Charlie Manuel After The Phils Force Game 6
November 3, 2009 – 3:15 pm by Bunk
Don’t count out the defending champs just yet. The Philadelphia Phillies forced game 6 in the World Series by defeating the New York Yankees 8-6 Monday night. The Phils’ bats came alive last night, as they touched up A.J. Burnett - who was pitching on three days rest - for 6 runs in just 2 innings of work. Chase Utley hit homeruns number four and five for Philadelphia, tying Reggie Jackson for the most dingers in a Fall Classic. The two teams return to New York for game six on Wednesday night. Pedro Martinez will start for the Phils - his second start at Yankees Stadium this series. The veteran Andy Pettite will go for New York. Will he fare better on three days rest than Burnett? We’ll see. We’ve got ourselves a series. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel joined Into the Night with Tony Bruno on Fox Sports Radio at the conclusion of last night’s game.
On the high drama of these World Series games and if he jokingly thinks it’s harder for him to watch or for the viewers at home:
Yeah, it got real interesting. I try to keep my cool there and stay calm but I definitely get in to those games and sometimes man, those games, they can wear on you, mentally tough at times, but we hung in there and we got the job done tonight.”
On the decision to take out Cliff Lee in the 8th inning:
“Yeah, well like all a sudden when he started to get the ball up and they started hitting the ball sharp on him. And like three guys in a row hit the ball pretty hard, and I knew it was time for me to go get him. And after he had picked a heck of a game.”
On the struggling Ryan Howard:
“Well first of all, I think he’s trying a little bit too hard. But also, they’re throwing him a lot of breaking balls and he needs to stay back and see the ball. When he hits the ball - when he skies the ball up to left field yesterday, or last night’s game - and tonight it looked like his swing was starting to come around some. But he still, he kind of drifts at the plate, and he’s just got to stay back and follow the ball a little bit longer. And usually when Ryan starts coming off the ball, as far as start striding early and his hands come forward and everything, his weight gets out over his front side and he’ll chase. And that’s kind of what he’s doing right now and he’s definitely sliders from left handers - he’s not staying on them good.”
On Chase Utley tying Reggie Jackson with five homeruns in the World Series:
“Chase can get hot. And right now, the last couple days he’s really looked good swinging the bat. And it’s a good time for him to get hot because we definitely need it. And Chase is some kind of player man. I mean, I can’t say enough about him. I tell you something, he can swing a bat but he’s a tremendous player and I’m glad he’s helping us, and believe me, we definitely need him to stay hot.”
Listen here to Manuel with Tony Bruno on KLAC in Los Angeles
Tags: 2009 World Series, Alex Rodriguez, Charlie Manuel, Chase Hutley, Joe Girardi, KLAC, most HRs in a World Series, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Phils force Game 6, Tony Bruno
