The Yankees came back last night and tied up the World Series:
When the World Series ends, one team revels in glory and the others sharpen their plans. The off-season calendar begins, and teams start counting the days to free agency. As the Philadelphia Phillies savored their championship a year ago Thursday, the Yankees flipped the dials that unlocked their war chest.
The money would be distributed to the best free agents on the market, including starter A. J. Burnett. Spending big was nothing new for the Yankees; spending wisely was. Their $82.5 million investment in Burnett paid off in a big way in Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, where he spoiled the Phillies’ anniversary.
Burnett handcuffed the Phillies for seven innings, and Mariano Rivera finished up a 3-1 victory that evened the series at one game apiece. Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui homered off Pedro Martinez, and Rivera struck out Matt Stairs to end the game with a runner on second. The series shifts to Citizens Bank Park for Game 3 on Saturday.
“I wanted to come out and feed off this crowd and feed off the energy and not try to just be calm,” Burnett said. “I think I’ve done a good job of being calm in situations, but I wanted to make it a point to come out with some fire tonight, and I think I did that.”
Blitzed for four runs in the first inning of his last start in the playoffs, Burnett dazzled with his fastball and curveball this time. His start was just the 10th in Yankees postseason history with at least seven innings and nine strikeouts, and no more than four hits and one earned run.
Burnett’s friend Cliff Lee — a fellow Arkansan he calls Cliffy — buried the Yankees on Wednesday, and Burnett watched his postgame interview in a back room of the home clubhouse. Lee’s words resonated with him.
“He talked about confidence a lot, and that was huge for me tonight, going up against Pedro, because you know what he’s going to offer,” Burnett said. “He’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to make our guys work a lot.”
Martinez, a celebrated villain with Boston at the old Yankee Stadium, looked dazzling at times on Thursday. Winded by a cold, Martinez lasted into the seventh inning, allowing three runs and six hits with eight strikeouts, going as far as his 38-year-old bones would take him.
“I don’t feel like I saved anything,” Martinez said. “I did everything I could to beat those guys. You have to give them a lot of credit. You have to give Burnett a lot of credit for the kind of game he was able to pitch. It’s just a loss. I just don’t see them beating us too often with just three runs or less.”
Martinez got a lead in the second inning, when Raul Ibanez doubled and Stairs stung a single just past third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who dropped to his knees and may have gotten a glove on the ball. Stairs had not hit a single since June 28; in the last four months before Thursday, he was 4 for 51 with two doubles and two homers.
Teixeira pulled the Yankees even in the fourth, pounding a 1-0 changeup into the Yankees’ bullpen. Martinez said that was a good pitch, but he questioned his decision to throw Matsui a 1-2 curveball in the sixth.
Now it’s on to Game 3 in Philadelphia on Saturday.
