Ibanez then struck out swinging and looking. But manager Charlie Manuel stuck with Ibanez, even though he chose to take the glove away from his All-Star leftfielder in favor of a more mobile Ben Francisco.
His confidence paid off in the eighth inning. At the dish for another shot with the bases juiced, Ibanez pounded a David Robertson breaking ball between Cano and first baseman Mark Teixeira - just a few feet to the right of where his first-inning ball was gobbled up - sending Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino home. Those two runs gave the Phillies some padding for their scant, 2-0 lead.
"It was a breaking ball that just found a hole," Ibanez said. "It's always gratifying to drive in runs.
"It's nice to come in and win against a great team like the Yankees. To win the first one, in their home, that's definitely the goal.''
Prior to last year's World Series, the NL's designated hitters batted just .088 in the previous five World Series - with no extra-base hits. The home team's DH went 10-for-36 over that same stretch.
Last year, Manuel wasn't afraid to make a move in the DH from Games 1 to 2 against Tampa Bay. Chris Coste went 0-for-4 as the DH in Game 1, a path that Ibanez looked like he was heading down.
Rather than stick with someone in Game 2 who didn't produce, Manuel found success with a Greg Dobbs and Eric Bruntlett one-two punch.
Dobbs was the first Phillie to break that NL designated hitter can't-hit trend. He went 1-for-3 with a single before Bruntlett came in and hit a pinch-hit home run in the DH hole against David Price.
Ibanez made it a forgettable stat, outproducing the Yankees' Hideki Matsui (1-for-3 with a single). The cushion Ibanez provided made it easier for Manuel to let Cliff Lee go the distance.
