Yankees Vs. Phillies: World Series Re-Match, Yankees Are Still Better
Last night the Yankees and Phillies had their aces on the mound for the first game of the World Series re-match. Roy Halladay vs. C.C. Sabathia, this will be a pitchers duel right? Wrong! Halladay was roughed up early starting in the second inning when the Yankees scored two runs on a Brett Gardner Triple, his fourth on the season.
The next inning led to Halladay’s undoing when the Yankees hot two home runs, a solo shot from Curtis Granderson to start off the inning and then a two-run homer by Nick Swisher.
The Phillies answered back in the fourth inning, they scored three runs and beat up Sabathia in the process. Chase Utley hit a ball up the middle that struck Sabathia’s pitching hand. Sabathia un-phased by the batted ball stayed in the game for three more innings not allowing any more runs.
Halladay doesn’t usually let up more than two runs a game. It was shocking to see him get roughed up. The Yankees are used to seeing Halladay over the years when he was on the Blue Jays. It has been less than a year since they last faced him and the Yankees proved that it would take a long time for them to forget how he pitches.
Later in the game Mark Teixeira put icing on the cake when he hit a solo shot that barely squeaked around the foul pole in the fifth inning. That home run capped off a three home run night against Halladay who left after six innings. In a game that was supposed to be a pitchers duel, the Yankees turned it into a laugher finishing the game with two more runs in the seventh to win 8-3.
The Yankees have the up and down A.J. Burnett going tonight against the never-aging Jamie Moyer. I am expecting this game to be very high scoring. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 12-5 score. It all depends on what Burnett will show up, if he’s on it could be an even bigger deficit. Either way the Yankees should crush the 83 mph fastball that Moyer throws. Moyer might be able to get away with that in the National League, if he was still in the American League he would have been retired eight years ago. Hopefully the Yankees won’t get embarrassed, if they don’t win by more than four runs it would be shocking! (yankees.com)
By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Around the Diamond: Top Five Third Baseman of 2010
Three out of the five third baseman on this list are having comeback years. One of the players career looked like it was over, one of them hasn’t had a good year since he was in the National League, and the last comeback player had a power outage last year.
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Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees: Rodriguez has had another slow start to the season for the second year in a row. A slow start for Rodriguez is still better than most of the third baseman in the league. Rodriguez hasn’t found his home run swing this year only belting eight home runs so far. Rodriguez usually has eight home runs by the beginning of May when he’s on. Even though Rodriguez is lacking in home runs, his average and RBI total has been on par. Rodriguez is hitting .290 with 43 RBI’s. By the end of the season Rodriguez should put up his 14th straight season of over 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s.
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Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox: Beltre has already passed last years season total in home runs with nine and tied his total in RBI’s with 44 RBI’s. Beltre had a terrible season last year with the Mariners. Maybe Beltre needed a change of scenery, the Mariners haven’t been a good team for a while, and moving to the Red Sox may have motivated Beltre to become his former self once again. The most surprising stat with Beltre is his average, which is .333. Beltre has only hit over .300 once back in 2004 with the Dodgers. Some people may think Beltre was using steroids that year because he hasn’t had stats like that ever since then. Beltre is helping the Red Sox out a great deal this year leading the team in average and RBI’s. Motivation is the key to Beltre’s success.
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David Wright, New York Mets: Wright has his groove back! After a disapointing season last year for him and his team Wright has found his way once again and is helping the Mets make a run at the first place Braves. Wright only belted 10 home runs last year and 72 RBI’s, but he still hit .307, which isn’t bad. The Mets expect Wright to be their power bat in the lineup though, which is why last year was a down year for Wright. Not to worry, Wright is leading the National League in home runs with 50 and has two more home runs than last year already, with 12. Wright has helped the Mets move to within a half a game behind the first place Braves. Wright is leading his team with average, RBI’s, home runs, on base percentage, slugging, and runs. If the Mets took Wright out of their lineup they would probably only be a .500 team this year.
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Scott Rolen, Cincinatti Reds: No he did not retire, Rolen is back in the National League and is putting up better numbers than most of the third baseman in all of baseball. Rolen has 14 home runs already this season, which is more than his season ending totals the last three seasons. Rolen is one of the reasons why the Reds are actually competing for once this year. The Reds are still in first place tied with the Cardinals thanks to Rolen’s production. Rolen is leading his team in average hitting .311, RBI’s with 45, home runs with 14 and with slugging .594. The Reds will need Rolen to keep up this pace if they want any chance of making it into the playoffs. The biggest reason Rolen is doing better probably has to do with the hitter friendly Great American Ballpark where the Reds play their home games. I went to this ballpark a few years back and noticed the balls fly out of there, all the batters have to do is hit the ball in the air and it will most likely be a home run.
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Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays: No surprise here, Longoria made it clear the last few years that he is the elite third baseman in all of baseball. Longoria is getting better and better every year. In his third year in the league, Longoria is playing for the team with the best record in baseball. Thanks to Longoria the Rays can compete in the tough American League East and he is looking to bring them back to the World Series to win it this time. Longoria leads his team in hits with 79, doubles with 22, RBI’s with 51, on base percentage with .391, slugging with .573, and average with .321. Longoria continues to get better and better every season. At 24-years-old Longoria may be the best third baseman for a long time to come. (mlb.com)
By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
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