Hamels, Werth give Phillies early lead
October 31, 2009
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Cole Hamels(notes) regained his October form in a hurry, JaysonWerth(notes) launched a long home run and the Philadelphia Phillies bolted to a 3-0lead over the New York Yankees after three innings Saturday night in therain-delayed Game 3 of the World Series.
Playing on Halloween in a ballpark where they are postseason monsters, thePhillies came dressed as big hitters. Jimmy Rollins(notes) singled on Andy Pettitte’s(notes)first pitch of the game, Werth homered leading off the second and Pedro Feliz(notes)doubled off the right-field wall in the same inning.
Rain held up the start at Citizens Bank Park for more than an hour, and thegame began in a light mist. The teams began the night tied at one win each.
Inconsistent all year, Hamels opened with three hitless innings and looked alot like the lefty who was MVP of the World Series last season. The only fanswho saw him struggle were those watching on TV—Fox showed a sports apparel adthat stars Hamels as an out-of-sorts pitcher.
The lone batter to reach against Hamels was Alex Rodriguez(notes). The Yankees’cleanup man got his first hit of the Series—rather, he got hit by a fastballin the back. Minus designated hitter Hideki Matsui(notes), the New York lineup barelyhit the ball out of the infield.
Like Rodriguez, Phillies slugger Ryan Howard(notes) kept struggling. He fanned hisfirst two times up, giving him eight strikeouts in 11 at-bats in the Series.
The rest of the Phils, however, did just fine at the plate. Maybe they justfeel more comfortable in the cozy park where they have won 11 of 12 postseasongames dating to last season.
Werth led off the second by knocking a full-count pitch far over theleft-field wall. A perfect bunt single by Hamels set up a bases-loaded walk toRollins, and Shane Victorino’s(notes) sacrifice fly made it 3-0.
Pettitte holds the postseason record with 16 wins, yet was 3-4 in Seriesplay.
As they did in the first two games at Yankee Stadium, New York tried tocontrol the pace of play. There were a series of pitcher-catcher meetings and abunch of pickoff throws.
Wet weather once again intruded on a World Series game in Philly. The startwas delayed 1 hour, 20 minutes by intermittent rain, leaving puddles on thewarning track and the Phillie Phanatic in a slicker. Yankees left fielder JohnnyDamon(notes) lost his footing fielding a ball, but the slip had no effect.
Last year, the Phillies’ clinching Game 5 was suspended by a storm for twodays, prompting Major League Baseball to revise its rules, assuring there wouldbe no rain-shortened games in the postseason.
Game 4 is Sunday night when Yankees ace CC Sabathia(notes) pitches on three days’rest against Joe Blanton(notes). The weather should be fine, with clear skies andtemperatures in the 40s in the forecast.
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