NEW YORK - In the last round, it was shellshocked Dodgers ace-in-training Clayton Kershaw who presented the best image of what Phillies hitters could do to a young, talented pitcher.
So far this round, it's the volcanic spew unleashed by Yankees setup man Philip Hughes after his removal from Game 1. Hughes, who perhaps was baseball's best pitcher after the All-Star break, has not been nearly so good in the playoffs.
In Game 1, trying to keep a 2-0 game close, he walked the two hitters he faced to start the eighth inning. Manager Joe Girardi quickly replaced him.
As he left the mound, Hughes chirped at home-plate umpire Gerry Davis. In the dugout, Hughes' displeasure rapidly rose to tirade proportions.
This, typically, is not the Yankee Way. Especially not for a 23-year-old, first-round pick who the Yankees hope will soon be a dominant righthanded force in the front of their rotation.
No biggie, said Girardi, a feisty sort himself when he caught in pinstripes.
"It's not something that you want your players to do, but all that does is tell me that he really, really cares about what he's doing out there and for this team," Girardi said. He didn't speak with Hughes last night, but, he said, "I'll take his temperature today."
It should be noted that Hughes was not exactly splitting the plate with his offerings to Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, both of whom later scored.
That, maybe more than his explosion, should be worrying Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland.
Apparently, it isn't.
"He wasn't in attack mode," Eiland explained after the game. "He was trying to be too fine. It's his first World Series game. It's a mental thing."
It isn't just the World Series.
Hughes showed cracks in Game 2 of the AL Division Series against the Twins, when a two-out walk and two singles helped turn a 4-1 Yankees lead into a 4-3 issue.
Those cracks became fissures in Game 5 of the ALCS, when he threw fuel on a fire created in the seventh inning by starter A.J. Burnett and reliever Damaso Marte. The trio combined to make a 6-4 lead a 7-6 deficit; Hughes, entering with two outs, surrendered a walk and two singles before he retired a hitter.
This wasn't the Hughes who gave up only five earned runs in 40 appearances between June 14 and Sept. 30, with a whopping 58 strikeouts and only 11 walks in 46 innings.
"He's pitched a lot more good games for us than bad ones," Eiland said. "We're not going to throw in the towel yet."
Eiland is counting on Hughes to come around, although the dismissive explanation about it being Hughes' first World Series seems disingenuous, at best. It isn't even Hughes' first playoff experience. He pitched acceptably well in the 2007 ALDS against Cleveland.
Hughes is a big part of the Yankees' future. As such, he will be given more chances.
"Would I use him in the eighth inning tonight?" Girardi asked before last night's game. "Yes. I would."
Shaken up
After a 4-for-35 performance in the first 10 games of the playoffs, rightfielder Nick Swisher finally was replaced by Jerry Hairston Jr.
Swisher has gotten one RBI, in the first playoff game of the year. Girardi evaded addressing Swisher's silent bat that had produced 29 homers in 2009. However, Swisher's slump dates back to Sept. 19; he's 9-for-69 (.130) since then.
Instead of ripping Swisher, Girardi focused on the fact that Hairston, a light-hitting righthanded hitter, was 10-for-27 against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez. Hairston, who had not faced Martinez since 2004, singled in three at-bats against him in last night's 3-1 Yankees win.
Stripes
As expected, catcher Jorge Posada sat in favor of Jose Molina, A.J. Burnett's personal catcher. The Yankees carried three catchers in their ALDS and ALCS appearances, which would have freed them to use Posada as the DH last night with a backup for Molina if Molina was hurt; otherwise, Posada would have had to replace him and the Yankees would have lost their DH. Besides, Posada was just 15-for-72 (.208) with 34 strikeouts against Martinez. Hideki Matsui remained the DH . . . Before the game, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was presented with the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the player whose on-field excellence and off-field efforts are deemed best in baseball.
Video: Inquirer's Bob Ford debates the Series
Photos: 2009 Phillies 
