While a 2-0 series lead would have been exceptional, the Phillies accomplished their goal of winning at least one of the first two games at Yankee Stadium to rip home field advantage away from the Yankees.

Apologies for the delayed posts to open the World Series, but I’ve had the whip cracked on me at work while struggling to whip a three-week old cold to boot. When you feel like hell during what little free time is available, spending it in front a computer again ain’t the path I take.

Anyway, what else can I write about Cliff Lee’s game one masterpiece that hasn’t already been written? The whole night it looked like the Yankees had no idea what pitch was coming next. They flailed hopelessly at everything he threw at them. Derek Jeter had a couple of good at-bats, but that was it.

It was a similar situation on the other side for the first seven innings, though the Phillies got a few more people on base against CC Sabathia, and the really good at-bats Chase Utley put together had a more historic result than Jeter’s. They made Sabathia throw a lot of pitches and feasted on a parade of middle relievers once he was out of the game to tack on runs and make a Yankee comeback unattainable.

Game two last night was the polar opposite of game one. This time it was A.J. Burnett with the masterful performance and Pedro Martinez with the good-but-not-quite-good-enough game.

Charlie Manuel is catching a lot of heat for not sending the runners when Chase Utley grounded into what wasn’t really a double play, but that’s after-the-fact managing on what was essentially a coin flip decision at the time. The good news is the Phillies made Mariano Rivera work hard for that two-inning save and proved to themselves they can get to him.

So far what we’ve seen in this World Series is just how evenly matched these two teams are on any given night, and why a lot of people’s predictions of a seven game series just might prove correct.

Starting with Cole Hamels tomorrow night, the Phillies can make sure they have the advantage if this series should head back to New York by winning at least two of the next three at home. The Yankees have been perplexed by the change-up all series, and Hamels has the best one on the team when it’s working. Let’s hope the rest did his fastball some good.

Now that the Yankees finally finished off the Angels, we’ll find out if beating the almighty men in navy pinstripes is the only way this Phillies ball club will get some respect as a great team. If they do, they could go down as one of the best National League teams in 50 years (and even better than that depending on how they perform in the next couple of seasons).

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because the Phillies definitely won’t. The task at hand is back-to-back world championships, and their opponent this year is certainly more formidable. But could they actually match up better against the Yankees than the Rays?

As unlikely as that may seem, the answer is yes.

Catcher
The regular season stats may not show it, and he may not have his own Sportscenter commercial, but the Phillies actually have a better catcher than the Yankees. For the second straight season, Carlos Ruiz has swung a hot bat in the postseason, while his work behind the plate remains exemplary. Defensively and as a signal-caller, he’s head-and-shoulders above Jorge Posada, who won’t even start every game in the series because he can’t get along with starter A.J. Burnett. Edge: Phillies

First Base
This is easily the most evenly matched position in the series. Ryan Howard’s defense is vastly improved from a year ago, but he still isn’t fit to spit shine Mark Teixeira’s Gold Gloves. On the other hand, he has more power than Teixeira and has driven in more runs this postseason than anyone except Alex Rodriguez. Teixeira is a better overall hitter, except for the postseason, when he has absolutely wilted, even while hitting in front of A-Rod. If Teixeira’s bat wakes up, he get’s the edge; if not, Howard does because he can change the face of any game with one swing. Edge: Even

Second Base
Robinson Cano is a former batting champion who recovered from a dismal 2008 campaign to put up good numbers again this year. A better pure hitter than Chase Utley, Cano doesn’t have the raw power, defense, hustle, intangibles and all-around moxie to compete with Utley—the best second sacker in the game. Edge: Phillies

Third Base
The only area this position even comes close to competitive is defense: Pedro Feliz is really good with the glove, but even he doesn’t match up to Alex Rodriguez, who isn’t even playing the right position (see below). A-Rod will probably finish his career with more home runs than anyone who ever played. The only people who will remember Feliz are Phillies fans. Of course, A-Rod had to pick this year to break out of his playoff funk. Edge: Yankees

Shortstop
This is another fairly even match up. Derek Jeter is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a better hitter than Jimmy Rollins. J-Roll is a human vacuum cleaner at short, while Jeter should have swallowed his pride two years ago and moved to third base. Both players thrive in the clutch, though Jeter has a lot more experience in that area. Yankees fans idolize Jeter, and well they should, but he’s past his prime at shortstop; and if you offered me a straight-up trade of 2009 Jeter for 2009 Rollins—I’d pass without having to think about it. Edge: Phillies

Left Field
Raul Ibanez was one of the best free-agent signings anywhere in baseball this year, and he picked a good time to come back to life after strug-ga-ling mightily the last few months of the season. Refreshed, he’s a far more dangerous hitter than the almost-as-old Johnny Damon. Neither one of them is exactly Gold Glove material anymore, though Ibanez may have a slightly better throwing arm There’s a good chance Ibanez could DH in New York, putting the better-fielding Ben Francisco in left. Edge: Phillies

Center Field
Shane Victorino is as fast as they come, has a cannon for an arm, and his instincts on line drives and fly balls of all variety are matched by few major league centerfielders. They certainly aren’t matched by Melky Cabrera, the second of New York’s trio of left fielders. Victorino is also a much better hitter who steals bases with the best of them. Frankly, this isn’t much of a contest. Edge: Phillies

Right Field
One minute Jayson Werth looks terrible at the plate and the next he’s delivering a big two-strike hit to right. Regardless, his offensive numbers are much better than Nick Swisher, whose main claim to fame is loosening up the Yankees clubhouse. Werth also possesses a rocket arm and great speed, while Swisher shouldn’t even be playing right field. Again, not much of a contest. Edge: Phillies

Designated Hitter
The edge here depends on who is actually DH for the Phillies. If it’s Ibanez, he’s a superior hitter to Hideki Matsui, whose bad knees have robbed him of power and make him a liability on the bases. If the Phillies decide to mix and match at DH and leave Ibanez in left field, then Matsui gets the edge over whoever the Phillies bring in from the bench. Edge: Even

Starting Pitching
1) Day one is the mother of all pitching duels: CC Sabathia versus Cliff Lee. The two ex-Cleveland lefties have both been unhittable this postseason, and there’s no reason to think they won’t keep throwing zeroes. Of course, the Phillies did beat Sabathia in the playoffs last year when he was with Milwaukee. 2) Another great dual sets up for game two when Pedro Martinez returns to the big stage of Yankee stadium, where he loves the pressure and spotlight; A.J. Burnett used to be a semi-regular punching bag for the Phillies when he pitched for Florida. 3) The way Cole Hamels has pitched most of this year (without an out pitch), it’s hard not to give the edge to veteran Yankee southpaw Andy Pettite, though the Phillies could easily light up his stuff as well. 4) It’s almost a given that the Yankees will go with Sabathia on three days rest because the rest of their rotation… well, they don’t really have one. The Phillies will most likely turn to Joe Blanton, who hasn’t been real good in the playoffs. The good news is, that means Lee matches up against an inferior opponent in game five. Edge: Even

Bullpen
The Phillies bullpen has been much maligned this season, and with good reason; but they seem to have turned it around in the playoffs, with a few hiccups. The Yankees have the opposite problem. What was supposed to be a strength (middle relief) has become a crapshoot in the postseason. But whether or not Brad Lidge has hit the reset button since the playoffs started, there’s a reason Mariano Rivera is nicknamed the Hammer of God. Even the Phillies, with their propensity for late-inning heroics, cannot afford to give Rivera the ball with a lead. Edge: Yankees

Bench
Last year this would’ve been no contest in favor of the Phillies, but Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs & Co. haven’t been anywhere near as good as last season. Having Matsui on the bench in the Philadelphia games could prove advantageous to the Yankees. Edge: Yankees

Manager
Charlie Manuel has 45 years of professional baseball experience and manages by instinct. Joe Girardi has three years of managerial experience and manages with a three-ring binder that looks like it holds the New York State tax code. Edge: Phillies

Summary
I mark it 7-3-3 in favor of the Phillies. Last year I had the Phillies with a 7-4-2 advantage over the Rays, and that worked out well. Hopefully, my amateur scouting skills haven’t worn off. But it seems clear to me that the Phillies have better team speed, play better defense and their lineup can go toe-to-toe with the Bronx Bombers. Even their pitching staffs are fairly even.

The Yankees are the best team money can buy, but not as many people are ready to hand them their 27th World Series title as you might think. Though the fact that so many are just because they are the Yankees, regardless of which team is actually the defending champion, tells you something about the lack of recognition the Phillies get for being a great team. Well, there’s one way to fix that…

Last year I wrote: “I feel good about this. Much more calm than I should be, really.”

I never would have thought I’d be sitting here at the same time again the following year feeling exactly the same way.

The Phillies may or may not win this World Series. Despite my dominant scouting edge in favor of the Phightins, I don’t share J-Roll’s confidence about a five-game victory. If they do win, I think it will probably take more than that. But I absolutely, 100 percent believe they can beat the Yankees; and so do they.

Not too many seasons ago, beating the Yankees in a World Series would have been unthinkable to both Philadelphia player and fan.

My how times have changed.

The Eagles followed up last week’s inexcusable loss to Oakland with an unconvincing domination of a Washington Redskins team in more disarray than Brian Westbrook’s unluckily scrambled brainpan. The game was never as close as the final score indicates, but to give up the most points the Skins have scored all year doesn’t bode well for future endeavors against the Giants, Cowboys and Chargers in upcoming weeks.

Neither does rustling up a measly 11 first downs and a terrible 26 percent conversion rate on third downs. McNabb looked bad (for him), completing 60 percent of his passes; which seems all right until you remember how many passes of the 5-yard variety he missed. Meanwhile, Andy Reid’s play calling continues to be so retarded (I mean that in the strictest definition of the word, so please no angry e-mails), someone on the staff could do the team and McNabb a favor by melting Reid’s laminate menu.

At the rate he’s getting hit, it’ll be a miracle if McNabb survives the season.

Too many missed tackles, too many penalties, too many injuries and too much self-delusion clearly leave little hope for success the rest of the way as the Eagles embark on the toughest part of their schedule.

The good news: They’ve played two stinkers in a row against dreadful teams and still are only half-a-game behind the Giants, who may be overrated in their own right. The bad news: Keep playing like this and there’s absolutely no chance of beating the Giants or Cowboys, much less the Saints, Vikings or any of the even more dominant AFC teams like the Steelers, Colts and Patriots.

Should Westbrook be out for any extended period of time (and he should be), things are looking pretty bleak for the Eagles. Thank goodness for that World Series thing to distract us all in the meantime.

I keep telling my father, who I think is still shell-shocked from 1964 despite two World Series titles since then, that it’s hard to accept that this Phillies club actually routinely wins these kinds of games. I’ve seen it a lot the past three seasons and even I shake my head in disbelief; but I never think they’re finished anymore.

After Ryan Howard’s laser shot gave them a 2-0 lead in the first inning, visions of last night’s rout danced through our heads. It was not to be; but the true story was far more exciting.

Joe Blanton cruised through the Dodgers lineup the first time, then had the strike zone reversed on him. Randy Wolf had the opposite experience after his rough first inning. It was a mysterious strike zone all night—another lousy job behind the plate again by the umpiring crews in these playoffs, but at least it was lousy on both sides.

Anyway, Blanton started nibbling and the Dodgers poked away at him from the fourth through sixth innings and took a 4-2 lead. Chase Utley’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth brought it back to within one. By the way, can we put to rest this phantom bad postseason Utley is rumored to be having? Here’s his line in the 2009 playoffs: .345 BA, .472 OBP, 6 BB, 7 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI. And his temporary case of Knoblauchitis seems to have passed. So knock if off people.

Back to the game, three shutdown innings from Chan Ho Park, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge held that one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. Dodger closer Jonathan Broxton wanted nothing to do with Matt Stairs, who must have given him Nam-like flashbacks, because he then went and plunked Carlos Ruiz. After Greg Dobbs weakly lined out to third, Jimmy Rollins was the last best hope, and he delivered in grand fashion.

And the best part? You knew they weren’t finished, even down to their last out.

If only game five were tomorrow. The almost unthinkable is only one step away.

The Phillies outscored the Eagles 11-9 on Sunday, but more importantly they outscored the Dodgers 11-0 behind eight innings of three-hit ball from the astounding Cliff Lee and a barrage of big hits from Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard, whose reign of terror in the playoffs reached record heights with three more RBI, making him the first player in National League history to drive in at least one run in seven consecutive postseason games.

Hiroki Kuroda hadn’t pitched to live major league hitters in six weeks and it showed. His lack of control on a cold, blustery night far from the Arizona instructional league where he had been rehabbing forced him to throw several get-me-over fastball which the Phillies jumped on for a run-scoring cycle in the first two innings (a single, double, two triples and home run).

Lee, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to pitch to the Dodgers, working the mound faster than a pit crew changes tires. Manny Ramirez’ comical attempt to slow him down in seventh inning was too little too late and didn’t work anyway when he became Lee’s seventh strikeout victim. Lee whiffed 10 in all, completely perplexing the Dodgers, who didn’t reach second base until that seventh inning.

It was a masterful performance on a night when Philadelphia needed a stress-free game from the best team it has. Another win tomorrow night could be a death-blow for the team from Los Angeles.