A lesson for Hamels in Game 3

If you watched the first couple of innings of Game 3 of the World Series and turned the channel (or drifted off to sleep) Saturday night, you'd undoubtedly be surprised at the outcome.

Two innings in, and the Phillies' Cole Hamels looked like he'd found his old self. He was spotting his pitches, had good life on his fastball and was mowing down the Yankees. Andy Pettitte, on the other hand, couldn't find the plate, had already walked in a run and looked lost.

But Hamels fell apart after giving up a questionable home run to Alex Rodriguez - was the camera inadvertently in the field of play? -  and Pettitte battled back as the Yankees took a 2-1 series lead with an 8-5 victory.

"It was tough," Pettitte said to the New York Times. "I'm not going to lie to you, I couldn't put the ball where I wanted to. I wasn't getting it down and away consistently like I wanted to, and I wasn't able to throw my curveball for strikes. It was an absolute grind tonight."

Should Hamels start again this season? Probably not. He's had enough chances, but his next turn would be a possible Game 7. No way he should be out there. It would certainly appear to be Cliff Lee on short rest, for sure. It's a sad fall for Hamels, who was the World Series MVP last season.

In Game 4, it's Joe Blanton of the Phillies against CC Sabathia of the Yankees (on short rest). In fact, it appears that the Yankees' starters will all be on short rest for the rest of the series. It seems a gamble to go with Sabathia with a 2-1 lead, but they want him on the mound for a Game 7. Sabathia has performed very well on short rest in his career (3-1, 1.01 ERA). A.J. Burnett has also done well on short rest (4-0, 2.33 ERA), with three of those starts coming in 2008 for Toronto. He seems likely to be the starter in Game 5 on Monday night.