The New York Yankees are chasing championship No. 27 by throwing their top pitchers on three days’ rest.
With a chance to clinch the crown, A.J. Burnett is scheduled to start on short rest against Philadelphia ace Cliff Lee in Game 5 of the World Series this morning.
CC Sabathia went on three days’ rest on Sunday night in Game 4, and Andy Pettitte could do the same in Game 6 if the Series returns to New York.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Our guys feel good at this time of year,” manager Joe Girardi said before a 7-4 victory gave his team a 3-1 Series lead. “We tried to give them some extra rest in the month of September, and they’ve had some extra rest during the playoffs that we thought was very important.”
With right-hander Joba Chamberlain back in the bullpen, New York has stuck with three starters throughout the post-season. Girardi chose Burnett, who beat Pedro Martinez and the Phillies 3-1 in Game 2, over journeyman Chad Gaudin for Game 5.
Now, Burnett can pitch the Yankees to their 27th title and first since 2000.
“I’d lie if I said I wasn’t going to go home and think about it all night,” he said. “This is what you talk about growing up. I’m going to do my best to take full advantage of that. I’m not going to take it as just one ordinary game or another start. It’s the World Series, Game 5, and I’m the starter. That’s what it’s all about.”
Burnett is 4-0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest, though he hasn’t tried it this season.
“To be honest, it’s a little different, obviously, in October,” he said. “But I feel good right now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t take the ball.”
New York’s approach is a departure from the norm in baseball over the last two decades. STATS LLC says no team has won the World Series using only three post-season starters since the 1991 Minnesota Twins.
Jack Morris made five starts, Kevin Tapani four and Scott Erickson three that year for the Twins. Back then, however, the post-season lasted two rounds, not three.
The defending champion Phillies decided to keep Lee on regular rest, giving him the ball in Game 5 rather than setting up a rematch with Sabathia. Lee dominated the Yankees in the opener, tossing a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks in a 6-1 victory.
New York’s only run was unearned, thanks to a throwing error by shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the ninth inning. Lee became the first pitcher in World Series history to have 10 strikeouts, no walks and no earned runs allowed in a complete-game victory, STATS said.
“I don’t really over-complicate it or think, man, I just faced them the other day, it’s going to be different now,” Lee said. “It’s still the same game. I’ve still got to go out there and locate pitches and do the things that I just said. And if I don’t, bad things will probably happen. And if you do, good things will probably happen. That’s how I look at it. It’s really that simple.”
Joe Blanton started Game 4 for Philadelphia against Sabathia.
Neither got a decision.
Lee, who has never pitched on three days’ rest, was nearly unhittable last month, going 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA in four post-season starts totaling 33-and-a-third innings. He has 30 strikeouts and three walks.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of
RSS