Rattler Alumni Report: 2009 World Series Game Two

@Yankees 3, Phillies 1

Yankees:
Alex Rodriguez (Foxes, '94): 0-for-4, 3K

Phillies:
Raul Ibanez (Foxes, '94): 2-for-4, RUN, 2 2Bs

A-Rod not bothered by 0-fers

When it's 12 or 15 or 20 at-bats, maybe then Alex Rodriguez will worry about it.

But not through two games. And not through eight at-bats.

After Alex Rodriguez's blistering ALDS and ALCS, the Yankees slugger has been not just cooled off but basically frozen through the first two games of the World Series.

A-Rod went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Game 1, then went 0-for-4 with three more strikeouts last night in the Yankees' 3-1 Game 2 win over the Phillies.

He struck out just five times combined in the first two rounds.

"It's eight at-bats -- I'm not concerned at all," he said after last night stinker. "Guys picked me up today, we're 1-1. There's a lot of baseball left."

Ibanez back in field, still hitting

Charlie Manuel is in one of those grooves a manager finds as rarely as a completely contented roster. Nearly every move he makes plays out pretty much the way he envisioned it.

Take Raul Ibanez's adventures in the first two games of this World Series, which is now tied up at 1-1 following the Yankees' 3-1 Game 2 triumph last night.

In the Series opener Wednesday, the Phils' manager decided to make Ibanez his designated hitter, even though it was clear his regular leftfielder would have preferred his customary position. Ben Francisco, Manuel said, was more mobile.

Still, Ibanez got over his disappointment and validated Manuel's decision, his two-run, eighth-inning single the most significant hit in what would turn out to be a 6-1 Phillies win.

Last night, before Game 2, with a flu bug limiting his options, Manuel again pondered what to do with his leftfielder and his DH.

This time, with Greg Dobbs ailing, he called on Matt Stairs to DH against righthander A.J. Burnett. And he told Ibanez to find his glove and get back in left.

So, of course, Ibanez rediscovered his mobility, making a spectacular catch. He also doubled in his first and last at-bats and scored the Phils' first and only run on a single by - you guessed it - Stairs. It was the big swinger's first one-base hit since June 28.