Cliff Lee - Game 1

In the 1st inning, Cliff Lee struck out the first Yankee batter, Derek Jeter, on three pitches and proceeded to retire the side in order.

Things looked decent.

In the 4th inning, Lee struck out the side in order. The hitters were Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Jorge Posada. I sent a text to my dad, “Wow! that was Schillingesque.” He responded “indeed.” The Phils were up 1-0 at that point.

Things looked good.

In the 6th inning, Johnny Damon popped up weakly directly to the top of the mound. Lee yawned, flipped his glove open at his side and recorded the out. The Phils were up 2-0 at this point.

Things looked promising.

In the 8th inning, Robinson Cano sent a sharp one bouncer back up the middle and Lee stuck his glove behind his back, as if it were routine, snared the hot shot and threw Cano out at first. Jimmy Rollins gave Lee the “Are you kidding me look?” Lee responded with a wry smile. The Phils were up 4-0 at this point.

Things looked great!

I looked to my friend sitting next to me and gave him a fist bump.

“No way we are losing this game I said,” finally confident enough to say it out loud. He agreed.

To quote Jack Nicholson, “What if this is as good as it gets?”

If you ask anyone who watched the first game of the 2009 World Series last night that question about Lee’s performance, the answer would be an emphatic “YES!”

CC Sabbathia may have had all the hype entering the game, but Cliff Lee and Chase Utley stole the Yankees' thunder. Sabbathia battled early and often during game one and it was a testament to how good he is that he only gave up two runs in seven innings. He clearly did not have his best stuff, and usually against the Phillies when pitchers do not have their best stuff, it means an early exit and more than a two run deficit. Sabbathia had trouble locating his fastball, and Chase Utley made him pay for it. Twice.

Utley sent a fly ball into the seats on the ninth pitch of his epic second at bat of the night. This ball may have been an out in a lot of parks around the Majors but not at the new Yankee stadium, and it was good enough to give the Phils a 1-0 lead.

In the 6th inning, still clinging to the same one run lead, Utley fell behind in the count 0-2 and Sabathia made a mistake. He missed his spot and sent a 95 MPH fastball right down the middle and for the second time in two at-bats, Sabathia pivoted on his right foot and spun around to watch a laser beam from Utley fly deep into the right field seats. 2-0 Phillies.

The way Cliff Lee was dealing, two runs looked like it was going to be more than enough to hold up and it did. The Phils were able to add some insurance runs, two in the 8th and two in the 9th, on clutch hits from Raul Ibanez and the Big Man Ryan Howard. This cushion allowed Charlie Manuel to keep Lee in to finish what he started, a masterpiece.

Two interesting tidbits from this game.

1. On the radio show “Mike and Mike” this morning one of ESPN’s top baseball analysts, Tim Kurkjian, was asked what World Series performance he would compare Cliff Lee’s to last night. He did not mention Josh Beckett’s game six brilliance against the Yankees that clinched the 2003 World Series for the Marlins. He did not mention the 2-0 complete game shut out Curt Schilling threw in 1993 for these Phillies against the Blue Jays. He harkened all the way back to 1968 when Bob “Hoot” Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals struck out 17 Detroit Tigers en route to a 4-0 victory. Any time your name gets mentioned in the same breath as a legendary dominator like Bob Gibson, you know you have witnessed something special.

2. When Chase Utley hit his first home run of the evening it was the first homer CC Sabbathia gave up to a left handed batter all season at Yankee Stadium! Obviously, it did not take long for Utley to take Sabbathia deep again becoming just the second left handed batter to hit two home runs in one World Series game off left handed pitching. The other. Oh that was a George Herman “Babe” Ruth. “That is not bad company to be in,” Utley said after the game.

“What if this is as good as it gets?”

Hopefully it will only get better for the defending champs, but this one sure was sweet and it will be savored by Phillies fans for years to come.