The Philadelphia Phillies won the opening game of the World Series 6-1 over the host New York Yankees on Wednesday due largely to the incredible pitching of Cliff Lee.

“To me he sets the tone by his rhythm, getting the ball back, and he knows what he’s going to do and he knows what he’s going to throw,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “I like the way he pitches. I like everything about how he goes about it.”

The Phillies, who won last year’s World Series, brought their game, which didn’t seem to phase Yankees captain Derek Jeter. “We’ve just got to win a game, it’s nothing more complicated than that,” Jeter said.

Game Two of the best-of-seven series will be in New York on Thursday with the Phillies starting Pedro Martinez against A.J. Burnett of the Yankees.

The New York Yankees were rated as the most valuable MLB franchise, by a Forbes magazine list released on Wednesday.

The Yankees retained their number one status, according to Forbes, by being valued at $1.3 billion, up nine percent from last years list. Home town rivals the New York Mets were second on the list, valued at $824 million for an increase of 12 percent. Last year the two New York teams, who are both opening new parks next season, sold some eight million tickets combined.

The Boston Red Sox were third on the list, increasing by 13 percent to $816 million, according to the financial magazine. The Los Angeles Dodgers ($694 million) and the Chicago Cubs ($642 million)made up the other two teams of the top five among the 30 Major League Baseball clubs.

The average club was worth $472 million, an increase of nine percent, Forbes said, also mentioning that the average team was making about $16 million a year in profit.