Must-Watch Baseball?

With the best football game of the week over and tonight's game going to be over at half-time, there's room for watching baseball tonight. Cliff Lee was spectacular in Game 1 for the Phillies and takes the mound against A.J. Burnett tonight in a 3-1 series. The only thing that could be more impressive than his last performance is to send him out there with no defenders; just Lee and the catcher. (Or maybe have him pitch at a bear)

This game is a toss-up. I see the Yankees winning, but not without a hell of a fight from Lee. New York won't string a bunch of hits together, so watch for a couple long balls. (and hopefully a bench-clearing brawl?) A.J. Burnett is solid and the Yankees have better bats. I'm thinking Yankees 4 - Phillies 2.

Who Should Phillies Throw in Game 1?

As a long time fan of the Baltimore Orioles, dating back to 90's when I'd turn to Channel 11 (PBS?) to watch Brady Anderson, Baines, Surhoff, Mussina..... oh, and Ripken to watch the Orioles lead the American League East from Game 1, I can't help but to root for the Phillies tonight. But, in an unbiased perspective, the Yankees should win the World Series in 4 games. The Angels had the best chance at keeping New York from a title of any team in the league. They couldn't do it. Now, the Phillies' best chance is to switch some things up.

Why not start Pedro Martinez tonight? He's your third best starter. Give up tonight's game, when CC is going to walk all over you. Yeah, Cliff Lee may hold the Yanks to 3 or 4 runs, but Sabathia is going to hold you to 2. Put up Lee in Game 2, a much more winnable game against A.J. Burnett, who's posteason ERA is 3 runs higher than Sabathia. Now you have Hamels at home in Game 3 in a 1-1 series. Sounds like a much better idea to me.