Sunday's pre-game included a skit set at the time of the first World Series. The segment didn't blend with the rest of the coverage and seemed out of place, as FOX failed to provide any introduction or follow-up to the piece, making us wish they'd simply started the game five minutes earlier.

Soprano Renee Fleming performed the national anthem with her round tones blurring the words. We may have dismissed that problem, if cameras hadn't shown her glancing at her hand, presumably to check lyrics, as she warbled an indeterminate word trying to cover for the memory loss in the middle of the song. One would think that knowing the words would be a pre-requisite to singing the anthem in front of an international audience. Like so many others before her, Fleming couldn't pass up the opportunity to play with the final line of the song. Why can no one simply perform the anthem as written, discarding the opportunity for personal showmanship in favor of advancing a communal ritual?

Although lead off hitter OF-L Juan Pierre grounded out to second, he worked LHP Andy Pettitte for an 8-pitch at-bat. 2B-S Luis Castillo beat out a grounder to short for a single, bringing C-R Ivan Rodriguez to the plate. IRod took three straight balls, putting Pettitte's pitch count at 18 before there were two outs in the first inning. However, Rodriguez took strike one, fouled off strike two, and looked at strike three. The Yankees then caught Castillo, who surprisingly hadn't gotten a good jump and didn't appear to be moving too quickly, attempting to steal second.

LHP Mark Redman walked 2B-R Alfonso Soriano to lead off the bottom of the first, but after striking out SS-R Derek Jeter, Redman erased the runner from the bases when Soriano tried to steal second on a pick off throw. 1B-R Derrek Lee relayed the ball to SS-R Alex Gonzalez, who had the tag waiting when Soriano tried to slide head first into the bag. With the count at 1-1, Redman hit DH-L Jason Giambi in the back below his number. OF-S Bernie Williams grounded a ball into center, which moved Giambi to third and would have scored Soriano. OF-L Hideki Matsui then really took the air out of the Marlins' with a 3-0 homer to dead center, giving the Yankees a 3-0 lead after one.

While the Marlins' allowed Pettitte to shut them down with three consecutive fly outs, costing him only 5 pitches, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver talked via phone with Michael Strahan, a New York Giants defensive end. The three discussed the Sprint Virtual Manager question, which asked whether New York or Miami had better nightlife, a topic very pertinent to the World Series. With baseball struggling to draw fans away from football, we believe MLB should pressure FOX and ESPN to keep ads for other sports off the air during games. I could handle calling Robin Williams, as his support of the sport could raise interest in baseball. However, I find it ridiculous for FOX to take time away from the game to discuss an inane topic with someone with no established connection to baseball, making MLB play second fiddle to the NFL in the middle of baseball's biggest event.

3B-R Aaron Boone led off the bottom of the second with a fly out to right. 1B-L Nick Johnson followed with a bunt laid down the third base line. The bunt was well placed and Johnson probably would have reached base even if it was fielded cleanly, but watching 3B-R Mike Lowell unsuccessfully attempt to pick up the rolling ball with his bare hand wasn't pretty. Johnson scored from first when OF-R Juan Rivera hit a fly ball into deep left centerfield. OF-R Miguel Cabrera played the ball off the wall and relayed it to Gonzalez, who threw wide of the plate to the first base side when a throw to the third base side might have gotten Johnson. Rivera tried for third rather than holding up at second, and with a play on Johnson clearly not possible, IRod was able to throw to third for the out, though replays indicate Rivera might have gotten under the tag.

Pettitte struck out the side in the third, holding the score at 4-0 Yankees. In contrast, Redman ran into trouble and the Marlins sent RHP Rick Helling to relieve him. Helling worked out of the jam in the third but gave up a two run homer to Soriano in the fourth, bringing the score to 6-0 New York.

Boone missed a bouncing grounder up the third base line, giving Cabrera first base on an error to lead off the fifth, however the Marlins failed to drive him in. RHP Chad Fox relieved Helling prior to the sixth and issued a lead off walk to C-S Jorge Posada. Boone struck out swinging as Posada attempted to steal second, but IRod was able to catch the low pitch and throw a strike from his knees past the obstruction of Boone. The throw approached second in perfect position for Gonzalez to catch it and tag Posada, which eventually saved the Marlins a run as Posada could have easily scored from second on the fly ball Nick Johnson hit into right for a double.

Rodriguez led off the seventh with a line drive single hit over the head of a ducking Pettitte and into shallow centerfield, but Florida's chances of rallying seemed to die on the field as he was doubled off because of a poor call by an umpire. Cabrera made contact with an 0-1 pitch sending the ball down the fair side of the third base line to Boone. Boone threw to second to get the force on IRod, and Soriano threw to first for the double play, as Cabrera hadn't hustled down to first. We couldn't understand what was going through the rookie's head until replays showed that he'd hit the ball off his leg, which should have made it foul regardless of its trajectory down the line. The botched call cost Florida two outs and a lot of momentum.

Jack McKeon sent C-R Mike Redmond in to catch the eighth, pulling Rodriguez and essentially conceding defeat. The top of the order came to bat in the ninth, and while Pierre grounded out to short, Castillo reached on a single grounded into center. Instead of having IRod at the plate to fuel a rally, Redmond came to bat and hit a fly ball into right for the second out of the inning. Cabrera advanced Castillo to second and was safe at first after another error by Boone, who cut in front of Jeter to field a grounder and then failed to pick the ball up in his mitt. Lee drove in Castillo with a looping fly ball into right centerfield, ending the shutout. With runners on first and second and one out left in the game, Joe Torre decided to send RHP Jose Contreras to relieve Pettitte, who was showing signs of fatigue after 111 pitches. Pettitte had compiled a 7-1 K:BB with 6 H and 1 run allowed in 8.2 IP. Lowell worked the count to 2-1 on Contreras before lining a ball down the third base line, where Boone made a nice stop and threw to second for the final out of the game. New York took Game Two 6-1 over the Marlins, who didn't look particularly sharp.

McKeon's usage of his relievers would have put them in a tight situation if the game had gone into extra innings. However, I like the way he found an inning of relatively low pressure World Series work for both Fox and RHP Brandon Looper, as they likely will be called upon under more important conditions later in the series. With RHP Carl Pavano, I like the idea of keeping him from becoming rusty in the bullpen with his Game 4 start falling a week after his NLCS start. Nevertheless, I don't know that it was a good idea to give the top five guys in the New York lineup a look at him, allowing the Yankees several days to investigate how Pavano pitched their top hitters.