PHILADELPHIA — Plenty of his teammates told Joba Chamberlain not to worry after the reliever blew the Yankees’ lead in the bottom of the eighth inning of Game 4 of the World Series last night.
“Everybody, I think the whole lineup was like, ‘We’ll pick you up. We’ll pick you up,’ ” Jorge Posada said.
And they did pick him up.
Chamberlain needed the help because he nearly flushed what would have been a critical win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Thanks to Phil Hughes’ postseason struggles, Chamberlain inherited the eighth-inning set-up role by default in the eventual 7-4 Yankees victory. But Chamberlain failed at the job as well.
Entering to start the eighth inning with the Yankees holding a 4-3 lead, Chamberlain struck out Jayson Werth, then blew away Raul Ibanez. It’s tough to start much better than that.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to finish much worse.
On a 3-2 pitch to Phillies third baseman Pedro Feliz, Chamberlain served up a fastball that the No. 7 hitter drilled into the left-field stands for a game-tying home run. Posada said he thought Chamberlain “rushed through [the pitch].”
“I made good pitches to him before and I just wanted to challenge him,” Chamberlain said. “And he put a good swing. There’s nothing you can say about it.”
It was the first homer Chamberlain had surrendered since Sept. 25 against the Red Sox. But despite the homer, manager Joe Girardi was pleased with how the powerful righty looked.
“I think it’s the best he’s thrown the ball in the bullpen for us thus far,” Girardi said.
After the homer, Chamberlain knew he needed to prevent any further onslaught. And he struck out Carlos Ruiz to end the inning.
“Ruiz has been swinging a great bat and putting together quality AB’s,” Chamberlain said. “And I knew I had to just minimize the damage. . . . You can’t panic right there.”