The Yankees take a 3 games to 1 lead in the World Series with a 7 – 4 win over Philadelphia. The Yankees score three runs off Brad Lidge with two outs in the 9th, after the Phillies had rallied to tie the game with homers by Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz.
Alex Rodriguez’s Game 3 fly ball in the right-field corner of Citizens Bank Park becomes the subject of the first instant replay call in World Series history. The Yankee third baseman’s hit, initially ruled a double, is changed by the umpires to a home run after the replay clearly shows the ball going over the fence before striking a television camera and bouncing back to the field.
In Game 1, Chase Utley, en route to a record-tying five World Series homers, becomes the first left-handed batter in 81 years to hit two round-trippers off a southpaw in a Fall Classic game. The Philadelphia second baseman, who also set a postseason record by reaching base in 26 straight games with his first-inning walk, goes deep twice off Yankee southpaw CC Sabathia in the Phillies’ 6-1 victory in New York, to match Babe Ruth’s performance in the fourth and final game of the 1928 series.
General manager Ed Wade announces Brad Mills has agreed to a two-year contract, with a team option for the third, to become the Astros’ manager, replacing Dave Clark, who served as interim manager when Cecil Cooper was fired in September. The 52 year-old, who for the past six seasons has been Terry Francona’s bench coach with the Red Sox, has never managed in the majors, but spent 11 seasons as a minor league skipper with the Cubs, Rockies, and Dodgers.
In Game 5 of the NLCS, the Phillies defeat the Dodgers, capturing their second straight pennant. Philadelphia, with their 10-4 victory at Citizens Bank Park, becomes the first National League team to repeat the feat since the Braves won consecutive flags in 1995-96.
The Brewers hire Rick Peterson as their pitching coach to improve the club’s woeful starting pitching, which posted a 5.37 ERA last season. The 54 year-old pitching guru, known for his focus on motion analysis, is reunited with bench coach Willie Randolph and skipper Ken Macha, who were his former managers with the Mets and the A’s, teams he toiled for in a similar role.
The Phillies take a 3 game to 1 stranglehold on the NLCS with a 5 – 4 comeback win over the Dodgers. Trailing 4 – 3 entering the 9th, the Phils score 2 runs off closer Jonathan Broxton on a two-out double by Jimmy Rollins for the 5 – 4 win.
On October 3, 2009 Minnesota catches up with Detroit atop the AL Central as the Tigers lose, 5 – 1, to the White Sox, and the Twins beat Kansas City, 5 – 4. Michael Cuddyer, hitting .352 with 22 RBI since taking over at 1B for the injured Justin Morneau, hits his 31st homer in…
On October 3, 2009 The Toronto Blue Jays fire General Manager J.P. Ricciardi with one year left on his contract. 32-year-old Alex Anthopoulos, a Canadian who began his career as an unpaid intern with the late Montreal Expos, takes over the job.
On October 3, 2009.00 Needing only a win or a Colorado loss for the past week, the Dodgers finally clinch the National League West title with a 5-0 victory over the wild-card Rockies. Joe Torre, who will be managing in the postseason for the 14th consecutive season, has won thirteen divisional titles, including ten with…
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