World Series Game 1 Thoughts

Random thoughts on a game that doesn't need much explanation:

◊  Last night's game pretty much begins and ends with Cliff Lee. Sure, Chase Utley deserves props for hitting not one but two home runs against fellow lefty CC Sabathia.  Lee was downright filthy.  Lee threw 122 pitches across his complete game, 80 of which were strikes.  He gave up six hits, one run and zero walks.

The walk count is the most telling.  Not only was Lee in or around the strike zone all night, freezing the Yankees with change-ups he seemed to spot at will.

Take a look at Lee's pitches versus strikes breakdown:

Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Count	Strikes / %	Swinging Strikes / %
FF (FourSeam Fastball)	91.31	47	28 / 59.57%	4 / 8.51%
CH (Changeup)	84.62	21	18 / 85.71%	5 / 23.81%
SL (Slider)	84.99	24	13 / 54.17%	3 / 12.50%
CU (Curveball)	79.99	16	12 / 75.00%	4 / 25.00%
FT (TwoSeam Fastball)	91.8	13	9 / 69.23%	0 / 0.00%

Thirteen of Lee's twenty-one change-ups were non-swinging strikes.  Twelve of sixteen curveballs were strikes.  Lee had every pitch working for him last night, evidenced by the fact that only two batters made it to a full count.

Thankfully, Lee threw 122 pitches and has never pitched on three days rest before.  Charlie Manual probably won't consider using him on short rest.

◊  It wasn't a great night for CC Sabathia but, considering how it started, it was still pretty good. CC's only mistakes were the solo home runs to Chase Utley who inexplicably got the same fastball over the middle of the plate on both swings.  The second one was preceded by Posada trying to get CC to go outside with Sabathia refusing.  The result was a souvenir for an unhappy fan.

Sabathia gave up 3 home runs to lefties this season across 216 plate appearances.  Utley did it twice in one game.

◊  Jimmy Rollins started off the game with a bunt down the first baseline for an out. It was a silly play by the outspoken Rollins, who probably thought the element of surprise was more important than seeing what CC was throwing that evening.  Rollins wasted an out in what was eventually a bases loaded situation that CC narrowly escaped from.

So what does Johnny Damon do in the bottom of the first with one out after Jeter struck out on three pitches?  Bunt, of course.

Did the Yankee bench sit and marvel at Rollins' bunt attempt in the first, their heads filling with grandiose thoughts of wasted outs?

◊  Phil Hughes couldn't find the plate last night, starting the eighth inning by walking two batters that eventually scored.  As Hughes left the mound, he barked at Gerry Davis, the home plate umpire.  Phil's location chart doesn't support Phil's frustration.

Hughes pitched in plenty of high leverage situations this season, making it difficult to understand why he's struggled lately.  It could be a tired arm or the just a bad patch of games at an inopportune time.

Hughes fastball has been right inline with his regular season performance in regards to speed and break.  His slider has actually gotten a little bit faster which may eliminate the tired arm explanation.

The most curious thing about Hughes last night was he didn't feature his cutter, which has been very effective for him.  Why he would drop his cutter at this stage is a bit puzzling but considering he couldn't get his fastball over the plate, he probably wouldn't have gotten the cutter either.

◊ I had high hopes that the addition of Brian Bruney meant better use of David Robertson. We saw the start of that last night, with Robertson coming in during the eighth inning while Joba sat in the pen wearing a sweatshirt.  Robertson walked Werth on four pitches, then gave up a seeing-eye grounder to Ibanez that plated two runs.  He ended the inning by getting Francisco to ground out.  Not a bad performance by Robertson as the ground ball was mostly bad luck.

I didn't expect to see Brian Bruney come out and pitch the ninth.  At that point, even the most confident of fan must have been doubtful that the Yankees could come back from four runs down, which may have been in the back of Girardi's mind.  Four runs is easier than six, though, and Bruney's ineffectiveness left him with two earned runs in a third of an inning.

Bruney hasn't pitched in a game since the end of the regular season.  If Girardi wants to put him in to get him going, he needs to keep the leash a little bit shorter.

◊  Pedro Martinez starts for the Phillies tonight. It's amazing how a few good starts can make people believe in Pedro again.  His fastball has been averaging about 89 miles per hour, which isn't very good.  It's his change-up, which sits around 79-80 that can be Pedro's damage pitch just like his old days.  He needs to throw it for strikes which is something he did only half the time against the Dodgers.

In Pedro's 130 pitch marathon against the Mets in September, Martinez featured three kinds of fastballs, a change-up, curveball, slider and a cutter.  Everything but the kitchen sink.  The hapless Mets bailed Pedro out a bit as none of his pitches were overly effective.

Pedro is certainly capable of pitching a good game, especially if the Yankees are impatient with him.  But realistically, Pedro hasn't performed against an offense of the Yankees caliber yet, making me doubtful that the Phillies can expect more than a mediocre performance.

◊  Burnett gets the ball tonight and Jose Molina likely will be behind the plate. It's a waste of a bat, but whatever.  Girardi has to stick to his guns at this point.  Putting Posada behind the plate now would be an admission that Molina didn't have to be there in Burnett's other three starts.  I can't see Girardi doing that, not even if AJ pitches game five in Philly.

◊  We're chatting again tonight for game 2.  Come on by and join us.