Yankees, Phillies to meet in World Series

The Angels gave them a scare, but the New York Yankees eliminated their ALCS foe on Sunday night to advance to the World Series for the 40th time in the storied franchise’s history.

Despite holding a 3-2 series advantage before Sunday’s game, the Yankees were under great pressure to finish off Los Angeles quickly, because CC Sabathia would be forced to pitch the potential Game 7. Without Sabathia available for the first game of the World Series, the Yankees would have had some rotation shuffling to do.

Luckily for the Yankees, that wasn’t the case. Sabathia hasn’t pitched since last Tuesday, and is slated to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight in New Yankee Stadium for the first game of the 2009 World Series (4:57 p.m., FOX).

Philadelphia made quick work of the favored Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, winning the series with a 4-1 advantage. Removing all hope of an all-Los Angeles World Series, the Phillies displayed their incredible offense and pitching staff to the world, outscoring the Dodgers 35-16 in five games. If any team can match the potent Yankees’ offense run-for-run, it’s the Phillies.

Were Philadelphia to win the World Series, it’d become the first back-to-back champions since the Yankees three-peated in 1998-2000. In those three series, New York lost just one World Series game.

There’s definitely motivation for the Phillies to defend their title, but if there is a better way to christen New Yankee Stadium than winning the World Series, I’m not aware of it.

Game 1 of this World Series will pit the hot-handed Sabathia against the even hotter Cliff Lee. This postseason, Sabathia sports an ERA of 1.13, while Lee remains at 0.74.

Philadelphia’s rotation, despite having a week to recuperate, is still being shuffled and no decision has been made as to who will start the remainder of the World Series’ games. Lee is all but certain to start the opening game tonight, but it isn’t known when Cole Hamels, last year’s World Series MVP, will pitch. Hamels has a postseason ERA of 6.75 this year, and Philadelphia trainers claim he has put too much pressure on himself and needs to settle down and focus on what he needs to do.

Also available is Pedro Martinez, who has thrown one postseason game this year: a two-hit, seven-inning shutout — a stellar outing that led to manager Charlie Manuel naming him the Game 2 starter. In nine regular-season starts, Martinez, 37, had an ERA of 3.63.

Rookie J.A. Happ and veteran Joe Blanton are also waiting to be called upon, but Manuel may pitch Lee in Game 4 on short rest. While Lee has said that he is willing to pitch Game 4, he has never pitched a game with less than four days of rest in his entire eight-year career.

After Sabathia in Game 1, New York will turn to AJ Burnett, who, after a rough game against the Angels, has a postseason ERA of 4.42. Using just a three-man rotation this postseason, the Yankees will also use Andy Pettitte, owner of a 2.37 ERA in three starts — including Sunday night’s victory over Los Angeles.

Game 4 will most likely be assigned to Sabathia, 28, who has thrown on three-days rest five times in his nine-year career. During those five games on short rest, Sabathia has pitched 34.2 innings while surrendering just four earned runs, giving him a career “short-rest ERA” of just 1.05.

During the regular season, this mighty New York offense scored an average of 5.65 runs per game, while the Phillies averaged 5.06. Both teams led their league in runs scored per game. The Yankees’ pitching staff surrendered just under a third of a run more per game than the Phillies.

All indications point to this Yankees-Phillies World Series being one of the best in recent memory. These two teams are the perfect match for each other, and an already thrilling postseason is about to get even better.

Andrew Kneeland is a junior at the Arizona Virtual Academy. He is an intern at the Green Valley News.