WS Game 3 - Pettitte is Double Threat in Yanks Win

It appeared that Andy Pettitte was about to be blown out by the Phillies in the 2nd inning. He was touched up for 3 runs, including a solo shot to Jayson Werth, and left 2 men on base when he struck out the greasy-haired Chase Utley to end the long inning. Pettitte, however, settled down after that, only allowing another solo shot to Werth in the 6th inning after the Yanks bats finally woke up.

The Yanks rally began when ARod lofted a shot down the RF line that hit a camera. Initially called a double, the umps reviewed the replay and correctly called it a HR that brought the Yanks to within 1 run in the 4th. The Yanks would tack on 3 more runs in the 5th to chase Phillies starter, Cole Hamels. Pettitte tied the score at 3, knocking in Nick Swisher with a single. That is not a misprint - there was an actual Swisher sighting tonight, as he led off the inning with a double. He also homered in the 6th for his 1st dinger this postseason. Joe Girardi should bench this guy more often.

Johnny Damon also had a 2-run double in the 5th. The Yanks scored their other runs on a Jorge Posada single and a pinch-hit HR from Hideki Matsui. Pettitte only lasted 6 innings, but he gave a gutsy performance, allowing the Yanks to get back into the game. The Yankees only had 8 hits, but fortunately, Philadelphia only managed 6 of their own.

Joba Chamberlain and Damaso Marte gave the Bombers bullpen hope when they retired 6 straight batters. Marte struck out 2 batters. With a 4-run lead, Girardi opted to start the 9th with Phil Hughes, which is a good call, since the Yanks need him to get things right. Hughes retired his first batter before serving up a solo shot to Yankee killer, Carlos Ruiz. In came Mariano Rivera, who just needed 5 pitches to end the game, including retiring loud-mouth Jimmy Rollins on a weak pop-up.

Thoughts and observations on the Series:

- Melky, Tex and ARod are hitting .100 in the series, while Cano is even worse at .091. ARod was also hit twice and walked tonight, so at least his OBP is over .300.

- Let's hope Ryan Howard continues to sleep walk through this series.

- How do the Yanks continue to walk Rollins who owned a .296 OBP during the regular season? He's walked 4 times already in the Series.

- Pettitte's RBI single was the first RBI by a Yankee pitcher in the World Series since 1964, when Jim Bouton recorded one in Game 6.

- Let's hope the Phillies keep smacking their gums while the Yanks keep playing hard-nosed ball. I know my buddies from Philly have kept their text messages to a minimum themselves these past 2 games. My phone was blowing up in Game 1.

Yankees Postseason Record: 9=3

World Series: Yanks up, 2-1