MLB 09 The Show: Girardi takes over for Torre

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October 7th, 2008 Yankees 7 Tigers 3

The Yankees got great pitching and some clutch hitting for the second day in a row as they defeated the Tigers 7-3.

Cy Young winner Phil Hughes (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's) continues to come up big when the Yankees need him as he showed why he was the best pitcher in the American League.

The Yankees jumped on Tiger's starter Armando Galarraga (5.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) for 3 runs in the 1st inning. Ironically, 11 of the Yankees 12 hits were singles, their only extra-base hit was a triple by Derek Jeter in the 8th innning.

The Tigers struck back in the bottom of the 1st when Miguel Cabrera took Hughes deep for a 2-Run HR.

The Yankees added a run in the 4th inning on an RBI single by Derek Jeter while the Tigers added a run in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI double by Cabrera,

The score stayed 4-3 until the 8th when Jeter tripled to drive in 2 runs. The Yankees added a run in the 9th inning on an RBI single by Jorge Posada.

Kyke Farnsworth pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th inning and Mariano pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning.

The Yankees will look to sweep the Tigers at home on Friday Night to close out the series.

Game 3 will see Jeremy Bonderman (10-9, 4.98) vs Ian Kennedy (16-7, 2.87)

Around the League..

The Red Sox bounced back from their game 1 loss to the Angels, winning game 2 by a score of 5-2.

The Red Sox jumped on Angels starter Ervin Santana (5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) early, thanks to a Manny Ramirez solo HR in the 1st inning, followed by a 2-Run HR by Jason Varitek in the 2nd inning. Big Papi David Ortiz added a 2-Run HR in the 5th inning to put the game away.

Josh Beckett (8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's) got the win and after his meltdown in game 1, Jonathan Papelbon watched Javier Lopez pick up the save tonight.

In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks started their 5 game series with the Phillies taking game 1 5-0.

Cole Hamels (8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 12 K's) pitched great while Chase Utley hit 2 HR's and Ryan Howard had 4 hits in 5 at-bats.

Thursday will see the National League continue their series as the Mets will send John Maine (12-10, 4.73) to face Dave Bush (13-1, 2.75).

The Diamondbacks will look to tie their series at 1-1 when they send Dan Haren (16-9, 3.44) to face Brett Myers (17-8, 3.67)

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October 9th, 2008 Tigers 6 Yankees 7 in 10 innings

The Yankees returned home on the verge of completing a 3 game sweep of the Detroit Tigers and they did not disappoint their fans. They needed 10 innings, but the Yankees finished off a sweep of the A.L. Central champions 7-6.

Ian Kennedy (5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's) started strong and entered the 6th inning with a 4-2 lead. However, he ran into trouble and Jose Veras came in and gave up 2 hits and the Tigers scored 3 runs to take a 5-4 lead. The Yankees came right back in the bottom of the 6th when Hideki Matsui took Jeremy Bonderman (6.0 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) deep for a 2-R HR to give the Yankees back the lead 6-5.

In the 7th inning, LaTroy Hawkins relieved Jose Veras and gave up 2 hits and 1 ER before Joba Chamberlain closed out the inning.

The score stayed tied at 6-6 until the bottom of the 10 inning. With 1 out, Derek Jeter singled up the middle. Bobby Abreu struck out, bringing up Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod took a fastball from Fernando Rodney and hit a line drive to left center. Clete Thomas dove for the sinking line drive but could not come up with it. The ball rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Jeter to score from first with the winning run.

The Yankees were led by Jason Giambi, who was about as hot as you can get. Jason hit .615, with 1 HR and 6 RBI's.

Derek Jeter went 6-14 (.429) in the series with 3 RBI's.

Robinson Cano hit .444 (4-9) with 1 HR and 3 RBI's.

Hideki Matsui hit .231 (3-13) with 2 HR's and 5 RBI's.

For the Tigers, Carlos Guillen was a one man wrecking ball. The Yankees couldn't figure him out, as he hit .538 (7-13) with 4 HR's and 6 RBI's.

The Yankees will now wait to see who they will face in the ALCS: the Angel or Red Sox.

In game 3 of their matchup, the Red Sox picked up the road win, defeating the Angels 4-3 in 10 innings.The Sox banged out 13 hits in the victory as Manny Delcarmen picked up the win in relief. Jonathan Papelbon, after his meltdown in game 1, picked up the save.

The Red Sox will look to close out the series on Saturday Night. Tim Wakefield (14-8) will face Joe Saunders (8-9, 3.68)

In the National League:

The Mets will return home to face the Brewers on Saturday afternoon, their series all tied at 1-1. The Brewers will start Jeff Suppan (11-5, 4.84) while the Mets will counter with Pedro Martinez (12-6, 3.92)

The Diamondbacks will return home and try to avoid being swept by the Phillies. The Diamondbacks have been shut out both games and have only managed 3 hits in those 2 games. The Phillies will send Jamie Moyer (9-7, 4.84) to the hill to battle the Big Unit, Randy Johnson (8-5, 3.84) in what could be the Big Unit's last game in the Majors.

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As the Yankees celebrate their sweep of the Tigers, let's check out the rest of the playoff landscape.

The Boston Red Sox sent Tim Wakefield to the mound to try and close out the Los Angeles Angels and avoid a game 5 in Boston. However, it was not meant to be.

The Angels, behind Joe Saunders (8 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's) held off elimination and defeated the Red Sox 6-2. The big blow came in the 5th inning, when Mike Napoli hit a 3-R HR against Wakefield to give the Angels a 6-0 lead.

The teams will now fly back to Boston for game 5 Sunday Night. Jon Garland (12-12, 4.39) will face Clay Buchholz (6-10, 6.99).

In the National League:

The New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers faced off in game 3 of their series with the Mets earning the 4-3 victory.

The Mets offense was led by Carlos Delgado, who went 4-4 with 3 RBI's.

Pedro Martinez (5.2 IP, 11 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) left the game with the score tied at 3-3 and the Mets bullpen did the rest. Duaner Sanchez pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball to pick up the win. Billy Wagner picked up his 2nd save of the series.

The Brewers will look to avoid elimination and extend the series to a game 5 in Milwaukee. The Brewers will send Chris Capuano (0-2, 5.00) to the mound to face Mike Pelfrey (12-9, 4.44)

The Arizona Diamondbacks returned home to try and avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies but it was not in the cards.

The Phillies closed out the series with an 8-2 victory. Jamie Moyer (6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) picked up the win as the D-Backs had no answers for the Phillies offense.

The Phillies were led by Ryan Howard (.583, 2 HR, 3 RBI's), Chase Utley (.500, 3 HR, 5 RBI's) Jayson Werth (.455) and Pat Burrell (.333, 2 HR, 3 RBI's)

Sunday should be a fun day as there will be two game 5's to see who advances into the Leagie Championship Series where the Yankees and Phillies await.

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In the American League:

The Angels and Red Sox faced off in a game 5 at Fenway Park with the winner getting to face the New York Yankees.

DISCLAIMER: In this game, you would see the game 1 starters face off again, Lackey and Lester, but because the CPU doesn't have common sense it went with the 5th starter for each team.

The Angels jumped all over Sox starter Clay Buchholz (2.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 1 K), scoring 5 runs in the 1st inning and never looking back. Jon Garland (7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) pitched great and got the victory.

The Angels were led by Torii Hunter, Erick Aybar, and Jeff Mathis, who each had 3 RBI's.

For the series, the Angels were led by Garrett Anderson, who hit .409 and unlikely hero Maicer Izturis, who hit .375 and had a team high 6 RBI's.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox big name players struggled all series and never got going.

Dustin Pedroia hit .174 with no extra base hits and 1 RBI.

David Ortiz hit .200 with 2 HR's and 3 RBI's.

Manny Ramirez hit .200 with 1 HR ans 1 RBI.

Game 1 of the American League Championship Series will begin on Tuesday, October 13th in New York. The Yankees were 2-5 this year against Angels.

Game 1 of the National League Championship Series will begin on Wednesday, October 14th in Philadelphia. The Mets were 6-12 against the Phillies this year.

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Tuesday, October 13th, 2008 Angels 5 Yankees 7

The ALCS kicked off in New York Tuesday Night as the Yankees took game 1 with a 7-5 victory.

Veteran Andy Pettitte (6.2IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K's) got the start and went 6 strong innings before running into trouble in the 7th inning.

The Angels kicked off the scoring in the 2nd inning when Torii Hunter doubled. Casey Kotchman got him to 3rd on a long fly ball to center, and Erick Aybar got him home with another sac fly.

The Yankees responded in the bottom of the inning when Hideki Matsui (2 for 4, 2 HR's, 3 RBI's) hit a solo shot off John Lackey to tie the game at 1.

In the bottom of the 4th, Abreu was hit by a pitch. After a fly out by A-Rod, Jason Giambo took a low fastball and lined a HR over the left-center field wall to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Jorge Posada followed with a solo HR to LF and that increased the lead to 4-1.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Posada singled with 2 outs and Hideki Matsui went deep again for a 2-Run HR, his 4th home run so far in the playoffs.

In the top of the 7th, Pettitte was cruising along, allowing only 1 hit. Pettitte got Vladimir Guerrero on strikes, his 3rd of the game. Then, Mike Napoli tripled. Juan Rivera followed with a grounder to 3rd. Napoli tried to score but was cut down at home. Garrett Anderson followed with a single and then Torii Hunter took an inside fastball and crushed a 3-Run HR to cut the lead to 6-4.

Casey Kotchamn walked folllowing Hunter's HR so Joe Girardi went to the bullpen and Joba Chamberlain came into the game. After giving up a single to Erick Aybar, he got Chone Figgins on a high fastball to end the inning.

In the top of the 8th, Joba got the first 2 outs before giving up back to back doubles to Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera to cut the Yankees lead to 6-5. Kyle Farnsworth came in and struck out Garrett Anderson to end the threat.

The Yankees got a much needed insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning. After Abreu flied out and A-Rod grounded out, Jason Giambi doubled into the gap, and Jorge Posada followed with an RBI single off Darren Oliver to give the Yankees a 7-5 lead.

In the top of the 9th, Girardi left Farnsworth in the game, giving Mariano Rivera the night off. Farnsworth pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his 1st save of the post season.

Game 2 of the series will see Ervin Santana (0-1, 9.00 ERA in the Playoffs) and Darrell Rasner, who will be making his first start of the post season.


In the National League, the NLCS will kick off in Philadelphia where the Phillies will host the New York Mets.

Game 1 starters will be Oliver Perez against Kyle Kendrick.

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October 14, 2008 Angels 3 Yankees 1

Game 2 of the ALCS did not go the Yankees had hoped for after picking up a victory in game one of the series.

Manager Joe Girardi decided to start Phil Hughes, the AL Cy Young Award winner, instead of rookie Darrell Rasner. While Hughes did pitch well, (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's) he made one mistake and it cost him the game.

The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning thanks to an RBI double by Bobby Abreu. However, in the top of the 5th, Torri Hunter took Hughes deep for a 2-Run HR and Angels never looked back. A solo HR in the 8th inning by Vladimir Guerrero off of Joba Chamberlain closed out the scoring.

The Yankees once again had issues with Ervin Santana. During the regular season, Santana pitched very well against the Yankees. He went 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

He must have saved his best for last, because the Yankees could not solve him at all. He went 7.0 innings, giving up 6 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB's and 5 K's. He frustrated and kept the Yankee hitters off balanced all night.

The Yankees will now fly to California for games 3, 4, and 5.

Game 3 will see Ian Kennedy (16-7, 2.87) against Jered Weaver (14-9, 3.14).

In the NLCS, the Mets got the early jump on the Phillies as they took Game 1 by a score of 10-4.

(Due to more CPU nonsense, this series opened up with the Mets 5th starter, Oliver Perez, and the Phillies 4th starter, Kyle Kendrick)

The Mets jumped on Kendrick for 3 runs in the 1st inning. The Phillies fought their way back and only trailed 5-4 entering the 8th inning.

However, Phillies reliever J.C. Romero got crushed, giving up 5 ER and 5 Hits in only 2/3 of an inning.

David Wright led the way, going 4-4 with a HR and a 3B and 2 RBI's.

Game 2 of the NLCS will have Johan Santana (16-14, 3.16) vs Adam Eaton (11-6, 5.50)

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October 16th, 2008 Yankees 3 Angels 1

The Yankees entered perhaps their biggest game of the season on Friday night. They trusted this game to Ian Kennedy, who 2 years before, was pitching in college for USC.

Kennedy really blossomed into the starter the Yankees had hoped for when they took him in the 1st round back in 2006. Kennedy did not disappoint.

Pitching like a veteran, Kennedy pitched one of his best games of the year, going 7 strong innings, allowing 7 Hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 4 K's. He was helped greatly by the Yankees defense, which turned 4 double plays.

Jered Weaver pitched well, going 6 Innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 Runs, 1 Earned Run, walked 1 and struck out 7.

In the top of the 8th inning, with the Yankees holding a 2-1 lead, Jason Giambi took Darren Oliver deep for a solo HR, his 3rd of the playoffs. Giambi is having a playoff to remember this year, as he is hitting .440 with 3 HR's and 9 RBI's.

Joe Girardi will now face a tough decision. Who to start in game 4. Will it be rookie Darrell Rasner (14-5, 3.24), veteran Mike Mussina (8-9, 4.38), or bring back game 1 winner Andy Pettitte on short rest?

Whoever starts, they will face Joe Saunders (8-9, 3.68)

Over in the National League Championship Series:

The New York Mets kept their bats hot, as they defeated the Phillies 8-1 in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Johan Santana (8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K's) was terrific and picked up the win. The Mets were led by David Wright, Carlos Delgado, and Ryan Church, who each had 3 hits.

The Mets will now return home. looking to close out the series at home. The Phillies are hoping they can find their offense as leading hitters Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are hitless so far in the first 2 games.

Game 3 starters will be Cole Hamels (15-8, 3.82) vs John Maine (12-10, 4.73)

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October 17th, 2008 Yankees 5 Angels 0

Manager Joe Girardi went with his gut and decided to start rookie Darrell Rasner in game 4 of the ALCS tonight in Anaheim. "Darrell is one of the reasons we are here, Girardi said during a pre-game interview with the media. "He has earned the right to start."

And he did not disappoint.

Rasner threw a complete game shut out, scattering only 3 hits, no walks, and 6 K's.

The Angels were helpless against Rasner, who threw only 78 pitchers in the victory.

The Yankees got a solo HR from Jason Giambi, his 4th of the playoffs, in the 2nd inning and got a 2-R HR from Jorge Posada in the 8th inning.

The Yankees will try and clinch a spot in the World Series when they send Andy Pettitte to the mound in Game 5 to face Jon Garland. (1-0, 1.29 in playoffs)

In the NLCS...

The Phillies sleeping offense finally woke up and banged out 14 hits in a 11-1 rout of the New York Mets.

The Phillies scored 2 runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd inning and put up a 4 spot in the 4th inning to race out to a 10-0 lead.

Cole Hamels pitched 7.1 innings of 1-hit ball before turning it over to the bullpen. Chase Utley broke his hitless streak and was 2-5 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI's. Jimmy Rollins had 3 hits and Pat Burrell, Greg Dobbs, Chris Coste, and Jayson Werth each had 2 hits.

John Maine got hit hard (2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's) and is now 0-2 in the playoffs with a 14.72 ERA.

The Mets will look to bounce back Sunday Night in Game 4 of the series. Brett Myers is scheduled to face Pedro Martinez.

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October 18th, 2008 Yankees 13 Angels 11 in 10 innings

The New York Yankees tonight completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Major League Baseball.

The Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound to try and close out the Angels and capture their 40th Pennant and 27th trip to the World Series.

However, the Angels had other plans and did not want to see a visiting team celebrate on their home turf.

Pettitte (4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's) got hit hard and often. Vladimir Guerrero started off the scoring with a 2-R HR in the 1st inning. Mike Napoli hit a 2-R HR in the 3rd inning and Torri Hunter hit the first of his 2 HR's in the 4th inning to put the Angels up 5-2.

Luke Stout relieved Pettitte in the 5th inning and promptly gave up 4 runs in the bottom of the 5th, highlighted by a 3-R HR by Juan Rivera. The Angels entered the top of the 7th inning with a 9-2 lead.

The Yankees finally chased starter Jon Garland (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's) in the 7th inning as they pushed across 3 runs to cut the Angels lead to 9-5. The Angels responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th against Mike Mussina (2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K's)

The Yankees added a run in the 8th inning to make the score 11-6.

The Angels brought in Scot Shields to pitch the 9th inning, probably because it was a non-save situation.

In the 9th, Robinson Cano led off with a single. Brett Gardner (3-5, 2 runs and 2 RBI's playing for an injured Melky Cabrera) popped out for the 1st out. Johnny Damon singled, Derek Jeter singled to load the bases.

Framcisco Rodriguez replaced Shields to try and close it out for the Angels. After retiring Abreu on a flyout, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate.

Alex Rodriguez has been infamous for his struggles during the postseason, and this series was no exception. (A-Rod hit .190 for the series.)

Rodriguez started off A-Rod with a Curveball for a called strike. He then threw a Curveball low and away and got Alex to swing and miss for strike two. So, with the game on the line, Rodriguez went to the well once to often and threw another Curveball low and away but he got a little too much of the plate and A-Rod Slapped a single up the middle for a 2-R single. With the score 11-8 and 2 runners on, up to the plate stepped Jason Giambi.

Jason Giambi has been the Yankees best power bat all year (37 HR's 113 RBI's) and entered the game hitting over .450 in the playoffs. He was 0-4 with 2 K's so he was due for a hit and he did not disappoint.

Giambi got a hold of a Rodriguez fastball and drove it over the wall in right-center for a game tying 3-R HR.

Probably the most satisfying HR I have ever hit. :-)

Posada struck out to end the inning but the damage was done.

Edwar Ramirez (3.0 IP, 1 H, 4 K's) pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Angels replaced Rodriguez with Darren O'Day. Hideki Matsui led of the inning with a single. After Cano and Gardner popped out, Johnny Damon singled Matsui to 3rd. Derek Jeter then singled Matsui home with the go ahead run, and Bobby Abreu followed with an RBI single as well.

Edwar Ramirez went back out for the 10 inning, with Joba and Mariano waiting in the bullpen, but he sent the Angels down in order for the victory.

What an amazing game. The Yankees scored 11 runs in the last 4 innings, 10 of them against the Angels battered bullpen.

The Yankees offense was on fire the entire ALCS:

Johnny Damon: .409 2 R, 2 RBI's
Derek Jeter: .318 3 R, 2 RBI's
Bobby Abreu .300 2 R 2 RBI
Alex Rodriguez .190 2 RBI's
Jason Giambi .333 4 HR's 8 RBI's 7 R
Jorge Posada .333 2 HR's 5 RBI's 4 R
Hideki Matsui .313 2 HR's 3 RBI's 4R
Robinson Cano .350 2 R 2 RBI's
Melky Cabrera .167 R
Brett Gardner .571 2 R 2 RBI's

Even though Johnny Damon hit .409, I had to go with Jason Giambi as the ALCS MVP.

The Yankees will get some well deserved rest while they await their opponent in the World Series.

In the NLCS...

The New York Mets took Game 4 of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies with a come from behind 4-3 victory at Citi Field Sunday Night.

The Phillies got a great performance from starter Brett Myers (6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 BB's 6 K's) but the bullpen could not hold the lead.

The Phillies held a 2-1 lead entering the bottom of the 8th inning. However, J.C. Romero couldn't hold the lead. Jimmy Rollins committed an untimely error, the Mets scored 3 unearned runs in the bottom of the 8th, highlighted by Brian Schneider's 2-R double.

Billy Wagner gave up 3 hits and a run in the top of the 9th, but got his 4th save of the playoffs.

The Mets will try and close out the series at home in game 5. Jamie Moyer will face Mike Pelfrey.

is New York City headed for its 2nd Subway Series this decade? Stay turned and find out...

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For the second time this decade, the World Series will be a Subway Series.

The New York Mets closed out their series with the Philadelphia Phillies, beating them 3-1 in Game 5 of the NLCS.

Mike Pelfrey went 8 innings allowing only 3 hits before giving up a HR to pinch-hitter Geoff Jenkins to lead off the 9th inning. Joe Smith and Billy Wagner finished the 9th inning for Pelfrey to give the Mets their first pennant since 2000.

David Wright was awarded the MVP of the NLCS, hitting .476 with 9 runs scored, 4 RBI's, and 2 HR's.

The Yankees and Mets will open the 2008 World Series on Saturday, October 24th at Citi Field in Queens. Probable starters for game 1 are Andy Pettitte for the Yankees and Oliver Perez for the Mets.

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The 2008 World Series kicked off in Queens, New York tonight as the New York Yankees took on the New York Mets. The Mets are looking for a little bit of revenge against the Yankees for their defeat in the 2000 Subway Series. Would the Mets be successful in their quest to dethrone the Yankees and become the best baseball team in New York?

Game 1 did not disappoint and will go down in history as one of the best Game 1's in baseball history.

The Yankees jumped on Oliver Perez, scoring 3 runs in the 1st and one in the second to give Andy Pettitte a 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Mets struck back. With 1 out and runners on second and third, the Yankees decided to walk Luis Castillo to load the bases and set up a potential inning ending double play. However, that backfired when Mets catcher Raul Castro, who entered the game hitting over .400 in the playoffs, singled to drive in 2 runs. Pettitte pitched out of a jam to limit any further damage.

Oliver Perez settled down (5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K's) and the Yankee offense went quiet. Meanwhile, the Mets chipped away at the Yankee lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the 5th to chase Pettitte. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Carlos Delgado led off the inning with a solo HR off the right field foul pole to tie the game at 4.

The bullpens took over and traded zero's until the top of the 11th inning. Pinch hitter Brett Gardner led off the inning with a single against Claudio Vargas and Johnny Damon followed with his own single. Derek Jeter struck out chasing a 1-2 slider. Bobby Abreu singled to LF to score Gardner and after A-Rod was HBP, the stage was set for Mr. Jason Giambi.

Giambi worked the count to 2-1 when Vargas tried to throw a fastball by him. Giambi turned on that fastaball and hit a 404 foot grand slam over the rightcenter field fence. Giambi's magical playoff run continues as he gave the Yankees a 5 run lead. He finished the game 2-5, with 5 RBI's.

With a 5 run cushion, Joe Girardi decided to let Jose Veras pitch the bottom of the 11th inning. Veras walked Carlos Delgado and then gave up a double to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Girardi saw enough and summoned Mariano Rivera from the bullpen. Ryan Church greeted Rivera with an RBI double. Luis Castillo then grounded out to score another run before Rivera got the last 2 outs to preserve the Yankees win.

The atmosphere was electric and there seems to be some bad blood between the 2 teams. The Mets hit 4 Yankee batters: Jeter twice, A-Rod and Posada so we will have to see if that spills over in the rest of the series.

Game 2 is scheduled for Monday night with A.L. Cy Young Award winner Phil Hughes scheduled to face the Mets ace Johan Santana.

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10/26/2008 Game 2 of the World Series: Yankees 0 Mets 4

The Mets turned to their Ace in Game 2 and Johan Santana did not disappoint. Johan was brilliant all night allowing the Yankees only 5 singles, no walks, and he struck out 10.

A.L. Cy Young winner Phil Hughes took the loss to drop his playoff record to 1-2.

Carlos Delgado, Moises Alou, and Carlos Delgado all collected 2 hits in the victory.

The series will now shift to Yankees Stadium for games 3-5.

Game 3 will feature John Maine against Ian Kennedy.

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Game 3 of the 2008 World Series: Mets 3 Yankees 7

The Yankees returned to the Stadium for Game 3 of the World Series and Jason Giambi decided it was time for an encore.

The Yankees jumped on John Maine in the first inning and when Jason stepped up to the plate in the 1st inning, the bases were loaded. Jason then took Maine deep for his 2nd grand slam of the series and the Yankees never looked back.

Ian Kennedy pitched 6 strong innings, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs while picking up his 2nd win of the playoffs. Alex Rodriguez hit a solo HR off Maine in the 2nd inning to close out the scoring for the Yankees. Cano, Gardner, and Damon all collected 2 hits in the victory.

Game 4 will see Pedro Martinez vs Darrell Rasner.

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Game 4 of the 2008 World Series: Mets 2 Yankees 3

Game 4 was a classic pitching duel between Pedro Martinez and Darrell Rasner. The Yankees jumped on Pedro, scoring 2 runs in the first innings thanks to RBI singles by Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez.

The Mets scored a run in the top of the 4th innings to cut the Yankees lead to 2-1. Bobby Abreu hit a solo HR off Pedro in the bottom of the 5th to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. Meanwhile, Darrell Rasner, who started the year in Triple A, went 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits and 1 run.

Joba Chamberlain got the last out of the 8th innings and came back out for the 9th innings. However, after getting the first out of the 9th, he gave up a solo HR to David Wright to make it a 3-2 game. Mariano Rivera was then summoned from the bullpen to try and close out the game.

After retiring Carlos Delgado, Rivera walked Carlos Beltran which brought up Ryan Church. Church got a hold of a Rivera Cutter and drove it deep to right field where Bobby Abreu made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Church of a potential game-winning HR.

The Yankees will send Andy Pettitte to the mound to try and close out the series against Mike Pelfrey on Thursday Night.

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Game 5 of the 2008 World Series: Mets 2 Yankees 0

Game 5 was another pitching duel with the Mets coming out on top this time. Mike Pelfrey was awesome, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing only 4 hits and striking out 11 Yankees. Billy Wagner pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 6th save this postseason.

The Yankees got a great game from Andy Pettitte, who went 7 innings and only gave up 2 hits and 1 run.

The series will now move back to Queens where the Mets will try and extend the series to a game 7.

Game 6 will be Oliver Perez against Phil HUghes.