Game 6.. I already feel my blood pressure rising

I’ve realized that I almost never agree with the “Keys to the Game” presented by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (and Fox for that matter). So I’m writing my own this time around:

The Phillies need to get to Andy Pettite early and often. They have had moderate success against the Yankees bullpen, so it’s important for them to chase Pettite after 6 innings at the most (4 or 5 would be ideal.. but let's not get greedy here). They need to give themselves a chance during innings that aren’t the 9th because I’m pretty convinced that Mariano Rivera is actually a robot. In order to do that, I think they’re going to need big games from the following people:
Jimmy Rollins – He’s a catalyst for them and when he is on base, good things generally happen. The issue with Rollins is that he is not a typical lead off hitter, although he has been putting in quality at bats recently. Everyone in the line up should be working the pitcher, but with Rollins getting the first at bat of the game it’s even more important. Take a strike and let your teammates see some pitches.
Ryan Howard – I have to believe that the Yankees will start pitching around Chase Utley… which means they will start facing Howard with men on base. Howard is batting .158 in the series at this point. I personally thought he showed some signs of seeing the ball better during Game 5 but maybe that is just wishful thinking. During the regular season, strike outs accounted for nearly 30% of the outs Howard made at the plate. He has to put the ball in play tonight.
Pedro Feliz – The Phillies need to get some pop out of the bottom of their order. So far Feliz has 4 hits – one of them being a clutch home run. He knocked in 82 runs and batted .266 for the Phillies during the regular season, and he needs to play more of that kind of baseball and less of the kind that makes him bat .180.

The Yankees are in a similar situation – for them, the key lies in getting Pedro out of the game so they can take advantage of the patch-work bullpen the Phillies have going on right now. One way to do this is to freeze him during the time he is on the bench (also known as have 1,398,735,098,735 meetings on the mound) because this is the AL – no swings or base running to stay warm for the pitcher. For them, that means a couple of guys either need to keep their game at its current level or step up:
Johnny Damon – Damon is having an amazing series. He is just ALWAYS THERE. He never goes away. One of my friends told me last night that Damon is the guy he is most scared of in the Yankees line up and I believe it. Batting second puts Damon in a crucial spot – if Jeter is on base, he can hit and run and if not, he will find a way to get there himself and then he will wreak havoc.
Nick Swisher – Strangely enough, I don’t personally think that Swisher’s biggest contributions come on the playing field. He is the guy that keeps everyone else relaxed and ready to go. That being said… being that guy has to be difficult when you’re not producing. At all. The Yankees need Swisher to come up big even if it’s just for one at bat tonight.
Mark Teixeira – The fact that Teixeira is having a terrible World Series has somehow escaped the wrath of the New York media and fans. It's probably because they are still winning... more likely because his Gold Glove is saving his ass as well as errors and runs. If Teixeira suddenly starts hitting the cover off the ball, the Phillies could be in some real trouble.