Zell's Pinstripe Blog

Yankees (9-3) vs. Phillies (8-3)

Pitching Matchup:

LHP CC Sabathia (0-1, 2.57) vs RHP Joe Blanton (0-0, -.–)

Lineup

Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Sabathia P

Game News & Notes (Courtesy of the LoHud Blog)

• Weather: There may be some rain this afternoon but it looks like it should be cool and dry tonight, with light winds. Check out the full forecast here.
• The Yankees are two wins away from their 27th World Series title after a 8-5 victory in Game 3. The last time they were this close to a championship was in 2003, when they led the Marlins in the World Series but lost three games in a row to lose the series in six. This is the 54th time that the World Series had been tied at 1, and the team that won Game 3 has gone on to win the series 35 of the previous 53 times.
• Batter vs. Pitcher: Here are the Phillies vs. CC Sabathia. And here are the Yankees vs. Blanton.
• Sabathia will be pitching on short rest for the second time this postseason though he had extra rest (seven days) before his Game 1 start. Going short isn’t a problem for Sabathia, who is 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA when pitching on short rest in his career (including postseason). The last time he did it, he went eight innings allowing just one run in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Angels.
• Alex Rodriguez finally got his first World Series hit in Game 3, hitting a two-run home run in the fourth inning also making history as the first postseason use of instant replay. Rodriguez was also hit by pitches twice, tying a World Series record set on five other occasions.
• While A-Rod broke out of his mini-slump from the first two games, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard continues to be a non-factor. Howard fanned seven times in his eight at bats in Games 2 and 3, and his nine total strikeouts are three shy of the overall Series record (set by Kansas City’s Willie Wilson in 6 games in 1980).
• After struggling in his first postseason appearance during Game 3 of the Division Series, Damaso Marte has been the most reliable reliever in the Yankees bullpen ever since. He has faced nine batters and retired them all, striking out three. Marte has thrown 77 % of his pitches for strikes.
• Jorge Posada’s single in the seventh inning of Game 3 was his 87th postseason hit, moving him past Pete Rose and into seventh place on the all-time list.
• Those who were worried about Hideki Matsui coming off the bench needn’t have fretted: Matsui now has a .370 (10-for-27) career pinch hit average, including the regular and post-season. He also connected for the 24th pinch-hit home run in World Series history in the eighth inning of Game 3, and that was the first since his teammate, Eric Hinske, did it for the Rays in Game 4 of last year’s Series. Of the 24, it was the eighth by a Yankee (last was Jason Giambi on Oct. 23, 2003, Game 5 at Florida).

The game is taking place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. The game will start at 8:20PM ET. The game is being televised on FOX. The game can also be heard on the radio on WCBS 880 & ESPN Radio. Enjoy the game. Go Yankees!

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