Last night was the first game of the World Series, and the Phillies topped the Evil Empire (aka the Yankees) 6-1 thanks to the hot bat of Chase Utley and the sick pitching of Cliff Lee. And while you probably didn't know who was going to win the game going into it, I already knew the Phillies had it in the bag. In fact, the Phillies are going to end up winning the whole shebang, four games to three, and Utley is going to be the MVP...

OK. So I don't actually know if that last bit is going to happen (even though I hope it does). But the developers of MLB 09: The Show -- the best baseball game ever made, and I really mean that -- recently simulated the World Series in their game, and those previously mentioned statistics were among the results. Here is the full summary of the series that played out in the game:

• Game 1: Phillies, 12-3
• Game 2: Yankees, 5-4 (10 innings)
• Game 3: Phillies, 6-1
• Game 4: Phillies, 6-3
• Game 5: Yankees, 9-1
• Game 6: Yankees, 6-1
• Game 7: Phillies, 8-2

Key Performers:

• Cliff Lee, pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies – 2-0, 12 K
• Chase Utley, second baseman, Philadelphia Phillies – 11/28, 4 HR, 8 RBI [MVP]
• Ryan Howard, first baseman, Philadelphia Phillies – 7/25, 2 HR
• Jimmy Rollins, shortstop, Philadelphia Phillies – 8/26, 3 SB

• A.J. Burnett, pitcher, NY Yankees – 2-0, 10 K
• Mark Teixeira, first baseman, NY Yankees – 7/23, 5 RBI, 1 HR
• Alex Rodriguez, third baseman, NY Yankees – 9/24, 8 RBI, 2 HR
• Derek Jeter, shortstop, NY Yankees – 8/26, 4 RBI, 1 HR

Granted, 12-3 isn't 6-1, Utley has already hit half the amount of homeruns the game had him hitting for the series, Cliff Lee almost got 12 strikeouts just last night, and Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeria were a combined 0-8 at the plate (Ha Ha), but hey, there are six games left, and anything can happen. I’ll be checking back later in the series to see how the stats are stacking up between the game and the real deal, so stay tuned.

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