The New York Yankees, behind the dominant pitching performances of A.J. Burnett and Mariano Rivera, took Game 2 of the World Series by a score of 3-1. With that win, the 1990 Reds can sleep easy, because they will remain the last NL team to sweep the World Series for at least one more year.
In all seriousness though, even though the Yankees took Game 2 yesterday, I still believe that they have an uphill climb ahead of them to win it all. This is because of two reasons:
1.) The Yankees are in Philadelphia for Games 3-5. This is pretty self-explanatory.
and
2.) Prior history is going against them. Yes, I know, some of you might say that history does not mean a damn thing right now. Dig this though: in the last 20 World Series that were played prior to this year, the team that won Game 1 won 17 out of the 20 titles. The only three teams who won Game 1 and failed to win it all were the 1992 Braves, 1996 Braves and the 2002 Giants.
Also, you do not have to look any farther than last year to see how prior history could go against the Yankees. In last year's World Series, the Phillies split two games in Tampa, with Philly taking Game 1 (much like this year). When the series shifted to Philadelphia for Games 3-5, the Phillies won all three to take the title, outscoring the Rays by a combined 19-9 in the process.
Of course this is just speculation on my part. This is only because I really do not want to see the Yankees win the World Series (along with a good portion of baseball fans in North America). However, if the Yanks manage to steal a game in Philly, the momentum could easily shift in their favor.
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