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The Yankee bullpen is a mess. Does anyone know if there is a reliever that knows his role besides Rivera? I'd be nice to know that its x,y & than Rivera (w. Marte for LHB). I guess its hard for Girardi to trust anyone out there. It's a box of chocolates, mixed with turds. You never know what you are going to get. I just wish he'd "shorten up the bench" and stick with the hot hands. Robertson was one of them and then he fell into a black hole. When you use 6 guys, one is bound to fail.

Peter,

I've been reading many of the usual suspects amongst the sports websites (SI, Fox, ESPN) newspapers and have found it interesting that on the one hand, many of the "experts" have been predicting (and practically begging for) a close, knock-down, drag 'em out 6 or 7 game series, because these teams are so evenly matched, are similar in so many ways etc. Yet at the same time, the vast majority have been picking the Yankees to win. You'd think that that if so many people believed that the teams were so evenly matched, the predictions would split more closely along 50/50 (or 60/40 or 40/60). Not so.

Coming into this series, here was what I was concerned about:

1. Cliff Lee was last year's Cy Young, in the AL. And he came in to the Series hot. He obviously has what it takes to beat AL lineups. So I was not buying into the idea that the Sabathia/Lee match-ups were layups for the Yankees.

2. Nor was I buying all the talk that the Yankees had the much better bullpen. Oh sure, I'll take Mo over Lidge any day (even though Lidge does appear to have settled down in the post-season), but as for the rest, we all saw how they performed in the ALCS. The Phillies are a better collection of hitters than the Angels, who, let's face it, had a lousy ALCS. So I'm not sold that our bullpen guys (excluding The Closer) are so much better than theirs. Which means that the late innings pretty much become a roll of the dice.

3. Sure our starters 1-3 (not 1-4 . . . 'cause we don't have a 4) are nominally better than theirs. But, Lee is a fine pitcher, and Burnett is . . . Flake Boy. And while we can all point to many post-season games where Andy came up big, let's be honest, we can also point to a few where he didn't. And our ace is going to have to come back and pitch on three days rest in Game 4.

4. I wasn't buying that our hitters were so unstoppable. I saw tons of runners left on base in the ALCS and many wasted scoring opportunities. The offense didn't really click.

In short, the Phillies are real. They're the defending champs, they are resilient and they are fearless. I think they are much better than, say, the 2003 Marlins (though I think this Yankees team is better than the 2003 Yankees team as well).

All that having been said, Burnett needs to deliver and the bullpen needs to settle down. I think the former is more likely than the latter. The nightmare scenario, obviously, is Burnett implodes, Andy is not quite good enough, the hitters start pressing after tonight's game, the bullpen blows up and we're in a 3-0 hole before we know it. It's plausible, but improbable. I take comfort knowing that Pedro is not the pitcher he once was, and both the Yankees and the Blue Jays were able to hit him when he was last with the Red Sox. And that was six years ago. We'll do better than the Dodgers. Hamels has not pitched well recently. I think Sabathia will be fine. And I don't think Lee will slam the door shut on the Yankees three times (assuming the Phillies pitch him games 4 and 7). So, ultimately, the biggest concern has to be the bullpen, outside of Mo. If they keep pitching like they have been, the Phillies are going to maul them. The bullpen may end up cost the Yankees a close Series.

Yanks need a big win tonight, or this thing could be over before it starts. Fortunately Pedro is pitching, I cant imagine him having the stuff or even stamina to hold the Yanks down.

Tim- I agree, but who are the hot hands? You almost have to say Marte+Mo at this point.

Greg/Ian- I think tonight could be 12-10 or something like that. Both teams see their starter get demolished. But even if we lose remember 1996. I see some parallels and Andy in Game 3 comforts me.

Peter,

So this is what we've been reduced to? "Marte+MO"? Marte? Marte?!? Think about that. It's scary. Really scary.

I haven't forgotten 1996. Nor 1978. Still, the bullpen was horrific last night. CC/AJ/Andy are going to have to provide 8+ innings of lights out pitching four times in order to beat these guys. That's asking a lot.

I think Robertson can be reliable out of the bullpen. Ibanez's hit was a seeing-eye, nine hop grounder. I like Robertson's stuff and his body language; and his stats are good for the postseason. Marte also looked good for a change. Not sure which Joba will show up but obviously he is going to pitch some tonight. Because he has postseason experience and is mentally tough, I'd pitch him.

Girardi has to shut down Hughes. Hughes should not be the first option out of the bullpen.

Tonight's game is all about Burnett. We signed him because he has the best pure stuff in the AL. You've got to pitch him for as long as possible and hope he delivers.

Use Rivera for a 6 out save if necessary. Otherwise, I think its Robertson against righties and Marte against lefties and Joba to start a full inning in relief.

Greg- Try not to think about it, it's not good for you.

Corey- You nailed it on AJ. They gave him $82.5 million for games like this. I would also like to see Joe bring Robertson in at the start of an inning.

Well, Burnett delivered. I can breathe again. Phew! Pedro pitched better than I expected. I really thought/expected the Yankees would knock him around. Well, ok, I really hoped the Yankees would knock him around. The offense is still not really clicking. And what was Jeter thinking bunting with two strikes on? I don't think I've seen that since Reggie did it in '78. And we all know how that turned out.