BACK TO THE BRONX

I'll stand by it. Joe Giradi made the right decision. There's no way you could've pitched Chad Gaudin in last night's game instead of A.J. Burnett. You have to go with your best pitchers, it is the World Series after all. If you go down, you go down swinging, not giving away games. The problem wasn't the decision, it was the execution. A.J. Burnett, unfortunately, pitched terribly, a disgusting effort from a guy with a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde pitching persona. When he's on he's dynamite, but last night he had a short fuse, and the Phillies lit him up. That was compounded by Phil Coke giving up two homers to lefties, guys he was supposed to put away. If one of those guys pitched even a tad better, it would have been a new game come the 9th inning thanks to a Yankee rally.

It wasn't to happen. The Phillies had put up 8 runs, led by MVP candidate Chase Utley who tied a WS home run record, fittingly held by Reggie Jackson. Cliff Lee wasn't as sharp as he was in Game One, but he kept his team in the game. Ryan Madson, not Brad Lidge, closed, albeit shakily, although he got Derek Jeter to ground into a double play and struck out Teixeira to end it. Both were horrible rally killers. Previous to the DP, Posada had doubled and Matsui, bless his heart, singled him to third, and then after the DP, Johnny Damon had another warrior at-bat ending with another single. If Teixeira gets on base, ARod comes up...but it doesn't happen.

The rally does prove that the Yankees aren't dead, and the momentum hasn't exactly turned. Now, the series comes back to the Bronx as it did in the ALCS with Pettitte on the mound once again. Yes, he is not going to be as strong as he was last time, but he still will have his guts and guile vs. Pedro Martinez and the Philly hitters. I have always thought it would get this far, so I'm not surprised it has, but now the Yanks will have their two most trusted pitchers going for them in the final two games. Short rest or not, this is exactly how I'd want it.