The LoHud Yankees Blog

Former Yankee and current YES Network analyst John Flaherty has agreed to break down the pitching match-up for every Yankees postseason game exclusively on the LoHud Yankees blog. Be sure to check him out on the pre- and post-game show on YES today. Here’s his take on the Game 2 starters:

YANKEES: RHP A.J. Burnett

WHAT’S HE THROW? “Two kinds of fastballs, the big power curve and a rare change-up.”

BREAKDOWN: “Early on in the postseason A.J. did a good job getting ahead in the count with strike one, but then against the Angels they changed it up and were attacking him. He adjusted after that first inning, but you wonder if the Phillies will do that again. Normally they’re a patient team, so I think the first time through the order they’ll wait and see if A.J. can throw the ball over the plate.

“Don’t forget, too, that this is the most pressure A.J. has faced this postseason. This is his first time pitching after a loss. He’s going to be jacked up and needs to control his emotions, particularly since you know the Phillies are going to make the running game a big part of what they do. They’ve got Davey Lopes over there (coaching first base) and he’s the best baserunning instructor in the game, so look for them to try and rattle A.J. on the basepaths as much as they can. He needs to fight through that and stay cool.”

——

PHILLIES: RHP Pedro Martinez

WHAT’S HE THROW? “Fastball, curveball, change-up.”

BREAKDOWN: It’s still the same pitches but the fastball isn’t mid-90’s anymore, it’s upper 80s. His best pitch is the change-up and the curveball he can drop in for a strike or a strikeout if he needs it. The arsenal is the same it’s just not as nasty as it was in his best days. That being said, his greatest asset is his mind – he can read swings. He knows what he’s doing. I absolutely expect him to show up tonight.

“The crowd? It’ll be crazy, but I think Pedro’s greatest strength is that he’s been there, done that. He’s not going to be intimidated. think that’s why Manuel threw him in this game, instead of Cole Hamels.

“In terms of beating him, it’s the same formula: Work him and get him out. What’s good for the Yankees is that Instead of years ago, where you couldn’t really sit on one pitch, I think the Yankees can sit soft stuff now. I think they can look for that change-up and look for that curveball and still be able to do something with that fastball because it’s not as fast as it was before. I think the Yankees have a little advantage in that they don’t have to worry about that velocity as much. Those six or seven mph are huge, and the Yankees can try and sit on the soft stuff and attack when they get it.”

——-

EDGE: “This is an absolutely fascinating game to me. I guess I would give a slight edge to the Phillies because this is a freebie for Pedro basically. They’ve already got their one game they wanted in New York and there’s no pressure on him now. With Burnett, would anyone be surprised either way? If he went out and dealt, I wouldn’t be surprised – this is what they brought him to New York to do. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t that effective, particularly if he lets his emotions get too much in the way. Whatever happens, it’s going to be a really, really intriguing night.”

After misty conditions last night, the forecast for Game 2 tonight looks terrific. Cool and maybe a little chill in the air, but clear and dry. Perfect playoff weather.

The festivities will start at 7:30 p.m., when Jay-Z and Alicia Keys will be performing “Empire State of Mind” on the field. They’ll be followed by John Legend, who is absolutely fantastic, doing the national anthem.

There were lots of questions for pitching coach Dave Eiland after last night’s game, many of them having to do with assorted Yankees relievers. Who pitches when has become a hot topic, but the truth is that few of the Yankees top arms – other than Mariano Rivera and, amazingly, Damaso Marte – have been consistently good.

Phil Hughes, in particular, has struggled and Hughes seemed to be upset with plate ump Gerry Davis as he walked off the mound. “I think he was trying to be too fine,” Eiland said of Hughes. “Instead of just attacking, he was trying to be too fine. Instead of being in attack mode, he was pitching maybe – I’ll stop short of timid – but he was trying to be too fine.”

Later, Eiland did use the word “timidness” in describing how several of his young relievers may have been handling their first World Series appearances. With one game down, let’s take a quick look at the state of the Yankees bullpen:

Chad Gaudin: Unavailable yesterday (and possibly tonight) after being stretched out Tuesday.
Alfredo Aceves: Has allowed four hits and three earned runs in 2 1/3 postseason innings.
Brian Bruney: Didn’t play in first two rounds; allowed three hits and two runs in 1/3 of an inning last night.
Phil Coke: Two hits, one walk, two strikeouts in two total postseason innings.
Damaso Marte: Has not allowed hit or walk to last six batters faced.
Dave Robertston:3 1/3 innings, three hits, one un-intentional walk this postseason.
Joba Chamberlain: Has given up hits to seven of 17 batters faced this postseason.
Phil Hughes: Has allowed five runs, nine hits and four walks in 4 2/3 playoff innings this year.
Mariano Rivera: Still the greatest of all time.

After waiting six years for the World Series to return to the Bronx, the Yankees fell flat in Game 1, getting shut down (and nearly shut out) by the Phillies and Cliff Lee. Chad Jennings has all the gory details.

This was an ugly night for the hitters, I wrote in my column, as the Yankees bats wasted a solid outing from CC Sabathia. For all the talk about the Yankees pitching, the lineup will have to do a whole lot better if they’re going to get back into this series.

Sabathia grinded through a night when he clearly didn’t have his best stuff, but ultimately couldn’t match Lee, writes Josh Thomson.

In one of the stranger plays of the night, Hideki Matsui got doubled off first by Jimmy Rollins in the fifth inning and the umpires – for once this October – got the call exactly right. Rick Carpiniello has the story on that.

Speaking of Matsui, is there any chance he’ll play the field during the games in the NL ballpark? Don’t count on it, though Joe Girardi isn’t ruling anything out. More likely, Matsui will just be a pinch-hitter.

Pedro Martinez had an entertaining – as always – press conference yesterday and now he takes the ball in what figures to be an electric atmosphere at Yankee Stadium tonight. Scott Lauber, of our sister paper in Wilmington, Del., has a look at Pedro.

Finally, the notebook leads with some insight into a busy week for Joe Fosina, a New Rochelle resident who has been in charge of tailoring Yankee uniforms for years. There are also items on a struggling Phil Hughes, roster changes and some famous first-pitch guests.

Chase Utley became the second left-handed hitter in World Series history to hit two home runs off a left-handed pitcher in a single game. The first was Babe Ruth, and that’s pretty much the only thing about tonight’s game that harkened back to some of the great moments in Yankees history. The moment tonight most closely resembled was Josh Beckett’s World Series shutout in 2003.

“We definitely don’t like the situation we’re in,” Johnny Damon said. “We can’t lose three more, but we’re shooting to win four.”

Given the way the Yankees had been playing at home, and the way CC Sabathia had been pitching in the postseason, it was hard to expect a game like this. Not even with Cliff Lee on the mound. The Yankees seemed to be surging and the new Yankee Stadium was a place for them to rally, not crumble.

On this night, though, Lee could do no wrong. The casual catch of a popup. The behind-the-back grab on a comebacker. The 10 strikeouts. Lee was the best player in this game, and that’s what cost the Yankees. Their bullpen didn’t help matters, and neither did Utley, but Lee pitched a heck of a game. That’s what put the Yankees in a hole.

“A guy makes his pitches sometimes,” Joe Girardi said. “You’re going to have a hard time scoring runs, and somtimes you’re able to scratch a few across. As far as being frustrated, our guys will grind it out. I’m not concerned about that.”

Not a good beginning for the Yankees, who lose 6-1. Back with the clubhouse report soon.

UPDATE, 12:11 a.m.: Pitching coach Dave Eiland just said that Cliff Lee’s performance was “probably the best pitching performance we’ve seen against us all season” and Mark Teixeira said he “wouldn’t disagree with that.”

Eiland also said that the 113 pitches CC Sabathia threw wasn’t too much to rule him out of a start on three days rest in Game 4, though Eiland was quick to add that didn’t mean the Yankees were going to choose to do that.

UPDATE, 12:15 a.m.: Johnny Damon said “the ball was definitely getting in on us” from Lee. “We wasted a great performance by CC, that’s the bottom line,” Damon added.

By the way, both Damon and Jorge Posada said they didn’t think that Lee was showing up the Yankees at all with his side-saddle catch of Damon’s pop-up and tag-on-the-rear of Posada. Damon said he thought Lee was debating whether to let the pop-up drop, but caught it when he saw that Damon was running hard out of the box.

UPDATE, 12:18 a.m.: Some debate in the clubhouse about what was Lee’s best pitch tonight. Some guys seemed to think cutter, some thought changeup, others said curveball. Bottom line, he mixed pitches and got ahead in the count. “CC did exactly what we needed him to do,” Derek Jeter said. “We just didn’t score runs.”

UPDATE, 12:41 a.m.: On the first home run to Utley, Sabathia was trying to throw a fastball down and away. It ended up over the middle of the plate. On the second home run, Sabathia was trying to go up and in — Posada had called for a cutter away, but Sabathia wanted to stay inside — and he again left the ball over the middle of the plate. Two pitches did all the damage against him, but Sabathia wasn’t impressed.

“Everybody is saying it was only two pitches,” he said. “But I was behind to almost everybody.”

UPDATE, 12:47 a.m.: This will shock everyone. Girardi would not say who’s starting at catcher tomorrow. “We’ll talk about it, I’ll sleep on it, and we’ll have a lineup when I get here tomorrow.”

UPDATE, 1:02 a.m.: Josh here with audio from the clubhouse.

Here’s Girardi, who was a bit shorter than normal:

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Posada talked about Sabathia, Cliff Lee and the bullpen:

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And, finally, Sabathia was very critical about his outing. He demanded more than the three walks, even if it appeared the two mistakes to Utley were what cost him. He also expressed his willingness to pitch Game 4 on short rest:

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As I said on Twitter, Phil Hughes ducked the media after walking two to lead off the eighth. Dave Eiland said Hughes tried to be “too perfect,” but expressed confidence the team will continue to utilize him in the same role. “Sure, why not,” Eiland said. “He’s had a heckuva lot more good outings than bad. We’re not going to throw the towel on him yet.”

UPDATE, 9:22 p.m.: And we go the fifth on a misty, windy night at the Stadium. It’s 1-0 Phillies on Utley’s third-inning homer. Sabathia starts this inning having thrown 71 pitches.

UPDATE, 9:27 p.m.: Just what Sabathia needed there. Ten pitch inning and he’s right back in the dugout. Can the Yankees lay off Lee’s breaking ball? For a wet night, Lee has been spinning it well.

UPDATE, 9:35 p.m.: That’s a double play. The second base umpire, Brian Gorman, signaled that Rollins caught the ball right away and Matsui was off the bag and then got tagged by Howard. Matsui needed to see that and go back to first. The umpires got it right, much to the chagrin of the Yankees fans who are booing.

UPDATE, 9:41 p.m.: By the way, hate on Rollins all you want – and he’s certainly done his share to deserve it from Yankees (and Mets) fans – but that was a good play all. It’s no different than a feint by an infielder (or outfielder) to try and trick a baserunner into stopping on a ball in the gap. The umpire pointed right at him and indicated it was a catch, so Matsui – and the first base coach – should have known better and just gotten back on the bag.

UPDATE, 9:46 p.m.: Chad here. I think I said it today during the chat. I spent seven years covering baseball in Scranton and never saw a better hitter than Chase Utley. That was an awful pitch by Sabathia, and you can’t do that against that kind of hitter.

UPDATE, 9:54 p.m.: Sabathia isn’t pitching bad by any means – he’s battling and has struck out five – but the Yankees offense has done nothing with Lee. The worst part for them is that they haven’t even worked his pitch count – he’s at 69 pitches and that means the Phillies weak bullpen is still a long way off.

UPDATE, 9:58 p.m.: Crowd of 50,257 on hand at misty Yankee Stadium tonight. It’s the largest crowd here all season.

UPDATE, 10:03 p.m.: Is Cliff Lee hard-core? His catch on Damon’s pop-up was about the most nonchalant thing I’ve ever seen in a World Series game.

UPDATE, 10:11 p.m.: That’s seven innings, two runs from CC in a World Series game. So far, this one is on the offense.

UPDATE, 10:22 p.m.: Here comes Hughes out of the pen.

UPDATE, 10:33 p.m.: And there goes Hughes off to the dugout, to a small smattering of boos from the crowd. First and second, none out for Damaso Marte. Robertson is warming in the pen behind him.

UPDATE, 10:38 p.m.: Big hook from Marte there to get through one of the lefties in Utley. Now it’s Howard.

UPDATE, 10:40 p.m.: Give credit where it’s due: Great job by Marte. Getting two outs from those two hitters anytime is a challenge. Robertson coming on now to try and finish the inning.

UPDATE, 10:48 p.m.: No such luck for Robertson. Ibanez goes to right field and it’s 4-0. Everyone talked about how the middle relievers on both teams were suspect and would be key in this series; the way things are going with the Yankees hitters tonight, they may not see any Philly relievers at all.

UPDATE, 11:07 p.m.: Not a good night for the Yankees bullpen. Hughes was rough, Robertson was rough, Bruney – who is now being replaced after giving up a run – never had it at all. Other than Marte, the relievers have been brutal. CC gave up two runs in seven innings; the pen has given up three in 1 1/3. Not good.

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Johnny Damon LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Melky Cabrera CF

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (3-0, 1.19 ERA in postseason)

PHILLIES
Jimmy Rollins SS
Shane Victorino CF
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Jayson Werth RF
Raul Ibanez DH
Ben Francisco LF
Pedro Feliz 3B
Carlos Ruiz C

Pitching: LHP Cliff Lee (2-0, 0.74 ERA in postseason)

TIME/TV: 7:57 p.m., FOX

WEATHER: Chilly and wet, with rain possible during the afternoon but (supposedly) tapering off tonight. We should get the game in, even if it’s not ideal conditions. Check out the forecast here.

STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have seven postseason wins down with four to go to reach their goal of claiming a 27th World Series title. They’re undefeated at home during the playoffs, having won two games at Yankee Stadium in the Division Series and three more in the ALCS. They are 33-13 in the 46 best-of-seven series in franchise history.

BATTER VS. PITCHER: Here’s the Phillies vs. Sabathia. And here’s the Yankees vs. Lee.

ACES, PART II: This marks just the second time in history, according to Elias Sports Bureau, that two former Cy Young award winners will face off in Game 1 of the World Series (Maddux vs. Hersheiser in 1995 was the other). Lee and Sabathia have already met once at Yankee Stadium this season, locking up on Opening Day when Lee was still with the Indians. The two are friends from their time together in Cleveland and had dinner at Sabathia’s house that night back in April. The Indians won that game, 10-2.

BLAST OFF: The Yankees have hit 14 home runs already this postseason, just two shy of their franchise record of 16, which was set in 1996 (and tied in 2001 and 2003).

NEW DIGS: If the Yankees win the World Series, they would be the third team to take the title in their first season in their current stadium (the 2006 Cardinals and 1912 Red Sox – wow Fenway is old – are the other two). By the way, the Yankees won the World Series in their first season at the original Yankee Stadium (1923) and made it to the World Seris – but lost to the Reds – in the first season of the remodeled Stadium (1976).

DRAMA KINGS: The Yankees have comeback wins in five of their seven postseason victories this year, including three in the seventh inning or later.

ALEX THE GREAT: A-Rod enters his first World Series batting .438 (14-for-32) in the postseason with five homers, 12 RBI and nine walks. He’s hit safely in all nine playoff games and 11 straight dating back to the 2007 ALDS. According to Elias, his three game-tying homers in the seventh inning or later are the most such homers for any player in a postseason.

CONGRATULATIONS: Kudos to WCBS’s Suzyn Waldman, who becomes the first woman radio announcer to call World Series action.

RANDOM QUESTION OF THE DAY: Philly cheesesteak: Awesome or overrated?

IF THERE WERE WALK-TO-THE-PLATE MUSIC IN REAL LIFE, TODAY’S WOULD BE: Beware of the Boys by Punjabi MC feat. Jay-Z

Heading down for Joe Girardi’s press conference. Back with much more later on.

UPDATE, 4:08 p.m.: Getting better …

Yes, that’s sunshine. Gates open at 5 p.m. and the Yankees will be on the field hitting at that time.

UPDATE, 4:13 p.m.: Here’s the Girardi audio off his pre-game press conference. When asked when he might reveal his Game 4 starting pitcher, he demurred, saying, “The focus is Game 1 tonight, and that’s what we’ll worry about.” Take a listen.

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UPDATE, 4:27 p.m.: Chad here with some notes from Girardi’s session with the beat writers. But first, this quick story: Outside of Girardi’s office is a blue wall with a big NY logo in the center. Yankee players sign the wall in white ink, and the area within the NY is reserved for Hall of Famers. As the beat writers were walking into Girardi’s office this afternoon, we saw Wade Boggs add his signature to the Hall of Fame zone. Pretty neat to watch. Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield are the other Hall of Famers to have signed the wall. Winfield’s name is way up high, where surely only he could reach.

• Girardi said he hasn’t ruled out using Posada to catch Burnett, but it sounds like he’s leaning more toward sticking with Molina. “It’s something that we’ll discuss,” he said. “But as I’ve said all along, it’s worked pretty well. And in the course of the season you go with two catchers all the time. I’m still comfortable using Molina, and if I have to, pinch hit Jorge.”

• As we already knew, Gaudin is not available in long relief tonight. Aceves is the most obvious long man in the pen, but Girardi said, “It might be a combination of two guys.” He wasn’t talking specifics, just meant he might use more than one guy to get through multiple late innings.

• Bruney threw to hitters yesterday “and looked good,” Girardi said.

• Girardi wouldn’t rule out using Matsui in the field, but said he doesn’t anticipate making such a move. Matsui still takes fly balls every day.

• Keeping Hinske was “an easy choice” because of his pinch hitting experience.

UPDATE, 4:40 p.m.: Here’s the audio from A.J. Burnett’s press conference. He’s close friends with Cliff Lee (they are from the same area and have the same agent), but when someone asked if he’d spoken to Lee about the series, he shook his head and said, “I’m not a talker” in the kind of tone that reminded many of us of the same line from the movie “Old School.” Classic line, classic flick.

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UPDATE, 4:49 p.m.: The pregame ceremony plans for Game 1 have retired Army Captain Tony Odierno joined on the mound by Yogi Berra, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Odierno is a West Point graduate who was awarded a bronze star with valor and a purple heart for his bravery.

Former US Army Ranger Keni Thomas will perform the National Anthem. Sergeant First Class Kay Messenger will perform “God Bless America” in the seventh. Messenger, a West Point soloist, performed the national anthem at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day in 2007.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m.: Yankees are approaching the end of BP and the Phillies are out stretching on the field. Just as a note, those of you who are following us on Twitter (@LoHudYankees) know that Josh has been Tweeting a ton during the postseason. We’ve added a box on the side of the blog that will update in real-time with his Tweets during the World Series games, as well as Phillies Tweets from our friends at the News-Journal. Check it out.

UPDATE, 5:35 p.m.: The Yankees have shown a “Win One For The Boss” screen on the big scoreboard a few times already. George Steinbrenner in the house for the first time since Opening Day tonight.

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.: Judging by Josh’s Tweets from the Pedro presser, it sounds like he’s in rare form. Look for a full report from Josh shortly.

UPDATE, 5:45 p.m.: Man, those Phillies fans really do love their team. They’ll do ANYTHING (allegedly) to come out and support them.

UPDATE, 6:20 p.m.: As you’ve probably noticed or heard, Pedro put on a show earlier, taking the opportunity on the eve of Game 2 to discuss his relationship over the years with New York, how it became what it was and why it has both empowered him and deeply scarred him.

Say what you want about Pedro — and some of what you will say comes in four letters — but he is nothing if not thoughtful. He said his shoulder hurt on the famous 2003 pitch to Karim Garcia and he was desperately trying to gut through the game. He thought Don Zimmer wanted to deliver a few choice words at first. Instead, Zimmer “was trying to punch my mouth and told me a couple of bad words about my mom,” Martinez said. He never apologized publicly because he believed he did nothing wrong. That said, he deeply regrets the incident ever happened. “I don’t like to see it because I’m not a violent man,” Martinez said.

There’s almost too much to say, so I’ve added clips. You can judge for yourselves.

A few quick highlights:

• “It really reminds me that God is my daddy. It gives me strength,” on Who’s Your Daddy chants.

• “I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium. I can honestly say that,” on his place in Yankee lore. He later clarified it, saying he meant both opponents and Yankees.

• “At the end of the day, they’re just great fans that want to see the team win. I don’t have any problem with that,” on NY fans.

• “You guys have used and abused me,” on the New York media.

• “That’s probably the player I admire the most,” on his respect for Mariano Rivera.

• “One of your colleagues had me in the papers with horns and a tail, red horns and a tail. That’s the sign of the devil. I’m a Christian man. I don’t like those things. I take those things very seriously,” on a photoshopped picture of him that ran in a NY tabloid.

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UPDATE, 7:18 p.m.: Cheers for CC as he emerges from the dugout and begins the walk out to the bullpen. We’re getting closer.

UPDATE, 7:41 p.m.: If you just heard a buzzing in White Plains, it’s because Mariano Rivera was just introduced at Yankee Stadium.

UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: Big cheer for Alex Rodriguez. Not Jeter-big, but big.

UPDATE, 7:51 p.m.: I’ve only had this job for a few weeks — this is Chad, obviously — and there have been times when I’ve been too focused on the work to really take in the big picture, but that was a pretty amazing moment. Yankee Stadium. Flag in the outfield. National Anthem. Game 1 of the World Series. This is a pretty cool job.

UPDATE, 7:55 p.m.: Jeter out to catch the first pitch. They’re pulling out all the stops… And of course Jeter blows off Yogi Berra while shaking hands afterward. Hilarious.

UPDATE, 7:58 p.m.: Moments away now. Yankees ready to take the field.

UPDATE, 7:59 p.m.: LoHud blog favorite “Big Poppa” blasting for CC as he hits the mound. The place is absolutely packed. Swisher salute got huge cheers and everyone in the stands seems to be standing and taking a picture with their camera phone. It’s World Series time.

UPDATE, 8:01 p.m.: And we’re off. It’s 52 degrees at first pitch with clear skies in the Bronx. Enjoy the game everyone.

UPDATE, 8:06 p.m.: That’s the fourth walk in 23 1/3 playoff innings for Sabathia.

UPDATE, 8:11 p.m.: Early trouble for Sabathia. Two walks and a double and the bases are loaded. He’s already thrown 21 pitches.

UPDATE, 8:13 p.m.: No damage done though. Sabathia gets Ibanez to ground to second and he escapes. It took 25 pitches.

UPDATE, 8:16 p.m.: They just showed a montage of interviews with George Steinbrenner up on the big board, then flashed the “Win it for The Boss” screen again. Jeter coming to the plate.

UPDATE, 8:21 pm.: Lee ran out to the mound before the inning like he couldn’t wait to get started. Then he struck out Jeter, got an easy bunt comebacker from Damon and whiffed Teixeira on a 91 mph fastball. Twelve pitches total and he ran back to the dugout.

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: That was better from Sabathia. Only nine pitches in a 1-2-3.

UPDATE, 8:34 p.m.: How do you know Lee is on tonight? He’s getting A-Rod to swing and miss. Nasty cutter at 86 for strike three. He’s whiffed three of the first four hitters.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: And, just like that, Posada gets the Yankees first hit, a broken-bat flare to right. By the way, it’s misting pretty hard right now.

UPDATE, 8:44 p.m.: Phillies strike first, Utley hitting a 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence for a solo homer. It’s 1-0 Phils and Sabathia is at 54 pitches before he’s even through the third inning. This could be a long night for the Yankees bullpen.

UPDATE, 8:53 p.m.: Sabathia is working hard tonight. It’s not coming as easily to him as it did the last three times out and the Phillies are making him sweat. Since Jimmy Rollins bunted the first pitch of the game, nine of the 12 Phillies hitters have had at-bats of four pitches or more.

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: That homer by Utley was the first home run Sabathia has given up to a lefthander at Yankee Stadium this season.

UPDATE, 8:58 p.m.: Among the bold-faced names in the house: Alec Baldwin, Matthew McConaughey and the (Rangers) Captain, Mark Messier. Meanwhile, the (Yankees) Captain just lashed a double past first.

UPDATE, 9:10 p.m.: Sabathia’s slider looked a ton better in that inning. Great pitch to Ibanez that had him just staring. He’s settled in and is at 71 pitches through four.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: Teixeira just doesn’t look easy at the plate right now. Very out of sorts, almost lunging at pitches, which is the opposite of his usual smooth swing.

UPDATE, 9:19 p.m.: A-Rod swinging again. The last time he struck out twice in a game was over a month ago, on Sept. 22 vs. the Angels.

UPDATE, 9:20 p.m.: Lee is absolutely locked in. That was a curve to Posada that was just nasty; Posada had no chance. Let’s go to a new thread as we go to the fifth inning.

… sort of. Not really. At least not yet. Forecast says rain could be moving up later tonight.

Don’t forget that Chad and I are about to begin our World Series video live chat. We’ll get started at noon and will be taking all your questions right here. Come on by and check it out.