Keyword Search:
text size: A | A | A
Burnett Pitches Yankees Past Phillies To Even World Series
posted 10/30/09 4:11 pm
ABC 7 News - Burnett Pitches Yankees Past Phillies To Even World Series
Stay on top of breaking news!
Sign up for ABC 7 News e-mail alerts.
Your Email:  
Follow ABC 7 News on Twitter
Follow ABC 7 News on Facebook
related stories:
(Sports Network) - A.J. Burnett outdueled Pedro Martinez while Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui each homered for New York, as the Yankees pulled even in the World Series with a 3-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 2.

Philadelphia used a superlative effort from Cliff Lee to take Wednesday's opener, 6-1, at Yankee Stadium.

Burnett (1-0) countered with a gem of his own in his first career start in the Fall Classic, surrendering just one run on four hits and two walks in seven frames. The hard-throwing righty also struck out nine against the team that roughed him up for five runs in a six-inning start back in May.

"After last night I wanted to come out and set the tone early, be very aggressive," Burnett said. "I went out tonight with confidence and the game just rolled by."

Jorge Posada added a pinch-hit RBI for the Yankees, and Mariano Rivera closed it out with a six-out save, highlighted by an inning-ending double-play ball off the bat of Chase Utley in the eighth.

Martinez (0-1), the longtime Yankees rival and lightning rod for media attention, turned in a quality outing for Philadelphia, ending with a line of three runs on six hits and two walks with eight punchouts in six-plus innings.

"He wasn't afraid to throw inside to hitters. He got hurt by the longball by their left-handed hitters," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Martinez. "It was a close game and we couldn't pull it out."

Matt Stairs knocked in the lone run for defending champion Phillies, whose 1- through-4 hitters went 1-for-13 with three walks and six strikeouts, four coming from Ryan Howard.

Game 3 will take place on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Cole Hamels, last year's World Series MVP, will take the mound for the Phillies, while the Yankees will opt for postseason veteran Andy Pettitte.

The Phillies are attempting to become the first repeat World Series champion from the National League since the Cincinnati Reds in 1975-76. In the process, they are trying to win their third world championship, far fewer than the 26 World Series titles already in the Yankees' hardware case.

Martinez, taking the ball in the World Series for just the second time in his illustrious career, was cruising before Teixeira sent his second pitch of the fourth inning over the wall in right-center, tying the game, 1-1.

In the sixth, Matsui gave the Yankees their first lead of the series, golfing a low offering into the fourth row of seats in right field on Martinez's 97th pitch of the game.

Manuel kept the veteran in the game to start the seventh, and back-to-back singles from Jerry Hairston Jr. -- starting in place of the slumping Nick Swisher -- and Melky Cabrera ended his outing.

"I don't feel like I saved anything. I did everything I could to beat those guys," said Martinez, who admitted he wasn't fully healthy. "You have to give them a lot of credit. You have to give Burnett a lot of credit for the game he was able to pitch."

Posada, who began the game on the bench in favor of Burnett's battery-mate, Jose Molina, stepped in as a pinch-hitter and roped a line drive to center off Chan Ho Park, bringing in a run that proved to be the game's last.

Derek Jeter, who received the Roberto Clemente Award prior to the game, struck out on an unsuccessful bunt attempt. Scott Eyre relieved Park and got Johnny Damon to line to first. Howard made a stab to his left for the out and doubled the runner off second to end the inning, though replays showed the first baseman short-hopped the liner.

Jimmy Rollins worked an 11-pitch walk off Rivera with one away in the eighth and Shane Victorino followed with a hit through the right side of the infield.

Utley, who homered twice Wednesday, worked a full count before grounding to second. Robinson Cano made the stop to his left, spun to get the force at second, and Jeter absorbed Victorino's slide as he finished the double play.

Rivera got two quick outs in the ninth before Raul Ibanez doubled into the left-field gap, bringing the tying run to the plate in Stairs, who struck out swinging to hand Rivera his 10th career save in the World Series.

"[Rivera's] been doing it for a long time," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of his closer's ability to toss multiple innings. "It's something he's accustomed to doing...It can be real effective for us."

After each starter was perfect in the first, Ibanez ignited a two-out rally in the away second with a humpback liner that fell just inside the left-field line and found the seats for a ground-rule double.

Stairs, inserted as the designated hitter due to Greg Dobbs being sent back to Philadelphia because of the flu, hit a one-hopper that got under the glove of Alex Rodriguez at third. Damon's throw from left was well late, and Ibanez slid in for the game's first run.

With a runner on first and one out in the bottom half, Ibanez fully extended for a diving grab in left-center, robbing Cano of a hit.

Burnett, who also recorded his first postseason win, stranded two runners in the third and spoiled Carlos Ruiz's one-out double in the fifth by striking out Rollins and retiring Victorino on a lazy pop out to third.

Game Notes

Stairs' single in the second was his first since June 28...Martinez tossed seven shutout innings of three-hit ball for Boston in 2004 against St. Louis in his only other World Series start...Martinez, making his second start this entire month, fell to 1-3 lifetime against the Yankees in the postseason. He had his 17-inning scoreless streak in the postseason snapped with Teixeira's homer...Rodriguez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts for New York...Rivera, who threw 39 pitches, made his 21st career World Series appearance, moving past Mike Stanton into 2nd place on the all-time list, one behind Whitey Ford...Howard became the 12th player to strike out at least four times in a World Series game...The Yanks snapped a four-game losing streak in the Fall Classic, while the Phillies had won four in a row...Utley was intentionally walked in the third, extending his all-time record of consecutive games reaching base in the postseason to 27.



Copyright 2009 The Sports Network
All rights reserved

 Email To Friend  Email This Article  AddThis Feed Button     Add to Mixx!

read more stories in Sports

ABC 7 Talkback - Story Comments
You need to be a registered member of
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.
Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.
Username or Email Address
Password
Please leave your comments below:
Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or advertising content or inappropriate links may be removed and may result in the loss of your posting privileges. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly. Never assume that you are completely anonymous and cannot be identified by your posts.
More News and Videos


TM & © WJLA/NewsChannel 8, a division of Allbritton Communications Company
Please read our Privacy Policy. By using this site, you accept our Terms of Service.
Children's Television | EEO Reports | DTV Consumer Education Reports
Closed Captioning Contact Information
WJLA adheres to the ICRA RATING SYSTEM
  {ts '2009-10-30 16:29:45'}