Yankees lead Phils 6-4 after 6 innings
October 31, 2009
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Alex Rodriguez(notes) wound up with a home run after the firstvideo replay review in World Series history, and the New York Yankees quicklyreversed their fortunes by taking a 6-4 lead over Philadelphia through sixinnings of Game 3 on Saturday night.
Playing on Halloween, both teams had plenty of monsters at the plate. JaysonWerth(notes) had two solo homers for the defending champion Phillies.
The game began after a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes, and started withthe Series tied at 1-all. Drizzle returned as the teams went to the top of theseventh.
Down 3-0 and held hitless by lefty Cole Hamels(notes), the Yankees suddenly brokeloose behind Rodriguez. Nick Swisher(notes) homered later and pitcher Andy Petttittehelped out with an RBI single, drawing pro-New York chants at Citizens BankPark.
After Mark Teixeira(notes) drew a one-out walk in the fourth, Rodriguez sliced ahigh fly down the right-field line. The ball bounced back onto the field andRodriguez held at second base, but twirled his hand to indicate a home run.
Either way, it was Rodriguez’s first Series hit. But A-Rod and the Yankswanted more.
Manager Joe Girardi came out, the umpires huddled and four of them went infor a closer look. Less than a minute later, they ruled the ball hit a cameraabove the wall and the Yankees were within a run.
Major League Baseball started using replay in August 2008 to review possiblehome runs. The first time umpires used it last year, they upheld a home run byRodriguez at Tampa Bay.
Rodriguez’s sixth homer this October matched the Yankees’ postseason record,and ended his 0-for-8 Series slump that included six strikeouts.
The Yankees scored three runs in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead and chaseHamels, MVP of the World Series last year. Swisher doubled and scored onPettitte’s single—the first RBI by a Yankees pitcher in the Series since JimBouton in 1964—and Johnny Damon(notes) lined a two-run double. Pettitte had been 1for 13 in Series play before the hit.
Fox showed a replay of Derek Jeter(notes) talking to plate umpire Brian Gormanafter the pitcher’s solid single. “We’re going to have to listen to Pettittenow. He’s been bragging about his hitting all year,” Jeter said.
The Phils had won 11 of 12 postseason games at home 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 toJimmy Rollins(notes), 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 again intruded on a World Series game in Philly. Last year, thePhillies’ clinching Game 5 was suspended by a storm for two days, promptingMajor League Baseball to revise its rules, assuring there would be norain-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.
