Redemption: What the Phillies and Yankees Must Do to Win

The preseason favorites.  The favorites after 162 games.  The favorites after Game 6 in 2009.

The Yankees and the Phillies.

Both losing to teams that were looked at as questionable contenders at the start of the season.  Unproven teams with little-to-no postseason experience.

But yet they stand on the wrong side of the hyphen.

Here's why, and how they can change that.

Yankees
The Yankees need the most help, looking up at a 3-1 deficit.  Oh yeah, they still have to face Cliff Lee again, and play two games in Arlington.  Ouch.  The list of what the Yankees have to do is a mile long.  Or one item long.  Depends on what approach you want to take.

The Yankees still have to face this guy--in Texas--if they want a chance to repeat as world champions

The List:

• Turn the pressure around.  Even though the pressure is on the Yanks right now to win three straight, they can't allow themselves to be enveloped by that pressure.  Take some, use it for fuel, and turn the rest onto the Rangers.  Prove to them you aren't out of it, and make them fear you just because you're the Yankees, and if anyone can do it, it's the Yankees.
• Make the Rangers work for their last win.  That means taking pitches and getting to the bullpen.  It means driving the ball hard, even if it's for an out.  It means not giving them easy outs.  They need 27 outs.
• Jump on the starters early.  You've now seen CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis in the series.  You know what they've got.  Know what pitch you can hit, and jump on it.
• Play perfect defense.  A good team makes you pay for giving them 4 (or more) outs in an inning.  A team like the Rangers uses it to put you away.

Or the short list:

• Play Yankees baseball.

Phillies
The Phillies are in a better position.  Down 2-1, they still have the best pitching trio in baseball set to pitch in 3 of 4 games...not-so-coincidentally, the number of games they need to win to move on to the World Series.  The problem is, the Giants have a pretty good trio of their own.

The List:

• Stop helping the Giants.  The whole reason you're facing the Giants instead of the Braves is because of errors.  You can't give a team extra outs and expect to survive.  The Phillies almost suffered that fate against the Reds in Game 2, except that the Reds defense turned around and gave those outs right back to the Phillies...and then some.
• Get a strong outing from Joe Blanton in Game 4.  Winning Game 4 would be huge, but most important is that the team isn't out of the game early.  With the Philly offense sputtering (okay, more like breaking down a few miles from home), the pitching needs to be extra sharp.
• Take Cody Ross out of the game.  Okay, not really.  I'd never wish an injury on anyone.  But you have to do something to keep this guy from hurting you.  Pitch around him.  Don't let anyone on base in front of him.  But most importantly, don't throw the ball down and in.

Cody Ross has killed the Phillies through three games.  Limiting his opportunities is a key to the Phillies' comeback attempts

• Shake up the lineup.  I don't really care how you do it, but Charlie, you've got to get this offense jump-started.  They hit .212 in the NLDS against the Reds, and are under .200 in the NLCS.  Maybe you put Jimmy Rollins back in the leadoff spot.  Maybe you sit Raul Ibanez against the lefty tonight, going instead with Ben Francisco.  Maybe you completely change the lineup (the Phillies have five guys in their lineup who have led-off for this team in the past, and another with the OBP to do so).
• Hit home runs.  Ryan Howard is hitting the ball hard, but not out.  He needs to launch one to energize this team.  A home run out of the leadoff spot would serve well to set the tone for the offense as well.
• Capitalize on opportunities.  You know why Cody Ross is killing you?  It's because he's doing what you're not...taking a mistake pitch, or his pitch, and jumping on it.  Don't let opportunities--like leadoff baserunners and belt-high fastballs--go to waste.
• Know when to be patient and when to be aggressive.  Guys like Lincecum and Cain don't give you much to hit, so when you get a fastball, swing.  They handled Sanchez perfectly.  As a guy who can be wild, they were patient early and walked a bunch.  Then as the game wore on, Sanchez tried harder to throw strikes, and the Phillies jumped on fastballs thrown early in the count.

That might seem like a lot, and frankly, it is.  But it's nothing that these teams haven't done for years with roughly the same group of guys.  A Phillies-Yankees rematch is still a possibility, and until a team has been beaten four times, don't count either of them out.  This could--and frankly, should--be one heck of a finish.