More From Game 2

The Yankees tied the series at 1-1 yesterday thanks to the pitching performance of A.J. Burnett and the home runs by Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui. A few notes on the game:

• Joe Girardi must not trust anyone in the bullpen if he went to Mo in Game 2 for a six out save. Rivera is 39, it's the World Series, he does have the off-day tommorow, but I'm assuming he's only available for a 1 inning save Saturday. Hopefully he isn't getting burnt out. I don't think so, but it's something to look for if Rivera happens to struggle like he almost did yesterday.


• The umpires got two calls wrong yesterday. They ruled Johny Damon out and Posada out on a double play by Ryan Howard, however, Howard caught the ball on a short hop rather than on the fly as the umpire ruled. The other play was a double play in the eighth inning where replays showed Chase Utley was safe by literally inches. The ball was inches from landing in Teixeira's glove when Utley's foot hit the bag.


• We can all be critical of the umpires but they do a great job and get the calls right most of the time. These two calls came down to a matter of inches, and if you want to criticize the umpires and demand more instant replay in baseball, go right ahead Buster Olney. But the fact is not every call is going to be right. They don't get every call right in football, even with instant replay. They don't get every call right in basketball, and you don't hear them demanding instant replay for every close play in the NBA. The MLB needs to be careful what they do in expanding replay, because they can possibly ruin the game by making it longer than it is.


• Ok, that was a long rant, but there is one more thing I want to touch upon. Pedro Martinez was good, but Burnett was better. Pedro loves when the crowd hates him and part of his circus act is to get people riled up. Well, he did not dissapoint in the postgame interview. He said that Yankee fans "really want to root for him," and that if he played for the Yankees he'd be "king of this town." Well Pedro, you don't play for the Yankees, so you will never be king of this town. Besides, to be a king you have to be able to be called a man, and according to Pedro that is not possible unless I eat rice and beans with him.
• Saturday is the battle of lefties as last year's World Series MVP Cole Hamels goes against a World Series veteran Andy Pettitte. Should be a good one.

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