Andy Pettitte has taken the hill in the post season more than any other Yankee pitcher not named Mariano Rivera.  Whitey Ford has the major league record for most wins the World Series with 10, but Pettitte had the most victories in the post season with 16.  Last night he was going for his 17^th.

The Philadelphia Phillies countered with last year’s World Series MVP, Cole Hamels, and the Phillies were banking on the Hamels of 2008 showing up.  As Game 3 unfolded it appeared that the boys from the City of Brotherly Love were going to get their wish.

In the first 3 innings Hamels completely shut down the Yankees.  The only flaw in his game up that point was hitting Alex Rodriguez in the top of the second, but he quickly erased that situation by inducing catcher Jorge Posada to hit into a force at second, striking out Robinson Cano and getting Nick Swisher to fly out to right.

Pettitte also looked like he was ready for the evening.  After giving up a leadoff single to shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the first Pettitte retired the Phillies big bats by popping out Shane Victorino, then striking out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to end the inning.

The game appeared to be shaping up to another pitching duel, but things got dicey for Pettitte and the Yankees in the second.  In a script tailor made for Halloween Pettitte served up a leadoff home run to Jason Werth before striking out Raul Ibanez.  Catcher Pedro Feliz followed with a double to right and Carlos Ruiz walked.  With runners at first and second Hamels laid down a bunt single to load the bases.  Rollins walked to force in a run and then Victorino hit a sacrifice fly to left scoring Ruiz.  Pettitte finally escaped further damage by striking out Utley for the second time to end the inning.

The teams traded zeros in the 3^rd inning, but it wasn’t looking great for the Bombers as Hamels hadn’t given up a hit and appeared to be cruising through New York’s lineup.

That all changed in the top of the 4^th.

Hamels started the inning like he had the entire game by getting Johnny Damon to fly out to right field.  He walked  Mark Teixeira and up to the plate strode Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who had had stellar division and league championship series performances was hitless in the Fall Classic.  In eight official at bats A-Rod had recorded six strikeouts conjuring up memories of his preceding post season woes.

A-Rod put a charge into an 0-1 fastball and sent it down the right field line.  Initially, it looked like the ball hit the top of the wall and came back onto the field, causing Rodriguez to stop at second and Teixeira at third.  However, the strange way the ball bounced back onto the field caused Girardi to ask for a video review of the ball’s flight.  All six umpires retreated to a viewing room and in a very quick reversal ruled that A-Rod’s shot had hit a FOX camera located just behind the wall in the right field corner of the park.  It was now a 3-2 Phillies lead.

“I think it was a big hit,” Rodriguez said to reporters after the game. “I think it woke our offense up a little bit. It felt really good.”

Added Girardi about A-Rod’s breakout swing, “It was a big hit for us because it really got us going.  He has been so good for us in the playoffs. He’s a big reason we’re at this point.”

Pettitte pitched a scoreless 4^th and then the Yankees went back to work in the top of the 5^th inning.

Swisher finally got to the party by doubling to left to start the inning.  After Melky Cabrera stuck out  Pettitte helped his own cause by blooping a first pitch curveball into center as Swisher came around and beat the throw to home with a hard slide into Ruiz.

With the score tied Jeter singled to left, moving Pettitte to second.  Johnny Damon doubled to right center scoring Pettitte and Jeter.  Rapidly the game unraveled for Hamels and the Phillies.  After walking Teixeira manager Charlie Manuel took his staggered starter out of the game.

J.A. Happ quickly restored order by getting A-Rod to line out to center and Posada to pop out to second to shut down the Yankee threat.

Leading 5-3 Pettitte faced the heart of the Phillies lineup.  However, as he had done so many times in past post season games, Pettitte came up big getting Victorino to line out to center, followed by Utley grounding out to first and Howard popping out to short.

Both teams traded home runs in the 6^th as Swisher recorded his first knock in the World Series and Werth hit a monster shot over the left field wall for his second round tripper of the game.

In the seventh with two on and two out Posada got on the ledger by hitting a soft single to left scoring Damon as the Yankees took a 7-4 lead.

Pinch hitter Hideki Matsui, substituting for reliever Joba Chamberlain (who pitched a scoreless 7^th inning) finished up the Yankees scoring by hitting an opposite field home run off Brett Myers to make it an 8-4 ballgame.

With the Phillies down to their last 3 outs and the Yankees holding onto a 4-run lead Girardi elected to go with the erratic Phil Hughes to close out the game.  Unfortunately for Hughes, after Feliz grounded out, Hughes threw a 1-1 four seamer to Ruiz over the plate and Ruiz launched it over the left center field wall.  Girardi wasted little time finding his hook and pulling the beleaguered reliever out of the game.

For the third straight game closer Mariano Rivera was given the ball and asked to end the game.  Rivera did so on 5 pitches.  He induced pinch hitter Matt Stairs to ground out to second and Rollins to hit a soft pop up to Rodriguez at third.  Ballgame over.

Losing Game 1, and knowing the last 6 World Series runner ups lost Game 1 the Yankees knew they had a steep, but not impossible mountain to climb.

“We feel like we’ve got a real strong team,” Pettitte told reporters. “Obviously, losing that first game, we weren’t happy with that. We were upset about it, but we feel real good about what we’re doing and we felt good about coming in here.”

Pettitte critiqued his pitching performance as a rough one.  One that came after an 80-minute rain delay.

“It was a battle tonight — I wasn’t able to get ahead,” Pettitte said in the clubhouse. “I wasn’t able to get my breaking ball over. I was able to get some outs when I needed to get some, but it was a grind tonight for me.”

More from Pettitte on Pettitte:

“You’re out there and you’re by yourself,” Pettitte admitted to reporters. “There’s not a whole lot of anything that can help you except just trying to just keep battling and keep trying to get it there and keep trying to get it there, and hopefully, it’ll come around.”

Luckily for the Yankees Pettitte did come around, and so did the Yankees offense.   Although happy with the outcome the Yankees know the battle isn’t over.

“We feel good about being up, 2-1,” Pettitte mused afterward. “But we know there’s a lot of work left to do.”

New York hopes to put the Phillies on the brink of elimination today in Game 4 as their ace CC Sabathia takes the hill on three days’ rest.  The Phillies counter with RHP Joe Blanton.  Game time is 8:20 pm EST. As usual the broadcast will be carried by FOX and anchored by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

“Yeah, it was cold,” Sabathia said after the game.  “But you just gotta deal with it.”

The Yankee ace did just that, and unlike the Los Angeles Angels, whose sloppy fielding was clearly affected by the frigid temperature,  Sabathia showed little effect from the cold.

He allowed just one run and four hits over eight innings in the Yankees’ 4-1 win in the ALCS opener.  After completing a 1-2-3 eighth inning, the stadium exploded, chanting “CC” over and over again as the gigantic left-hander made his way to the dugout.

“It was a great feeling to have the Stadium rocking and the fans chanting my name.” said Sabathia, who threw just 112 pitches.

“He was sensational,” said manager Joe Girardi after the game. “There are conditions you have to deal with … and he threw extremely well.”

The only run off the left-hander – who struck out seven Angels and walked just one – came in the fourth, when Vladimir Guerrero doubled off the wall in and later scored on Kendry Morales’ RBI single.

It was all the offense the Angels could muster on this chilly October night, and their clumsiness in the field was as deadly as their offense was silent.

In the first, Los Angeles starter John Lackey allowed a single to Derek Jeter.  The Yankee captain then advanced to third on Johnny Damon’s fly ball single to left.  A poor throw by left fielder Juan Rivera – who missed the cutoff man – allowed Damon to advance to second base.

Jeter would score on a sacrifice fly by Alex Rodriguez, but the crushing play of the game was when third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar allowed a potential inning-ending popup to fall untouched between them.

The gaffe allowed Damon to score the only other run the Yankees would need.

“They are a very sound baseball club, and you certainly can’t count on that happening every night … it’s just one game,” Girardi said.  “I thought the first inning was really important to this game … you don’t want to walk away fro that inning without scoring.”

The Yankees capitalized on the two mistakes, and thanks to a tremendous pitching performance from their ace, bring a 1-0 lead into Game 2.

Check out BaseballDigest.com for more from Mark Healey.

The Crabs jumped on top early with three runs in the top of the first inning off Ducks’ starter Troy Cate. Patrick Osborn’s RBI sacrifice fly and Michael Tucker’s two-run homer did the damage. Four more runs in the fourth helped Southern Maryland extend their lead to 7-0. RBI doubles by John Ramistella and Mike Just highlighted the inning.

Long Island inched closer with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth off Crabs’ starter John Halama. Johnny Hernandez’ RBI single in the fourth and two errors in the fifth pushed the score to 7-3.

The Ducks rallied in the ninth, plating two runs on a Ray Navarrete single and brought the winning run to the plate in Raul Gonzalez. With Franklin Gracesqui summoned from the bullpen, the lefty struck out Gonzalez and nailed down the save.

John Halama (2-0) picked up the win, firing seven and two-thirds innings, yielding one earned run, while punching out eight. Cate (0-2) suffered the loss surrendering seven runs in three and one-third innings.

The loss ends another successful season for the Long Island Ducks. The Flock once again enjoyed the best attendance in the league, with an average of 6,014 fans packing 6,002-seat Citibank Park each night. The Ducks finished with an overall record of 74-66, and went 40-30 on their home field. Long Island clinched the second half Liberty Division title, becoming the only team in Atlantic League history to qualify for the playoffs six years in a row.

The Long Island Ducks will be back in 2010, ready to bring the fans and families of Long Island the best, most affordable summer family entertainment around. The Ducks sincerely thank each and every fan for their support this season, and look forward to sharing another great season next year. Stay tuned to www.liducks.com throughout the off-season for all the latest news from Citibank Park, including community appearances and 20010 ticket plans.

Jesse Hoorelbeke hit a two-out double off the right field wall against Zimmermann to score Tyrone Pendergrass.  The closer then got Luis Rodriguez to foul out to right field to end the game.

The Revolution jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Matt Rogelstad led off the frame with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Ryan Goleski.  Rogelstad finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Ryner Bautista responded in the third with a solo home run off starter Dave Gassner (4-7).  It was the only run charged against Gassner, who went six and one-third innings for the win.  He struck out three, walked one and gave up four hits.

Bautista went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for the ‘Fish.

York answered in the bottom of the frame when P.J. Rose hit his second extra-base hit in two nights with an RBI double.

Esteban Yan (6-3) suffered the tough loss after going the distance, striking out six and giving up three runs on eight hits in eight innings of work.

Rose was the fisherman on Saturday, hooking the ‘Fish with their second loss of the second half when he blasted a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning off Bluefish closer Andy Cavazos.

It was the first run and hit surrendered by Cavazos in eight innings.  The righty walked the first three Revs before Rose’s heroics.

Jesse Hoorelbeke paved the way at the plate by going 2-for-4 with two doubles and five RBI.  The first baseman’s three run double in the third inning was the turning point against Revs starter Dan Foli. The righthander exited at the end of the frame, finishing with four runs on six hits and three walks.

Daryl Harang did damage control for the Revs, tossing four innings of scoreless ball.

Gary Knotts did his part for Bridgeport on the mound, striking out seven in seven innings and allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks.

Relief pitcher Patrick Ryan made his Bluefish debut with a scoreless eighth.

Adam Greenberg had a nice night at the dish as he tied a season-high with three hits while stealing two bases.

Zimmermann earned his first save of the series Friday night in York’s 2-1 victory.  Bridgeport could not capitalize in the eighth and ninth innings with runners on base and dropped the first game of the Atlantic League second half.

The Bluefish struggled against starter Tim Harrikala (5-1) in Willie Upshaw’s 2009 managerial debut.  Harrikala pitched five scoreless innings to open the game, giving him 13 straight against the ‘Fish, before Enohel Polanco scored on a wild pitch.  The righthander earned the win by striking out four and giving up a run on four hits.

Josh Johnson’s two-run homer was all the Revs needed to provide Harrikala with his fourth straight victory.

Starter Corey Lee left after one pitch for the ‘Fish with an apparent right side injury.  Matt Pike replaced Lee and pitched a solid five innings. Pike suffered the loss despite allowing just two unearned runs on four hits and two walks.

Tommy John walked off the field at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard for the last time with a victory on July 8.  The Bluefish responded to the sudden news of John’s resignation with a 12 hit performance to defeat the Somerset Patriots 6-4 in the final game of the Atlantic League first half.

Luis Lopez’s two-run homer to left field proved to be the difference maker, as the Bluefish used a three-run fifth inning to break a 3-3 tie.  Adam Greenberg scored on Lopez’s blast off Brian Adams after dropping down a leadoff bunt and stealing second and third base.

Adams (8-5) suffered the loss after striking out three in five innings while giving up six runs on 10 hits and three walks.

Andy Cavazos pitched a perfect ninth inning to record his fourth save of the season for the ‘Fish.

Atlantic League strikeout leader Dan Reichert (9-6) earned his league-leading ninth victory of the season by lasting eight innings and striking out five while being tagged for four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks.

The Bluefish finished the first half with a record of 33-37.

The Patriots jumped out to an early 5-0 lead against starter Kyle Jackson on June 7 as the Pats went on to defeat the ‘Fish 6-4.  Jackson recovered to hold Somerset hitless over his final six innings pitched, but suffered the loss by giving up  six runs on six hits and four walks.

Brandon Sing highlighted Bridgeport’s eight-hit performance by going 2-for-3 with one RBI.

Sing led the Bluefish to a 4-1 victory on June 6 by smashing two solo home runs in Esteban Yan’s complete game three-hitter.  Yan made quick work of Somerset, breezing through the game on 100 pitches.  At one point, Yan retired 13 straight Somerset batters.

Bridgeport finished the week 2-4 and will look to earn their first victory of the second half tonight in the final game of a four game series against the York Revolution at 7:00 p.m.

Tonight’s Matchup

Kyle Jackson (14 GS; 5-6, 5.11 ERA) vs. Shane Youman (5 G, 4 GS; 0-2, 2.26 ERA)

The Week Ahead

June 14-16 at Camden Riversharks

Player to Watch: Starting pitcher Tom Davey is 8-2 with a league-leading 2.31 ERA and his 66 strikeouts are tied for second in the league.  Davey is 2-0 against the ‘Fish with 10 strikeouts and Bridgeport has only scored one run off him in two games.

June 17-19 vs. Newark Bears

Player to Watch: Catcher Salomon Manriquez is the league-leader in batting average (.367) and his .444 on-base percentage is ranked second.  Manriquez is batting .276 against Bridgeport in six games with five walks and three runs.

‘Fish Facts

Who’s Hot: Outfielder Brandon Sing and first baseman Jesse Hoorelbeke have made themselves a threatening presence in the middle of the Bridgeport lineup.  Sing is 17-for-37 (.459) with 10 runs, nine RBI and two home runs in the last ten games.  Hoorelbeke has a team-high 14 RBI in the last ten games by going 13-for-32 (.406) with eight runs and three home runs.

Who’s Not:  Outfielder Tyrone Pendergrass is 3-for-18 (.167) with three runs and one RBI over the last five games…Enohel Polanco struggled in his first week back from a hamstring injury, going 3-for-14 (.214) with two runs and two RBI.

Scoreless Debut: Relief pitcher Patrick Ryan made his Bluefish debut on Saturday by pitching a scoreless eighth inning.  The 26-year-old joins Bridgeport after appearing in 16 games (eight starts) with West Tenn (AA, Mariners) of the Southern League earlier this year.  Ryan was 2-5 with a 6.62 ERA in 50 innings pitched.

On and off the Disabled List: The Bluefish placed Todd Davison on the disabled list with a knee injury and infielder Wilson Batista was reinstated to the active list yesterday.  Batista had three hits in six games for the ‘Fish earlier this year.

Streak Snapped:  Brandon Sing’s 10-game hitting streak was snapped on Friday against the York Revolution.  The outfielder’s streak is tied for the team-high with ex-Bluefish Henry Mateo.

Upshaw takes over John: With the sudden news of Tommy John’s resignation as manager of the Bluefish, Willie Upshaw will take over for his second stint as manager of the team.  Upshaw managed the team from 1998-2000, winning the 1999 Atlantic League Championship.  The 1998 Manager of the Year left the team in 2000 to coach in the affiliated ranks of the Cleveland Indians and then the San Francisco Giants.

Sabathia, who signed with the Yankees in the off-season for the richest contract by a pitcher in baseball history, didn’t make it out of the 5^th inning; a familiar sight to Yankees fans during the 2008 season.  The Yankees are counting on Sabathia to eat up major innings during the year.  However, Sabathia struggled with his command from the get-go and left the game after surrendering 6 earned runs on 8 hits.  The six were the most runs he had given up in a game going back to July 25, 2008 against the Cleveland Indians (32 starts).

Opening Day saw Vice-President Joe Biden throw out the first pitch to kick of the Orioles and Yankees 2009 campaigns; a high fastball catcher Chad Moeller had to climb the ladder to get.  He is the first sitting vice-president in history to do so at Camden Yard.  Afterward, the O’s took the field and Derek Jeter strode to the plate to face Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie.  Jeter got the Yankees first hit, singling up the middle, but was left stranded to end the inning.

Sabathia took the mound and immediately had trouble locating his pitches, especially his fastball.  He gave up a leadoff single to Brian Roberts and later uncorked two wild pitches, although the second one should have been handled by catcher Jorge Posada.  The two wild pitches equaled the amount he threw in 253 innings last year.  However, Sabathia was able to keep Baltimore off the boards for the first two frames.

In the third the Yankees took a 1-0 lead on a manufactured run, when Brett Gardner singled to left, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Johnny Damon.

That’s when the Orioles went to work on Sabathia.

Baltimore scored three runs in the bottom of the inning when César Izturis singled, Roberts walked, Adam Jones tripled and Nick Markakis hit a sacrifice fly to score Jones.

The Orioles scored 3 more runs off Sabathia in the 5^th when Roberts doubled, and scored after Jones and Markakis hit infield singles. Third baseman Melvin Mora hit another infield single getting Jones to third and moving Markakis up 90 feet.  Sabathia intentionally walked Ty Wigginton to load the bases.   Jones scored on a groundout by Aubrey Huff with Markakis advancing to third.  Sabathia’s afternoon ended after he walked Luke Scott force in a run and reload the bases.

The Yankees bullpen took a beating as well.  After Jonathan Albaladejo threw a scoreless 1-1/3 innings in relief of Sabathia the Orioles tagged relievers Phil Coke and Brian Bruney for two runs each, capped by Izturis’ home run off Coke in the 8^th.

The Yankees other big time signee Mark Teixeira had a rough afternoon also.  Teixeira, who went 0-for-4 with walk, stranded four, including two runners on in the 8^th after the Yankees had cut the Orioles lead to 6-5 in the seventh.

After the game, Teixeira remarked to reporters about his poor showing.

“I didn’t get it done there,” he said, referring to his groundout with runners at the corners and two outs.

Teixeira, who was born and raised in Maryland approximately 30 minutes south of Baltimore, was lustily booed by the hometown crowd every time his name was announced at the plate or when he made a play on the field.

After the game, Sabathia summed up his afternoon this way.

“I was terrible. I battled from the first inning on,” he told reporters.  “At some point I’m usually able to find it. Today was just one of those days where I didn’t. When I have one of those days, this is the result you get.”

Yankee manager Joe Girardi took the game in stride.

“I guess we can’t go undefeated,” Girardi said. “Yeah, it’s one game. We didn’t execute today.”

Even with the loss the Yankees can point to some positives.  Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui homered and Jeter and Damon went 3-for-5 and 2-for-3 respectively at the top of the order.  So far Girardi’s flip-flopping of the Yankees shortstop and left fielder in the leadoff and No. 2 spot in the order is paying off.

The Yankees and Orioles have Tuesday off before battling again on Wednesday and Thursday to complete their 3-game series.

Notes: Sabathia didn’t record a strikeout for only the 5^th time in 253 career starts and Nick Swisher recorded his first official hit a Yankee by getting a pinch-hit double in the 8^th inning.