Werth's big night goes for naught

Jayson Werth should be a folk hero in this town by now. Instead, he's a footnote.

He's the Phillies player nobody has been able to get out in this postseason. Last night, Yankees starter Andy Pettitte couldn't even keep him in the yard.

Instead, Werth's big night was rendered meaningless, although he became the fourth Phillies player to hit two home runs in a World Series game.

He's the first to do it in a loss.

His name didn't even come up during manager Charlie Manuel's postgame news conference. Asked whether he had ever had a more hollow two-homer game in his life, Werth simply said, "No."

Werth's homers in the 8-5 loss in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park were bombs. In the second inning, he sent one about 12 rows deep in the left-field stands. In the sixth, he sent one farther, bouncing the ball off the Geico sign in front of the second deck.

If the Phillies fail to come back in this Series, they will have wasted a postseason for the ages by their rightfielder. Werth has seven home runs this postseason, a Phillies record.

Werth may not have to get another hit in a World Series to prove his worth. He has hit safely in all eight of his games in the Fall Classic.

Another way to look at it: Werth's homers were just the third and fourth surrendered by Andy Pettitte in his 12-start World Series career. In other words, the rest of the world has hit the same number of homers against Pettitte as Werth hit last night.

When Werth hit the first one, Pettitte looked ordinary. His pitch to Werth was one of his bread-and-butter sliders, a low, 84-m.p.h. delivery. That home run not only got the Phillies on the board first, it might also have caused Pettitte to mistrust the slider, helping the Phils score more runs in the inning. Walks to Carlos Ruiz and Jimmy Rollins came on missed sliders and helped the home team take a 3-0 lead.

"Jayson Werth, ever since he came to Philly, he's been getting better," Manuel said during the National League Championship Series. "This is the first year that he's really started from day one and played on a regular basis. He's gotten better each year.

"I think he can even do better, because I think he's getting more consistent in his at-bats and his pitch selection and things. And as long as he stays in what I call a strong, balanced hitting position, this guy, he is legit, man."

In the third inning last night, Werth showed only warning-track power before he cranked it up again in the sixth, taking care of a high fastball. Yankees leftfielder Johnny Damon turned around and watched, never moving his feet as it hit that Geico sign.

That was it for Werth highlights for the night. He struck out looking at a fastball in the eighth. But coming to the plate, he got the only after-midnight Phillies cheer, the counterweight to the boos sent Cole Hamels' way earlier as the pitcher left the game.

Once Hamels and his lost effectiveness became the story of the night, Werth became the footnote.

On being behind in a postseason series for the first time in two years, Werth said: "We're fine. There's a lot of baseball to be played. . . . No big deal. Obviously, we want to win every game. We battled. Unfortunately, we came up on the other side."