Roy Halladay and Philadelphia Phillies Need End-of-Lineup Production in Game 5

October is a time for unlikely heroes to emerge. Production seems to stem from the most unpredictable of sources for the teams that advance.

The San Francisco Giants utilized Cody Ross’s hot streak last year en route to becoming the darlings of 2010. Craig Counsell and his .255 lifetime average won NLCS MVP honors for the champion Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

The 5’7″ David Eckstein earned World Series MVP honors for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007. Aaron “Bleeping” Boone, who hit only 126 home runs in 12 years as a big leaguer, walked off against the Boston Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS. 

The Phillies know how wonderful production from the end of the lineup and bench can be. 

When facing Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, pinch-hitter Matt Stairs hit a homer that is yet to land to help the Phils steam forward. 

Even Carlos Ruiz of this year’s Phillies was a major contributor to that trophy-winning Phillies team. Ruiz hit a pedestrian .219 in the regular season that year, yet he blasted .375 in the postseason with a home run in the Fall Classic.  

Ruiz and his neighbors at the end of the Phillies’ lineup have not been as dazzling in the first four games of the 2011 National League Division Series.

While Raul Ibanez did provide a two-run HR in Game 1 of the series, he is only 3-for-12 and has struck out five times. He has not provided enough consistency out of the 6 spot in the Phillies’ lineup. 

Placido Polanco is nonexistent in the 7 hole; he is just 2-for-16 (2 singles). Standout utility man Wilson Valdez has yet to see the field in the series. 

As for the No. 8 hitter, Carlos Ruiz, it seems as though the infamous squirrel of Games 3 and 4 has been hiding on top of Ruiz’s head when it is not interrupting Skip Schumaker’s at-bats. Ruiz and his new mohawk haircut are a mere 1-for-14.

In the aggregate, Ibanez, Polanco and Ruiz are a combined 6-for-42 (.143 avg). Given that the pitcher hits ninth in any National League lineup, the numbers imply that the Cardinals have what is almost the equivalent of four free outs at the end of the Phillies’ order.

Luckily, the Phils have had production at the top of the lineup. The usual suspects, Jimmy Rollins (.563 avg), Chase Utley (.462 avg) and Ryan Howard (6 RBI), have carried the team to this point. 

While Howard is hitting only .133, his six RBI account for nearly 30 percent of the Phillies’ runs. Batting average is not the measurable for which the Phillies pay Howard. 

The Phils must get back-of-the-lineup or bench production to beat Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals this Friday. 

Well, maybe it’s not imperative.

Roy Halladay can always throw a postseason no-hitter, but Philly shouldn’t count on such heroics. 

The next Ben Francisco must stand up. If Francisco’s Game 3 home run was the only source of unexpected production come Saturday morning, Charlie Manuel’s team will get an early start to the off-season.

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