The dream officially ended at 11:50 p.m. last night when the New York Yankees completed a 7-3 win over the Phils to win their 27th World Series.
The Phillies' reign as World Series champions is over.
It ended at the hands of Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte, who pitched on three days' rest and won his record 18th postseason game.
It also ended at the hands of Hideki Matsui. Seven seasons after arriving from Japan with a slugger's legend and a nickname ("Godzilla") to match, Matsui enjoyed his greatest night in a Yankees uniform. He drove in six of his team's runs with a single, a double and a homer.
Matsui, who was named the MVP of the World Series, is now a free agent. If this was his last night as a Yankee, he went out in style.
A look back at the night the Phillies season ended:
The pivotal third inning
The Yankees opened a 4-1 lead on Martinez with two runs in the third. The rally started when centerfielder Shane Victorino misplayed a Derek Jeter fly ball into a one-out single. Victorino initially started back on the ball and did not recover in time as it fell at his feet.
Johnny Damon followed with a walk, and Martinez hit Mark Teixeira with a pitch to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez.
Home plate umpire Joe West gave Martinez a wide strike zone against Rodriguez. With the count 1-2, Martinez threw an 83 m.p.h. cutter that was clearly off the plate. West rung up Rodriguez for the second out, but Martinez still had what turned out to be his most pivotal showdown of the game in front of him.
That Matsui guy again
After Rodriguez struck out, Matsui came to the plate with two outs in the third. He'd already worn out Martinez in the Series, hitting a curveball for a homer in Game 2 and a full-count fastball for a homer in the second inning last night.
