single person in the world, male, female, adult, kid, was sitting dead red on the fastball there - Feliz surely was and he deposited it into the left field bleachers. I thought it at the time, if you're throwing that 2-2 slider, you absolutely have to come back with it 3-2.

Didn't much matter as Lidge came in the 9th and allowed a 2 out single to Johnny Damon...Damon then stole 2nd and 3rd on the same pitch before Ledge hit Texeria. For some odd reason Lidge and Manuel decided to pitch to A-Rod, which might be more stupid than all of the moves I have killed Girardi for all post-season combined. A-Rod doubled. They then made an equally puzzling move pitching to Posada with first base open and the struggling Cano on deck and Posada plated two more runs, which completely ended any chance of the Phils coming back.

Now the whole world expects Cliff Lee to send it back to Yankee Stadium but Burnett looked good last out. I think the Yankees have a serious chance to close it out tonight against what should be a deflated Phillies team. Will be interesting to see how Burnett throws on short rest and the one caveat I will make is this: If Lee beats Burnett as most people seem to think he will....You have Andy Pettitte throwing on short rest like he has never done against a hot Pedro, I think that's a match that the Yankees will win, but if they do end up dropping that and we see a game 7 - I think Girardi has all but used up CC, again throwing him over 100 pitches. The game 7 adrenaline would probably help him but that is not something that the Yankees want to have to rely on. They'd be wise to close it out tonight, otherwise I have the funny feeling they better get it done game 6.