Game Three Preview

Luckily for a little rain delay so I can get a quick blog posting in. Pettitte vs. Cole Hamels in game three at Citizen Bank Park in Philadelphia is potentially delayed (albeit slightly). The couple big stories I've been following up to game time is the lack of success from Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez and some commentary on the Phillies starting staff.

A-rod and Howard have struck out a combined 12 times in the first two games in NYC (with the World Series record being 12). While references of A-rod gone past have been brought out in the media, I personally think both will be fine by the end of this series. A-rod's still relaxed, swinging the bat well and was just victimized by a couple Cy Young award winning pitchers. Pedro was crafty and Lee was nasty in games one and two. Expect a completely different outing over games three and four as Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton take the hill. Howard is a streaky hitting power bat who strikes out about 200 times a year. Considering Reggie Jackson lost his single season strike out record to the massive first baseman, I have to believe he'll connect soon as well. Here's hoping its in March. Pitching has been the story of the Fall classic to this point, and while I expect more runs in game three, there are still pitching stories abound. Cole Hamels was last year's World Series MVP. This year, well he's been far from that as he's showcased significant inconsistencies all season and posted a rather mortalesque 10-11 record with a 4.32 ERA. Throughout the post season Hamels has looked anything like an ace starter. Phillies analyst continue to push the location theory although I'm not buying it. Sure Hamels is just missing his spots, but that's a symptom, not the cause. Hamels is hurt and he's tired. He's a relative young 25 having started his MLB career in 2006. Last year he went deep into the fall, eventually hauling in a World Series title and MVP. He is suffering from the same thing that Tampa's starters publicly went through. He worked considerably more innings last year than ever before, he came into the pre-season with an elbow injury and he's both wore out and still not healthy. Tonight you will see his last appearance of the season and in my opinion, it will not be pretty.

Pettitte on the other hand has only won twice, posted a 2.37 ERA over three starts where he went 6.1 innings each. Oh, and he claimed a couple records on his way of pitching the Yankees back into the World Series. Andy Pettitte has been here before, in '96, '98, '99, '00, '01, '03, '05 and now in 2009. Pettitte has clinched more post season series than any pitcher in history (5) and won more post season games than anyone in history (16). He's been working his cutter and re-affirming his playoff reputation. Pettitte has not, nor will he ever, win a Cy Young and while he's had 20 win seasons, he usually posts a high 3's to low 4's ERA. Pettitte though in my eyes gets the greatest of all compliments, he is a gamer, the bigger the stage, the better he pitches. He saves his best showing for when it counts the most and he maximizes his skills to do whatever it takes to get it done. Look for the infamous pick off move, the nasty cutter, some broken bats and key double plays and a Yankees Win in game three.

Regardless of the outcome tonight, we are heading tomorrow into Game Four and the Yankees will start their horse CC Sabathia in game four, setting up a game seven potential third start. The Phillies have taken a different approach and will hold Cliff Lee to game five, limiting him to two starts in the series and putting the ball in the hands of an inconsistent Cole Hamels, an 88 MPH fastball throwing, 37 year old Pedro and Joe Blanton, who is, well, Joe Blanton. I've written before this summer (I believe with the Jays in town) of getting your ace in the games you need to win. On Paper (and I know this game is NEVER played on Paper), but on paper, you have to like Pettitte tonight, Sabathia in Game four putting Lee in a potential 3-1 hole with games six and seven (if he wins game five) in the Bronx. We'll see how this all works out, but sitting here tonight, waiting for Game Three to start, I'm not only second guessing Manuel's rotation, I'm full on calling it out as a potential Series shifting move. Time will tell.

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I'm Todd Price