We are live from Chez Gross…
7:45 p.m.- Phils starters being introduced. I know TV flattens sound, but I thought the boos for Jimmy “Shut him up” Rollins were fairly subdued. Don’t hear any evidence that there’s a Philly presence in the crowd, though. Could do without the music….
7:50- Over on Comcast, Sixers are being lit up by Jason Williams - the point guard, not the psycho gun nut - who took last year off and played in a Miami summer league. Andre Miller, meanwhile, is playing behind Steve Blake in Portland.
7:56- Is Jill Biden hot? That theory has been advanced by a colleague.
Thanks to Joe Buck for mentioning that it’s the Phillies who are defending champs. Thanks also to Buck for not being Chip Carey.
8:01- This just in: Jill Biden less hot that Kim Basinger. (Took me five minutes on IMDB to come up with Basinger’s name. You’re not dealing with Bill Simmons here folks.)
Text from ET- ‘Yogi wth a broad on each arm. He’s so pimp.’
8:02- Leading off the game and the series, J-Roll… bunts? Little late in the game, and the career, to start that.
Utley gets behind and then works a walk. Excellent.
Howard looks like Dave Parker in that profile shot with the facial hair and the helmet a bit cockeyed.
8:08- Howard - who, remember, can’t hit lefties - lines a double to right. Sabbathia’s head can be messed with, and this is just how to do it. Werth’s gonna have to do something against this guy.
Werth walks. They’re loaded. This is a positive first inning even if they don’t score. Crowd sitting on hands, CC at 22-pitch mark and groping a little already.
8:14- Jumpy, got-to-drive-em-in swing by Ibanez on 3-1 pitch lets Yanks off easy.
8:18- Something to watch here- do Yanks step out a lot to miss with Lee’s fast rhythm?
Jeter whiffs on three pitches. Lee looks like Lee, and that’s a very good thing.
How smooth was that 1-2-3 first?
8:25- Top 2nd. Ben Francisco looks nervous. Sabbathia’s the all-time Yankee leader in pants fabric. Including the Bambino. And David Wells.
8:32- Fearsome Sixers’ D has held Orlando to 66 percent shooting and 10 threes. They’re down 23 at the half. Methinks this is tonight’s final dispatch from Orlando.
8:33- Lee vs. A-Rod.
8:34- Be seated, Alex.
Now Posada, the one Yankee I actually dislike. Bit of a snotty whiner. Naturally, he’s the first guy Lee gets behind.
Posada singles rather softly to right. Looks like it’s raining and blowing like hell right now.
8:38- No problem- Matsui and Cano go quietly. Lee’s dealin’. Top of the Phils order coming up.
J-Roll was born in 1978, so he appeared in MC Hammer videos was he was like, what, 10? Nice resume-builder.
Victorino drives one to upper deck in left, foul, as evil visions dance in CC’s head.
On the other hand, visions of Phils stranding baserunners and blowing chances…..
Utley isn’t a great hitter behind in the count, but you better throw him strikes.
Utley grinding, CC’s pitch count building….
8:52- Utley homers to right. Great AB. Sabbathia looked agitated even before that. Expect him to pitch Howard verrryyy carefully…
8:54- Give CC credit. He got pissed and went right at Howard. 1-0 Phils through two and a half.
ET, a huge Yankee fan, already counting this one as a loss.
Didn’t Justin Timberlake use to be involved in music?
9:00- Jeter drills first pitch to right for two-out double. Damon looks lost against Lee, though.
Werth, due up, needs to take some pitches.
9:10- Sabbathia blows Phils away in 4th. Give him credit- He took Utley’s homer like a slap in the face in a good way, gunning the heat to get ahead and then making aggressive pitches.
Lee looks to be going against type and working deliberately. To me, for Lee against this lineup, Texiera and A-Rod are litmus tests- so far, so great, he’s whiffed them four times. I’m not sure Lee isn’t a lefty version of Greg Maddux as his peak right now.
Into the fifth, still 1-0.
9:24- Looks like its raining hard again. Feliz bugs me- through the first couple months of this season he seemed to have picked something up from his mates. Now he’s swinging at everything again.
9:27- Fox graphic shows Lee and Sabbathia (both ex-Indians) and says “You still have Lebron.” Buck: ”The clock’s ticking.” How many Clevelanders just gave Buck the finger?
Oh by the way- Phils haven’t had a good AB since Utley’s homer…. it’s not like they can depend on Lee throwing a CG shutout…
Rain always looks worse than it is on TV but still, these pitchers are doing a hell of a job given the conditions… Oops, Matsui bounces a leadoff single up the middle.
9:36- And we have the first potential umpiring cluster@#*$ of the Fall Classic….. but they got it right. Rollins caught a sinking liner on the fly and doubled Matsui, but it was a little confusing-looking. Give credit to the umps and Buck/McCarver, who decisively explained what happened.
In case you’re wondering, cluster@#*$ is being turned into a link because the @ is making wordpress think it’s an e-mail address. If you’re interested in e-mailing cluster@#*$, simply click on the link.
9:46- Time for a little Harry the K: CHASE UTLEY, YOU ARE THE MAN… Guess he’s not hurt that bad. It’s 2-0. Both homers came off a grade A-plus-plus lefty, both after being behind in the count.
Werth not patient enough. But he did get a dribbler through the infield for a single. He should be running.
9:52- Sabbathia’s over 100 pitches with two outs in the sixth.
Again, a glum ET reports that it’s over.
I can’t think of a movie I’m more looking forward to based entirely on the TV trailer and the title than, “The men who stare at goats.”
10:05- Lee just caught a weak pop-up, off Damon’s bat, as nonchalantly as if he was playing catch with his kid. He seems fairly relaxed.
And we’re into the seventh.
Seeing Phil Hughes warm up reminds me… During the summer I remember reading a quote from some jackass scout saying that JA Happ’s success is evidence of how bad the NL is. Of course, he’s probably one of the scouts who would’ve have told you, not long ago, that Phil Hughes was God.
10:15- I love America as much as the next guy (assuming the next guy isn’t in al-Qaida), but “creative” or long-form versions of “God Bless America,” such as they’re now singing at the ballpark, make me swell with a feeling I’m pretty sure is not patriotism. I worked a Barnstormers’ game this summer in which a local choral group came up with an interpretation of GBA that was longer than a rain delay in the same game. I’m not kidding. That’s literally true.
On the bright side, I switched over to that MTV HD station and heard Elvis Costello do “Allison,” live.
10:21- Very strong 7th for Lee. You just can’t be much better. Not sure the pitch count, but a complete game seems possible. Now we get to see Utley hit again.
10:30- Rollins on, nobody out… I was just about the write that he should be running here and… there he goes. Posada can’t throw these guys out. One of the reasons I like the Phils in the series is I love their lineup against Hughes and Joba on this stage.
Victorino walks. 1st-and-second, nobody out, Hughes is gone. Guess who’s up?
Marte vs. Utley… it’s 2-and-0, crowd turning on the Yanks….. and the plate ump bails Marte out on two straight outside fastballs. Even ET (God live him) concurs, via text, although not in language that, uh, can be shared.
10:45- Now the plate ump squeezes Robertson and Werth walks. Bases loaded, two outs. Either Girardi uses four pitchers this inning or Ibanez finally gets to see a righty…
Robertson still in- Ibanez 3-2 bouncer finds a hole… and it’s 4-0. Timmy makes the good point that all Phils big hits have come with two strikes. The broadcasters have really been perfectly fine.
Now, maybe, I can stomach Lidge in the ninth. Not that I’m advocating it…
10:54- Lee vs. the Yankees’ 7-8-9 guys in the eighth- behind-the-back glove save and a beauty for the first out. He’s finally at 100 pitches. To paraphrase George Costanza, He’s Batman…
11:04- Ruiz gets a one-out double in the ninth, and McCarver says something nonsensical about icing and cake. Very good for Ruiz to get going- maybe I’m nuts, but it seems like the nine-hole hitter is big in DH games.
Rollins infeld hit, Victorino line single, and it’s 5-0.
How does the concept “All you need is love?” sell Blackberrys?
Howard’s second double of the night makes it 6-0. Victorino out at the plate, but this is starting to seem too good to be true.
11:20- Jeter gets his third hit, a blooper to center. Madson, not Lidge, up in the pen. McCarver says they should let Lee pitch at least to the apparently overmatched Damon, he’s right.
Damon singles to right. What was McCarver thinking?
Just kidding. It does make sense to go to Madson now. Texiera’s really struggling with Lee, though.
Texiera grounder up the middle, nice play by Utley, but Rollins messes up the DP throw. Jeter scores. Crap.
Lee’s up to 114 pitches now, A-Rod up. Lee should be done. Remember you want to throw him three times in the series.
11:28- Lee whiffs A-Rod for the third time, the sixth time he’s whiffed middle of the order righties A-Rod/Texiera. I’d like to see Posada end it…..
And he does. Whiff. Lee: 6 hits, 0 earned runs, 10 ks, 0 walks.
Phils should follow the old basketball coaches’ advice for playing on the road…. savor the silence in that ballpark.
So many good things about tonight… the best of which might be that Mariano Rivera wasn’t heard from.
Tomorrow night- Pedro takes center stage. Peace out.
