NEW YORK -- This was not the type of World Series that the Phillies are going to spend much time replaying in their minds. Not long after they watched the Yankees celebrate on the field, taking the title that they won last year, the Phillies were already in full shoulder-shrug mode.
Regrets? Not really.
"They got the hits and we didn't," Jimmy Rollins said. "Simple. There's no science other than that. Get a hit or you don't. And they did."
NEW YORK -- Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettitte both used the same word to describe how they felt about getting the assignment to pitch Game 6 of the World Series: "Blessed."
Martinez, understanding the similarities between the pitchers go beyond their statistical resumes, added another description: "Two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it."
With the Yankees looking to close out their 27th World Series title on Wednesday night, they'll turn to the 37-year-old Pettitte, while the Phillies will lean on 38-year-old Martinez to try to force a Game 7. The matchup would have plenty of drama because of the situation in the series, but it certainly has an added bit of texture because of what could be the final major league game for either or both of these iconic pitchers.
NEW YORK -- Cole Hamels may still have to fight a public perception that he's not ready to pitch a possible Game 7 of the World Series, but his manager apparently has no qualms about giving him the ball.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel isn't saying whether Hamels would pitch that game, but he said on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium that he is convinced that the flap over a Hamels comment following Game 3 was overblown or misunderstood.
"He came in and talked to me [Monday] night, and we sat in there for 10 or 15 minutes and we talked about some of the things that were said, and I felt very good about it, really," Manuel said. "I know Hamels. I've been a Hamels guy ever since I seen him pitch in Lakewood and when I first came to work here. I never, ever -- I want you to listen to this -- never ever questioned his mental toughness because he's just as tough as anybody on our team."
PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson didn't need any detailed analysis to get his players to understand what they needed to do differently against A.J. Burnett.
The game plan might as well have consisted of one word: "Swing."
"Be ready to hit the fastball," Thompson told FanHouse after the Phillies walloped Burnett for six quick runs en route to a season-saving 8-6 victory in Game 5 of the World Series. "We let him get first-pitch strikes on us last time and he got his confidence and started getting his curveball over. Tag the fastball. That's all."
PHILADELPHIA -- Now that the possibility of a Game 7 start is looming for Cole Hamels, he is backtracking madly from his eye-opening comments about being eager for the season to end, comments that reportedly sparked a clubhouse tussle with Brett Myers.
Although the Phillies still may opt to give someone else the ball for Game 7, assuming they even get there, Hamels said that his perceived mindset should not be a reason for him not to pitch.
"The way it came out was not the way I intended," Hamels told reporters after the Phillies' 8-6 victory in Game 5. "It hurt the way it came out. I was shocked. I didn't even know what I said. It's not what I was thinking."
PHILADELPHIA -- The Brad Lidge Story was shaping up to be a happy one this postseason. A guy who had endured one of the worst season-to-season collapses in recent memory was suddenly reborn, it seemed, busting fastballs and throwing nasty, unhittable sliders.
The latest chapter was unfolding on Sunday night, with Lidge on the mound making tough pitches while the crowd roared, anticipating the Phillies completing an improbable comeback victory and jumping back into the World Series.
"I felt good," Lidge said. "I felt like it would be one of those innings that would be a good quick inning. I made some good pitches to Damon. Then very quickly he was on third base. It turned pretty quick."
PHILADELPHIA -- A.J. Burnett is scheduled to start Game 5 of the World Series for the Yankees on Monday, manager Joe Girardi announced on Sunday. Burnett would be going on three days rest for the first time this season, although he's had some success on short rest in his career.
The decision was not a surprise, because the other alternative was Chad Gaudin, who has pitched just one inning this postseason. It now appears the Yankees are going to use only three starters throughout the playoffs. Andy Pettitte would be starter on three days' rest in Game 6, but Girardi said he'd have to check with Pettitte in the coming days before finalizing that.
"Our guys feel good this time of year," Girardi said. "We took it easy on them -- that's probably a bad way to state it. We tried to give them som extra rest in the month of September, and they've had some extra rest during the playoffs and we thought that was very important."
PHILADELPHIA -- As losses go, this one was pretty ugly for the Phillies. On the bright side, those are the ones that are easiest to forget.
Other than Jayson Werth's two homers, nothing went right for the Phillies in Saturday's 8-5 loss to the Yankees, which left them down 2-1 in the World Series.
The All-Star quartet at the top of the order -- Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard -- was awful, going 1-for-11 with five strikeouts. Starter Cole Hamels had another of his meltdowns, spoiling a promising early performance. The bullpen couldn't hold the Yankees, giving up three more runs as the Yankees ran away.
PHILADELPHIA -- Cole Hamels is the victim of his own success, in more ways than one.
As the Phillies lefty prepared to start Game 3 of the World Series against the Yankees, he was asked repeatedly what happened to the guy who was so dominant last October, when he was named MVP in the National League Championship Series and the World Series.
Hamels not only has had to deal with the emotional pressure that comes with the high standard he set, but pitching so deep into last year's postseason affected his physical preparation for this season, and he still hasn't recovered.
Blanton gave up four runs, three earned, in six innings in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. He was behind when he left, but the Phillies won that game on Jimmy Rollins' double in the bottom of the ninth against Jonathan Broxton. Blanton has a 4.66 ERA in three games this postseason. In his career, he is 2-0 with a 3.45 ERA in the playoffs.
"I think Blanton fits for us," Manuel said, "because I think we want to keep [J.A.] Happ right now in the bullpen, especially kind of in the middle where he could do some innings, and also Joe pitched last year in the World Series, and he's got a little bit more experience."
NEW YORK -- This was not the type of World Series that the Phillies are going to spend much time replaying in their minds. Not long after they watched the Yankees celebrate on the field, taking the title that they won last year, the Phillies were already in full shoulder-shrug mode.
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