Thoughts on the Yanks' Game 4 win + Game 5 pitching matchup

It's 1:20 a.m. EST and my heart rate has finally dropped to a sustainable level after the Yankees stunned the Phillies, their crazy fans at Citizens Bank Park, and the rest of the baseball-watching universe with a series-changing, momentum-stealing 7-4 win in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series.

(photo H/T New York Times)

A-Rod delivered the game-winning hit with a double off Brad Lidge in the top of the 9th, scoring Johnny Damon from third to break a 4-4 tie. Jorge Posada followed with a 2-run single to give the Yankees some much-needed insurance. Mariano Rivera, of course, sealed the deal with a quick-and-tidy save that required only 8 pitches.

While A-Rod will get a lot of credit for driving in the winning run - as evidenced by the picture below from the Daily News - the real hero tonight was Johnny Damon.











Brad Lidge entered a 4-4 game in the top of the 9th after Pedro Feliz homered off Joba in the bottom of the 8th to tie it up. The fans had woken up and you could feel the momentum swaying the Phillies' way. Lidge rode the wave and got Hideki Matsui on a quick pop up and blew Derek Jeter away on a nasty slider. That's when Damon took over.

With 2 outs and nobody on, Damon worked the count full. He then fouled off 3 straight pitches -- more on this later -- before lining a pitch to left for a single. As Billy Mays would say...wait, there's more! On Lidge's first pitch to Mark Teixeira, Damon took off for 2nd and swiped it easily with a popup slide. But Damon didn't stop there. With one of his most heads-up moves in his Yankee career, Damon saw that nobody was covering third and took off. He turned on the jets to escape Feliz, who came pretty close to tagging him out, and reached third safely.

I saw three important things about this sequence. First, right after Damon worked the count full, he foul tipped a ball that Ruiz came thisclose to catching for an inning-ending strikeout. I mean, I thought he was gone, but fortunately the ball hit the ground and Damon was still alive. This really is a game of inches. Second, Damon stealing 2 bases at once really rattled Lidge (who had been cruising) and allowed the Yankees' big bats (i.e. Tex and A-Rod) to see a lot of pitches from a guy that the entire team hadn't seen since before the All-Star Break. Finally, Damon being on third base meant that Lidge couldn't throw too many sliders -- his best pitch, by far -- since he couldn't risk bouncing one in the dirt and allowing Damon to score from 90 feet away.

This last point proved enormous, as A-Rod got 2 fastballs. He took the first one for a strike (does A-Rod ever have an at-bat where he doesn't take the first pitch for a strike??) but rather than try to bury him with an unhittable slider, Lidge came right back with another fastball. On the inside corner. The exact location in which A-Rod has suddenly learned how to hit this postseason. A frozen rope into left field, and the Yankees retake the lead.

But Teixeira's still on 3rd with 2 outs! You can guess what that means. More fastballs for Jorge, and 2 more runs for the Bombers on a gapper between Ibanez and Victorino. Having guys on third base really prevented Lidge from putting hitters away with his slider. It must be rough having a closer who can't throw his best pitch with a guy on third. Once again, we Yankee fans are spoiled having Mo, who can throw the cutter whenever the heck he wants.

In any case, Damon deservedly won Player of the Game from every media outlet that offers such an award. He went 3-for-5 with 2 runs, 1 RBI, and 2 SB. His 9-pitch AB set up the 9th inning rally that allowed the Yankees to win their 3rd straight World Series game. Needless to say, the Yankees are in a dominant position. They are one win away from their 27th title. They have three games left and they only need to win one. Two of those games are in the Bronx. And they will have CC for Game 7, if necessary.

Here are a few postgame thoughts. A-Rod got plunked in the first inning for the 3rd time in as many games, prompting a warning from the umpire to both teams. Not sure if this was necessary. The Yankees were already up 1-0 and Damon was on 3rd base. Why would Joe Blanton want to put another man on base and risk giving up a huge first inning? The answer: he wouldn't. It wasn't intentional. But A-Rod's reaction more or less prompted it, so the warning was given; fortunately, no further action was taken.

Not sure what to think about Joba's 8th inning adventure. On one hand, he looked unhittable. He blew away Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth with 96 MPH heat, up and in against both batters. He ended up striking out the side. But he couldn't strike out Pedro Feliz because he couldn't get his slider over the plate. He bounced nearly every one he threw. So despite overpowering Feliz with 2 fastballs, Feliz worked the count full, so he knew Joba would be forced to throw another fastball. He wouldn't risk another slider in the dirt to walk him, so Joba naturally left a fastball over the plate. Even at 96 MPH, a big league hitter knows what to do. And Feliz deposited the ball in the left field seats to tie the game at 4.

So...what to make of that? Great stuff, struck out the side. Blew the lead because he only had one pitch of his two pitches (out of the 'pen, Joba really has just fastball/slider) working tonight. Seemed a little too amped up, also....he was working really fast. Good and bad signs from tonight. Yeah, he was credited with the win, but let's hope he forgets about it and prepares for his next possible appearance.

Finally, here is the Game 5 matchup. Cliff Lee vs. AJ Burnett. The Phillies have the advantage, on paper anyway. Lee was unbelievable in Game 1, throwing a complete game and not giving up any earned runs. Burnett pitched extremely well in Game 2 -- not as untouchable as Lee, but still his best game of the year -- but he will be pitching in Game 5 on just three days' rest.

Here's where things get interesting. We have to assume that Lee can replicate his performance from Game 1. But can Burnett? On one hand, his home/away splits are not good:

Home ERA: 3.51
Road ERA: 4.59

Home BAA: .229
Road BAA: .264

Home WHIP: 1.33
Road WHIP: 1.47

The rest of the stats tell the same story. Burnett struggles on the road. And he's been much better at Yankee Stadium this postseason than he's been away from the Bronx.

But then there's this. In his career, Burnett is 4-0 in 4 starts on just three days' rest. With an ERA of 2.33. While he hasn't pitched on short rest in his one year in pinstripes, at least he has a good track record.

If Burnett can even approach what he did in Game 2, we are in for a heck of a pitchers' duel in Philly tomorrow night. Sleep well, Yankees fans, your team has a commanding 3-1 lead and lots of momentum. Let's hope we can seal the deal in Game 5 tomorrow night!