Phillies Grab Game One of the Fall Classic

    NEW YORK (AP) - Look out for Cliff Lee, Chase Utley and this New
Red Machine.
    Lee outdueled CC Sabathia, Utley homered twice and the
Philadelphia Phillies kept rolling through October, beating the New
York Yankees 6-1 on a misty Wednesday night in the World Series
opener.
    The defending champion Phillies shut down Alex Rodriguez & Co.
in the first Series game at the new billion-dollar Yankee Stadium.
Trying to become the first NL team to repeat since Cincinnati in
1975-76, the Phils’ 17-4 postseason run is the best in league
history.
    Big Red Machine, meet your match.
    Game 2 is Thursday night, with wily Pedro Martinez pitching for
the Phillies against jumpy A.J. Burnett.
    Ryan Howard reprised his MVP performance, doubling twice and
driving in the final run for the Phillies. Rodriguez, however, went
hitless and struck out three times in his Series debut.
    Lee bamboozled the Yankees with a spiked curveball, deceptive
changeup and his usual pinpoint fastball, pitching a six-hitter
while striking out 10 without a walk.
    Lee blanked the Yankees until a run scored on shortstop Jimmy
Rollins’ throwing error in the ninth inning. The lefty improved to
3-0 with an 0.54 ERA this postseason.
    He really seemed to enjoy himself, too.
    If Lee felt any nerves in his Series debut, facing the team that
led the majors in wins, homers and runs, it didn’t show. And if the
Phillies were supposed to be intimidated of the pictures of Babe
Ruth and all the Yankees greats on the giant videoboard, it didn’t
happen.
    Pitching in short sleeves on a blustery evening, Lee worked a
wad of gum while he worked his spell over the Yanks. He stuck out
his glove hand for a ho-hum catch on Johnny Damon’s popup that left
the Phillies chuckling, shrugged after a nifty, behind-the-back
stop on Robinson Cano’s one-hopper and casually tagged out Jorge
Posada on a comebacker.
    Lee beat his good friend and former Cy Young teammate Carsten
Charles Sabathia in the first game at this ballpark back in April,
and got this chance after the Phillies traded four minor leaguers
to Cleveland in July to get him.
    Playing in their 40th World Series, and first in six years, the
Yankees went quietly.
    Utley’s solo home runs in the third and sixth innings gave Lee
all the support he needed. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run single in the
eighth and Shane Victorino added an RBI single in the ninth.
    The Phillies’ may have been a bit overdue - in their only other
October meeting, the Whiz Kids from Philadelphia got swept by the
Yankees in the 1950 World Series and totaled just five runs.
    Even though he’s an All-Star, Utley was an unlikely candidate to
rock Sabathia, the MVP of the ALCS. Utley was 0 for 7 with five
strikeouts against the big Yankees lefty going into the game.
    Utley won a nine-pitch duel with Sabathia in the third, pulling
a 95 mph fastball over the right-field wall. The shot was the first
by a left-hander allowed by Sabathia at home this year.
    Utley struck again in the sixth, sending another 95 mph heater
deep into the right-center field bleachers.
    Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had little to do except watch
from the top step of the dugout. Yankees manager Joe Girardi was
more busy, bringing in five relievers after Sabathia left following
the seventh inning.
    First lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden were among the crowd of
50,207, as were a few specks of fans dressed in Phillies red.
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner watched from an upstairs box - he
has yet to see his team win in the palace he built.
    After a rocky postseason, umpires faced just one tricky call and
got it right. They huddled after Rollins trapped a popup and threw
to first, and correctly ruled it a double play.
    Neither team got a lot of good swings in the early innings. Lee
and Sabathia had a lot to do with that, and maybe a light drizzle
hurt the hitters. So did the fact that each club had played only 10
games in 3½ weeks because of the scattered postseason scheduling.
    There was plenty of postseason bunting for the opener. Red,
white and blue decorations adorned the upper decks, and both
Rollins and Damon bunted into outs in the first inning.
    The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning
on two walks sandwiched around Howard’s double. Ibanez got ahead in
the count 3-1 and swung away, hitting a routine grounder.
    NOTES: Utley set a postseason record by safely reaching in his
26th straight game, breaking a tie with Baltimore’s Boog Powell.
... Rodriguez fanned three times in a game for the first time since
July 30. ... The Yankees went 64-36 in Series games at their old
park…. The only previous time Cy Young winners met in the Series
opener was 1995 when Cleveland’s Orel Hershiser faced Atlanta’s
Greg Maddux. ... The Yankees grounds crew wore T-shirts that said
“Win it for the Boss.“