One More Gem

Can anyone dream up a better situation than Pedro Martinez trying to stave off elimination for one more day and add one more chapter to the Legacy that is Pedro Martinez: Shredding the Steroid Era One Curveball at a Time. (That shit is trademarked, don't steal it.) Pedey (The Real Pedey, Sorry Dustin) is putting all of Red Sox Nation on his back in order to throw a massive Cock Block in the direction of the Steinbrenner Front Office. I'll be honest with you; I don't know what Pedro has left. I don't know if the tank is on 'E' of if he just gassed up and is ready for another epic. What I do know is that he is one of the best "pitchers'" in baseball history and he's got enough guts and guile for one last hurrah, sort of like the killer in horror movies that is seemingly dead but wakes up for one last scare. Tonight is Pedro's last scare, and I'm certainly ready for one final brutal slaughtering of the Evil Empire!

As good as Alex Rodriguez is, tonight is going to define his postseason, not everything he has done to this point. Tonight his team has some pressure thrust back upon them as they return home to not let the Fightin' Phils force a Game 7. He is facing someone whom he has a .291 lifetime career batting average against and for the first REAL time this post season other than Game 1 (which he coincidentally went 0-4) has pressure aplenty upon him to succeed. I'm a firm believe that when he isn't facing Little Leaguers out there on the bump in the postseason that he is going to fall like London Bridge. What say you, Alexander?

When is Ryan Howard going to decide that he may be needed in order for the Phillies to REALLY be able to win this thing? As good as Chase Utley has been, tying Reggie Jackson's long-standing record, Howard has been that abysmal. 12 strikeouts in 5 games speak for itself to the magnitude of suck (check career notes) that he has been doling out on baseball's biggest stage. He has had trouble with lefties all season (.207 BA in 222 AB's) but he needs to find away to be a force, even if it's getting on base for Jayson Werth hitting behind him. He is the key to this game for the Phillies, even more important than Pedro for me. If Howard hits, the Phillies will win.

Andy Pettite is in my book a Hall of Famer, steroids and all. He is one of the best big game pitchers of my lifetime not to mention a VERY good regular season pitcher as well (229 Wins). But he's working on 3 days' rest. He has not thrown on three days' rest all season and hasn't in over 2 seasons. That's a red flag. Had he of done it EVEN ONCE this year, I'd give the advantage to him over a fully rested Pedro, but tonight I'm seeing flat cutters coming Ryan Howard's way, setting up a Yaya-Ball that may actually tickle the ghost of Babe Ruth on its way down.

The alpha question of tonight's game is this: If the Phillies have a lead, who closes the friggin' thing out? Manuel has gone to a duopoly in the closer role, and I'm not sure that I have much faith in either player. Lidge had a horrible season, to say the least but in the playoffs he hasn't been bad. He entered the game in Game 4 in a NON-SAVE situation. This sounds like a cop-out but it is a completely different animal. He dispatched of the first two batters of the inning and then made a mistake pitch to Damon and all hell broke Loose. Madsen was anything but a sure thing in his 9^th inning Palsy-inducing finish. But I am going to go with Lidge hoping he will channel his 2008 self for one more game and hope for a blow out in Game 7.

Pedro is a Bostonian through and through and I personally don't think that Pedro is capable of not going out on top. Is 7 innings 1 Earned Run too much to ask for. Probably. But the stage is set, the book is open. Put the pen to paper and your finger on the seams Pedey, your Legacy needs a conclusion and it starts at 7:57.

Stay Tuned

Ryan