Sorry Yankees, But This Team Doesn't Lose

It appears that no one thinks the Phillies can beat the Yankees. It’s a shame so many people will have to be wrong.

We all understand how great the Yankees lineup is, how dominating CC Sabathia has been and how untouchable Mariano Rivera is. The Yankees are heavily favored, own the best team money can buy and have home field advantage.

But you know what? I don’t care.






This series belongs to us and here are five reasons while the Phillies will win:

1) Cliff Lee can match CC

I’m not going as far as to say that Cliff Lee is better, because he’s not, but he sure is pitching like it. He has the lowest starter ERA in the playoffs and has gone at least 7.1 innings in each start. And last time I checked he shut down the Rockies and Dodgers, two teams that scored the 2nd and 3rd most runs respectively in the NL.

I know the AL has better lineups, but Cliff Lee spent plenty of time there. Oh, and he won the AL CY Young Award last year. In case you hadn’t heard, that tends to go to the best pitcher in the entire league. Yep. Sure does.

2) The Phillies don’t beat themselves

The Yankees have feasted on 10 Twins-Angels errors this postseason, as well as numerous base running gaffs by both teams. The Phillies won't beat themselves like those teams did. They are probably the best base running team in the majors and defensively they have no big holes. To beat the Phillies you have to outplay them, as they won’t hand you games.

3) Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz

The Yankees haven’t had to face two hitters like Howard and Ruiz yet. They are both incredibly hot, and have played well now for two straight postseasons. So while A-Rod is still the hottest player in the world right now, Howard and Ruiz aren’t far behind. Oh, and Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino are hitting pretty well too.

4) A.J. Burnett

Unless CC beats Cliff Lee three times, which won’t happen, the Yankees are going to need at least two wins out of their other starters. I could see Pettitte winning a game, but Burnett winning any? Honestly, no. Burnett is exactly the kind of pitcher the Phillies destroy, a wild, hard-throwing right-hander. Last time they faced him, they lit him up for five runs in six innings, hitting three homers. A.J. is coming off a terrible start. The Phillies are going to rock this guy, trust me.

5) They don’t lose big games

Remember the last time the Phillies lost a big game? I’ll tell you this much, the economy was still good, the IPhone had been out for only three months and Good Luck Chuck was in theaters. So, yea, it was a long ass time ago. Until the Phillies lose another big game, or fail to come up big when they need to, I’m going to keep assuming that they will.

Now I know what assuming does, but what about all those Yankees fans assuming that they are going walk right over the defending champs? They’re the ones that will look like asses in a week.

Go Phils.