11/03: World Series Game 5: Late Rally Falls Short in Philly
Posted by: Seamus
The Yankees had an opportunity to end the night as the 2009 World Series Champions, but A.J. Burnett was off his game and the Philly bats proved to be too much for the Yankee pitching staff in Game 5. Instead, the Yankees and Phillies will be heading to the Bronx for Game 6 after an 8–6 victory for the Phillies.
The game was all Phillies for the first seven innings of the game. Philadelphia jumped ahead 3–1 in the first on yet another home run by Chase Utley, this time a 3-run shot off of A.J. Burnett.
Three more runs would score off of Burnett in the third, giving the Phillies an early 6–1 advantage. Burnett in this game was just a shell of the man who dominated the heavy-hitting Phils in Game 2 of this series, walking 4 batters and allowing 6 runs to come across on short rest, and was unable to make it out of the third inning.
The game became seemingly out of reach for the Yankees in the bottom of the seventh, when Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez both took Phil Coke deep to give the Phillies a commanding 8–2 lead. Utley's home run was the 5th for him in this series, tying him with Reggie Jackson for the most home runs ever in a single World Series.
With Cliff Lee still on the mound entering the eighth inning, things didn't look very good for the Yankees. However, the Yanks would threaten in this one as they would tag Lee for three runs in the inning to pull within 8–5. The inning was highlighted by a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez that went off the glove of Raul Ibanez in left field. The third run was scored on a sacrifice fly by Robinson Cano that scored A-Rod.
The Yankees would get the tying run to the plate in the final inning, but the rally took a huge blow when Derek Jeter grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to record the first two outs in the ninth (Jorge Posada scored on the play). A base hit by Johnny Damon did put the tying run on base yet again to give the Yankees one final crack at tying the game, but Mark Teixeira struck out swinging on a bad at bat against Ryan Madson to end the game.
So it was a game that looked like a blowout that turned out to be a game that was lost on missed opportunities. A bad start by A.J. Burnett, a bad seventh inning out of Phil Coke, and an untimely double play by Jeter all stand out in this one. It's a little easier to take though when you consider that the Yanks still lead the series three games to two and will be coming home for the final game(s) with two chances to wrap things up.
Andy Pettitte will try to do something that he also did in 1998, and that is start a World Championship clinching game for the Yankees. He'll be up against Pedro Martinez in what could be an epic battle at Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening. Scheduled start time is 7:57 ET.
The game was all Phillies for the first seven innings of the game. Philadelphia jumped ahead 3–1 in the first on yet another home run by Chase Utley, this time a 3-run shot off of A.J. Burnett.
Three more runs would score off of Burnett in the third, giving the Phillies an early 6–1 advantage. Burnett in this game was just a shell of the man who dominated the heavy-hitting Phils in Game 2 of this series, walking 4 batters and allowing 6 runs to come across on short rest, and was unable to make it out of the third inning.
The game became seemingly out of reach for the Yankees in the bottom of the seventh, when Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez both took Phil Coke deep to give the Phillies a commanding 8–2 lead. Utley's home run was the 5th for him in this series, tying him with Reggie Jackson for the most home runs ever in a single World Series.
With Cliff Lee still on the mound entering the eighth inning, things didn't look very good for the Yankees. However, the Yanks would threaten in this one as they would tag Lee for three runs in the inning to pull within 8–5. The inning was highlighted by a two-run double by Alex Rodriguez that went off the glove of Raul Ibanez in left field. The third run was scored on a sacrifice fly by Robinson Cano that scored A-Rod.
The Yankees would get the tying run to the plate in the final inning, but the rally took a huge blow when Derek Jeter grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to record the first two outs in the ninth (Jorge Posada scored on the play). A base hit by Johnny Damon did put the tying run on base yet again to give the Yankees one final crack at tying the game, but Mark Teixeira struck out swinging on a bad at bat against Ryan Madson to end the game.
So it was a game that looked like a blowout that turned out to be a game that was lost on missed opportunities. A bad start by A.J. Burnett, a bad seventh inning out of Phil Coke, and an untimely double play by Jeter all stand out in this one. It's a little easier to take though when you consider that the Yanks still lead the series three games to two and will be coming home for the final game(s) with two chances to wrap things up.
Andy Pettitte will try to do something that he also did in 1998, and that is start a World Championship clinching game for the Yankees. He'll be up against Pedro Martinez in what could be an epic battle at Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening. Scheduled start time is 7:57 ET.
