Tony DeMarco

NEW YORK - The Yankees spent money. It's what they do. And other than the exorbitant numbers involved — $161 million over seven years for CC Sabathia and another $82.5 million over five years for A.J. Burnett — it's hard to argue with their strategy.

They needed starting pitching in the worst way last winter, with Mike Mussina retiring after a 20-win season at the top of an otherwise nondescript rotation. And, there on the market was a legitimate No. 1 starter in Sabathia — a mountain of a man with a Cy Young Award to his credit — and a quality No. 2-3 innings eater in Burnett.

One, two and just like that, the Bronx Bombers were on their way back to the top the American League, where they hadn't been in five seasons.

The Phillies? They needed starting pitching, too. And as this season was playing out — with Cole Hamels not up to last year's postseason dominance — that need became more obvious.

They almost made a deal for Roy Halladay — an expensive ace with a resume Sabathia's equal. But the price in prospects was too much for their liking, so they went another way. Two ways, actually. They went for the reduced price tag of Cliff Lee — both in terms of prospects surrendered and contractual commitment — and brought Pedro Martinez out of a self-imposed waiting period.

Video   Phillies take Game 1 The Phillies defeated the Yankees 6-1 in Game 1 of the World Series. NBC Sports

And guess what: It's the Phillies who have the upper hand in this World Series after a surprisingly easy 6-1 Game 1 victory at Yankee Stadium. Lee almost single-handedly put them there with a dominating performance — a complete-game six-hitter marred only by an unearned ninth-inning run. He walked nobody and struck out 10, and of his 122 pitches, 80 were for strikes.

"He was great tonight,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "This is baseball; when a guy makes his pitches, he gets outs. We know he's very good. He's been tough on us this year.''

Added Phillies manager Charlie Manuel: "When we got him, I knew he was good. But if you want to know the truth, I didn't know he was as good as he's been. He had all his pitches working tonight. He used every one of them. And he went through a tremendous lineup.''

All Lee really needed were Chase Utley's two home runs on almost identical too-much-of-the-plate deliveries from Sabathia in the third and fifth innings. And now we're looking at a Game 2 Martinez-Burnett match-up the Yankees really need to win. And if you're just going by the big-game, postseason experience factor, the pairing obviously favors Martinez, who pitched seven shutout innings in an impressive NLCS start in Los Angeles last week, and certainly needs no introduction around these parts. Just ask Pedro, in case you had any doubts.

“I don't know if you realize this, but because of you guys (media), I might be at times the most influential player that ever stepped in Yankee Stadium,'' he said during a pre-game press conference. "I can honestly say that ... For some reason, with all the hype and different players that have passed (through), maybe because I played for the Red Sox is probably why you guys made it such a big deal every time I came in.

“But you know, I have a good bond with the people. New York fans are very passionate and very aggressive ... Sometimes, they might be giving you the middle finger, just like they will be cursing you and telling you what color underwear you're wearing. But at the end of the day, they're just great fans that want to see the team win.''

There was more along this line of thought:

Slideshow   Yankees win their 27th World Series Check out all the best action from the World Series. more photos

“The way you guys have used me and abused me since I've been coming to Yankee Stadium, just because I wore a red uniform just like this one while playing for Boston ... I remember quotes in the paper, ‘here comes the man that New York loves to hate.’ Man? None of you have probably ever eaten steak with me, or rice and beans with me, to understand what the man is about.

"You might say 'the player', or 'the competitor', but 'the man?' You guys have abused my name. There was one time I remember when I was a free agent, there was talk that I might meet with (George) Steinbrenner. One of your colleagues had me in the paper with red horns and a tail. That's the sign of the devil. I'm a Christian man. I don't like those things. I take those things very serious.''

Whatever you make of all that, there's no debating the Hall of Fame-caliber resume Martinez has built. Meanwhile, this is Burnett's first postseason experience, and it hasn't been all that impressive, truth be told. He's 0-0 with a 4.42 ERA in three starts — including one good one against the Twins, and one in which he couldn't close out the Angels in Game 5 of the ALCS.

Burnett's feeling about a match-up with the legendary Pedro?

"I'm looking forward to it, man,'' he said. "He's done a tremendous thing. He's come back, and what he's accomplished this year is great. As a fellow starting pitcher, you can respect that.''

But what Lee is building in this postseason is monumental. Going into Game 1, he was 2-0 with an 0.74 ERA in three starts. And he got better — even in a place where the Yankees built league-leading total in runs scored and home runs.

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