DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
Pedro Martinez leaves the mound in the seventh inning as Charlie Manuel huddles with Chase Utley (left),Ryan Howard and catcher Carlos Ruiz. J.A. Happ never got into the game for the Phillies.
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- Blanton will start Game Four
- Ratings: Phils slip in Game 2
- Opposites attract, like Rollins and Manuel
- Phils' bullpen outing a relief, if not enough
- Back in left field, Ibanez has big night
- Howard and Rodriguez not exactly cleaning up
- Loss doesn't faze the Phillies faithful
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Phils' bullpen outing a relief, if not enough
NEW YORK - For the first time in this World Series, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ambled toward the mound in the seventh inning of last night's Game 2 at Yankee Stadium and motioned toward the bullpen with a raised arm.
This is the part where Phillies fans are supposed to swallow hard and cross their fingers. Cliff Lee had saved them from such angst with his brilliant complete-game victory Wednesday night, but Pedro Martinez, last night's starter, wasn't expected to go the distance.
Except for one pitch, the Phillies' bullpen acquitted itself well in a 3-1 loss to the Yankees that evened the series at one game apiece. It resumes tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park.
With runners on first and third and nobody out in the seventh, and the Phils in damage control mode, Manuel needed a strikeout. He turned to the right guy - Chan-Ho Park - to face pinch-hitter Jorge Posada.
Park became the second native of South Korea to ever appear in a World Series game. Byung-Hyun Kim pitched for Arizona in the 2001 Series.
At that point in the game, Park was the most likely Phils reliever to get a strikeout.
"You have to mix up your pitches against him," Park said. "And like most hitters you go against, you have to have good location."
Park got two strikes on Posada, but the veteran catcher lashed a single to center to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. "It was a fastball," Park said. "I wanted it to tail in on him but it came back over the middle of the plate. The location was not where I wanted it to be."
Park then struck out Derek Jeter on a failed bunt attempt with two strikes and gave way to Scott Eyre, as Manuel wanted the lefthander to go against the lefthanded hitting Johnny Damon.
On a controversial play, Damon hit a sinking line drive to first baseman Ryan Howard that turned into a disputed double play. Video replay showed Howard may have trapped the ball rather than catch it on a fly, which was the ruling, but Eyre didn't hang around for the huddle the umpires formed to discuss the call. Whether or not it was a stroke of fortune, Eyre had done his job.
In the eighth inning and with the Phillies still down, 3-1, Ryan Madson took the mound. The first batter he faced, Mark Teixeira, had homered off Martinez in the fourth inning. Whether Madson decided to send a message isn't known, but he drilled Teixeira on his right leg. But Madson had his fastball sizzling in the mid-90s, which makes his out pitch - a nasty change-up - almost unhittable.
The lanky righthander used the change-up to strike out Alex Rodriguez looking. A-Rod, who carried the Yankees' struggling offense into the World Series with five home runs, has struck out six times in his eight at bats against Phillies pitching.
Madson then struck out Hideki Matsui swinging and, after Robinson Cano singled, got his third strikeout of the inning on Brett Gardner.
Again, one pitch - the one Posada hit to center for a run-scoring single - was the lone blemish on the bullpen.
Before the Series started, the consensus was the Yankees' bullpen had the edge over the Phillies'. There's a good reason for that assessment - his name is Mariano Rivera.
The bridge to Rivera has shown cracks lately. The Yanks' main setup man, Phil Hughes, has been struggling, so manager Joe Girardi brought in Rivera to pitch the final two innings. The Phillies mounted a threat against Rivera in the eighth. With one out, Jimmy Rollins walked and Shane Victorino singled. But Rivera got Chase Utley on a double play.
In the first round of the matchup of bullpens, the Yanks had the edge. But Manuel had to be encouraged by the three relievers he employed.
Contact staff writer Ray Parrillo at 215-854-2743 or rparrillo@phillynews.com.
