Charlie Manuel has passed on having Cliff Lee pitch Game 4 in Philly, opting to go with righty Joe Blanton. Blanton seems to be getting a lot of game-four calls, seeing as he pitched game four of the NLCS and last year's Fall Classic. Blanton will go head-to-head with New York ace C.C. Sabathia, who will be pitching on short rest. Sabathia pitched the same schedule during the ALCS. As I'm sure most fans will recall, the Brewers tried this same strategy down the stretch last season. Instead of being able to cash in on C.C.'s success, they wore him out and lost to the Phillies in the NLDS. The Yankees, much like last year's Milwaukee team, have few other options. Their rotation has been suspect throughout the season, and the way they feel, the more they can get out of Sabathia, the better.
The key against Sabathia for the Phils is the same as it has been and will be throughout this World Series: Patience at the plate. The pitches will come, but they need to let them happen on their own. The Phillies have been swinging at junk pitches, as well as not adjusting to the home plate umpire's wide strike zone. Pitches on the outside edge will get called. The sooner they figure that out, the sooner we'll see some runs on the board.
Andy Pettitte takes the hill for the Yankees against Cole Hamels for Philadelphia. Game time is 7:57 PM. It will be in Philadelphia, which means that any 320 ft. swings by Hideki Matsui will be fly-outs, not home runs. It also means it will be a real postseason atmosphere, and tickets will be half the price of what they were at the new Yankee Stadium.
Let's take this one, boys.
0 comments:
Post a Comment