ESPN Buster Olney Blog

Six key matchups to watch in Game 6:

1. Chase Utley versus the Yankees' adjustments: The Phillies' second baseman is not missing any fastballs; he is hammering everything thrown in the inner half of the strike zone. And with the benefit of a day off, the Yankees presumably will adjust significantly how they pitch to him. First and foremost, they probably will look for ways to make him uncomfortable in the box, perhaps busting fastballs down and in (although Utley famously would rather get hit by pitches than give ground in the batter's box). Secondly, Utley probably will see a steady diet of breaking balls, and if Andy Pettitte or any other Yankees pitcher winds up walking him -- and instead winds up having to face the slumping Ryan Howard -- that's an alternative he'll likely be comfortable with.
2. Shane Victorino versus his finger pain: Victorino is a tough guy who will try to play with a swollen index finger; he'll want to play. But Fernando Vina, my colleague on "Baseball Tonight," pointed out how important that particular finger is to a hitter -- it'll be the top finger on his top hand as he bats right-handed against Pettitte. You can bet that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who knows hitting, will assess whether Victorino's hand is functional enough. The guess here is Victorino will play, and if he doesn't, Ben Francisco will be in center and Raul Ibanez will be in left, and the Phillies' late-inning defense will be diminished. Victorino may have to sit out, Marc Topkin writes.
3. Pettitte versus his command: Pettitte was fully rested yet struggled early in Game 3 to throw the ball where he wanted to throw it. Pettitte later figured it out and managed to grind through six innings. But Wednesday night, because Pettitte is pitching on short rest, Yankees manager Joe Girardi may not feel he has the luxury of waiting to see whether the lefty can figure it out; if Pettitte struggles early in the game, Girardi will at least have to consider that fatigue is a factor. Pettitte's command early in the game will dictate how long he can go.
4. Pedro Martinez versus the chill: Older pitchers will tell you that pitching in warmer weather definitely helps them stay loose and throw with more velocity, and Wednesday night, Martinez -- he of that surgically repaired shoulder -- will be working in the coldest temperatures he has seen in years. It won't be anything unbearable -- the forecast is for temperatures in the mid-40s -- but as Mets fans know from his tenure with that team, Martinez might need an inning or two to reach his peak velocity. He might be at his most vulnerable early in the game.
5. Mark Teixeira and Ryan Howard versus the soft stuff: The two sluggers will be named in the top five of league MVP ballots later this month, and both are fully capable of generating game-changing power in Game 6. But both are struggling and being pitched to in the same way, with breaking balls and changeups down in the zone. Both might look for fastballs early in ball-strike counts to do damage because they have been particularly vulnerable later in counts.
6. Girardi versus the urge to pick up the red phone: There is only one sure pitcher in this series going forward: Mariano Rivera. If the Yankees have a lead in Game 6, how soon will Girardi go to him? If the Yankees have a one-run lead, would he go to him for the last six outs -- knowing that if they surrender the lead, Rivera might be compromised for Game 7? If they have a three-run lead in the seventh inning, would Girardi go to him for seven outs? We'll see. One note on Rivera: He's thrown only 13 pitches since Thursday night. Girardi is ready to go to Rivera in Game 6, writes Andy McCarron. Girardi is among those who have the most to lose as this World Series moves forward, writes Joel Sherman.

World Series chatter

David Wells thinks the Yankees should knock Chase Utley on his butt. Teixeira took extra batting practice, writes Sean Brennan. A-Rod needs Teixeira's help, writes Ian O'Connor. Robinson Cano feels he's been having some bad luck.

For both teams, it'll be age before beauty, writes Phil Sheridan. Pettitte will be on the spot on short rest, writes Tyler Kepner. Short rest for pitchers was once routine in the World Series, writes Bob Ford.

With the Yankees one win away and so much conversation about the pitching rotation, they'd better win, for Girardi's sake, writes Mike Lupica. Girardi has put the Yankees in a bad position, writes Wallace Matthews. Martinez has kept everybody entertained, writes Arthur Staple. He says he's blessed to be in the World Series again, writes David Murphy.

Cole Hamels and Brett Myers say they didn't have a dustup, writes Andy Martino. Hamels likely will get the ball if there is a Game 7, writes Jim Salisbury. He has replaced Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb on the Philly hot seat, writes John Gonzalez. Sam Donnellon is sick of all the mound meetings.

Derek Jeter slows down only for traffic, writes Mike Vaccaro. Bobby Richardson remembers being named MVP in a series the Yankees lost, Jack Curry writes.

The McCourts

The divorce will put the Dodgers in an inevitable retreat, writes Bill Shaikin. The McCourts said their positions in court documents, writes Shaikin.

Moves, deals and decisions

1. The Pirates traded for Akinori Iwamura, a nice addition to make them better for 2010. For the Rays, the move was all about saving $650,000 from what they would've had to pay with a buyout -- plus picking up a serviceable reliever in Jesse Chavez.

2. Heard this: The Indians are working to hire Sandy Alomar Jr. on their coaching staff. Alomar had installed a catching program for the Mets, who want to keep him. The Mets have shed more than a half-dozen Latin American staff members from their minor league system. Manny Acta is winnowing down staff candidates, writes Paul Hoynes.

3. It looks like Jim Riggleman has the inside track to keep the Nationals' managerial job, write Ben Goessling and Mark Zuckerman.

4. Some Orioles joined the growing ranks of free agents, writes Dan Connolly.

5. The Blue Jays are among the teams weighing the value of their free agents and may wind up re-signing Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas. But keep in mind that there is draft-pick compensation tied to them, and the Jays might be better off finding suitable alternatives to Scutaro and Barajas and then getting the draft-pick compensation.

6. General managers continue to agree that we are about to see a huge wave of players who are not tendered contracts. In light of this reality, they think some agents representing arbitration-eligible players will be more open to negotiating contracts in November and early December rather than seeing their players dumped out into a free-agent market that might have as many as 300 veterans.

7. Vernon Wells will have surgery.

8. A change in hitting coach won't help the Tigers, writes Lynn Henning.

Other stuff

1. Joe Mauer says his hip pain is diminishing, writes Joe Christensen.

2. Outfielder Grant Desme, an Oakland Athletics prospect, is impressing talent evaluators in the Arizona Fall League after breaking out in the second half of the Class A season. I asked David Forst, the Athletics' assistant GM, why Desme improved so dramatically during the summer. His e-mail reply:

"I think more than any specific adjustment on his part, it was a combination of two things: 1) Getting out of the Midwest League, which is such a difficult environment for young hitters. When you take into account the weather, the big ballparks, and the unpredictable pitching, it's getting tougher and tougher to put up numbers in that league. In fact, when you look at Grant's numbers there, they really are excellent when compared to the league averages (particularly the slugging). 2) We're talking about a player who, because of numerous injuries, really hadn't been in a competitive situation consistently since May of 2007 when he was still in college, so just the repetition of being out there every day finally allowed him to be comfortable midway through the season and really let his talent come out."

3. The Marlins will travel a whole lot more in spring training because of the Orioles' departure.

More on the World Series

From Jeff Bennett of ESPN Stats & Information:

1. Chase Utley has one career single in the World Series (nine hits: a single, a double and seven homers in 10 games).
2. Ryan Howard has put the ball in play on just seven of his 47 swings in this World Series. Of 47 total swings, 21 have been misses and 19 have been fouls.
3. Game 6 will be Andy Pettitte's 13th career World Series start. Only Whitey Ford (22) has started more World Series games.
4. Although this is the fourth best-of-seven series between Andy Pettitte's and Pedro Martinez's teams, Game 6 will be their first head-to-head matchup in the postseason. In six regular-season meetings, Martinez has outpitched Pettitte, but each pitcher has a 3-3 record in the encounters.

Martinez vs. Pettitte all time
	Martinez	Pettitte
W-L	3-3	3-3
IP	39 2/3	33 2/3
ERA	3.86	5.88
Opp. BA	.208	.298
K-BB	53-6	28-11

5. The time of game for the first five games of the World Series has deviated by just two minutes!

   Game 1: 3:27
   Game 2: 3:25
   Game 3: 3:25
   Game 4: 3:25
   Game 5: 3:26
   

   Just weird.

The 7-out save

From Vincent Masi of ESPN Stats & Information on seven-out saves: Joe Girardi probably will be aggressive in his use of Mariano Rivera on Wednesday night if he feels he needs to go for the jugular. Rivera already has a six-out save in this series, but might Girardi use him for seven outs? Well, most of the time it has happened recently, these pitchers have earned long saves in games that weren't close in terms of the final score. If the Yankees win in that fashion, it would be just the third time it happened in a World Series clincher since saves became official in 1969. The last five pitchers to earn a seven-out save in a World Series:

Only Steve Howe, for the '81 Dodgers, and Will McEnaney, for the '76 Reds, have saved a World Series clincher with a seven-plus-out save. Howe did it by getting a remarkable 11 outs. Both games were played in Yankee Stadium.

Rivera has had only one save in his career that was seven or more outs. That was on Aug. 23, 1996, against the Athletics, when he went 2 1/3 innings and allowed two hits and a walk while striking out five in a 60-pitch 5-3 victory.

Of note: The author of "Game Six" -- a book about the legendary Game 6 of the 1975 World Series -- spoke with John Erardi about the drama of that game.