New York Yankees Half Way to 27th World Series Title

I’ll admit, as a longtime Phillies fan, I am more familiar with failure than I am with success.

I even predicted a 6-3 Yankees win Saturday afternoon, because as much as I hoped not, I knew Andy Pettitte would pitch better than Cole Hamels.

Hamels was staked to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a Jayson Werth homer that Werth almost one-handed the ball over the left field fence and a base loaded walk and sacrifice fly.

I still think Cole Hamels has to mature and put bad plays behind him. Following a two-run home run by Alex Rodriguez that hit the TV camera in right, Hamels fell apart in the fifth.

Above, Rodriguez pleads with umpires to over turn what was initially ruled a double.

Hamels hung a curve ball to pitcher Andy Pettitte for a one-out RBI single to tie the game at 3-3.

The pitcher? Hamels’ third best pitch? What was he thinking?

The Yankees expanded the lead to 5-3 before the fifth inning and Hamels’ night was done. The 8-5 win gave the Yankees a 2-1 series lead.

As the clock moved closer to midnight in the rain-delayed start, it appeared the Phillies would not win.

The clock moved back after midnight, due to the end of daylight savings.

For Phillies’ fans, the wish was that the clock would be moved back for Cole Hamels.

The 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP has been anything but consistent.

As I stated before, I expected Pettitte to pitch better than Hamels and predicted a Yankees win.

My quandary is that the Yankees’ best pitchers are making Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and now Chase Utley, look bad.

The model for a Phillies series win, by most experts, was for Hamels to follow up Cliff Lee’s dominant Game One victory.

My only hope is that Joe Blanton gives us a Lee/2008 Hamels performance in Game Four, or this series could be over real quick.

The Yankees bullpen leading up to Rivera is not special at all. They could be had.

But when the Yankees starters go six or seven innings, the bridge to Rivera is filled with less crocodiles than in the Phillies rickety bridge to Lidge.

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World Series Often Decided By Relievers, Not High-Paid Starters

Want to make money in Major League baseball and have longtime job security?

Become a world-class starter in the Major Leagues.

Guys like Cubs outfield Alfonso Soriano may get $136 for eight years, but you want more bang for the buck?

How about CC Sabathia and his six-year, $140 million contract he signed for the Yankees. Or the Yanks’ A.J. Burnett, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract in the 2008-09 offseason.

Phillies’ ace Cliff Lee is due to make $8 in 2010 before he collects a big playday in 2011. Expect the Phillies to offer him a contract extension in the offseason. They would be stupid not to.

Let me ask you: Do you think Sabathia or Burnett would have to take a cab and subway to get to Yankee Stadium like Lee did before pitching Game One of the World Series?

Please.

But let me get to my point: While the starters are the high-priced superstars, pitching to many highly paid hitters, the players who often decide the World Series and playoffs often make less than Major League pinch hitters.

How did the 1993 World Series end? I’ll never forget.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Joe Carter hit a walk-off, series-winning home run off Phillies closer Mitch Williams.

Who among baseball fans will forget the tragic case of Angels’ pitcher Donny Moore?

In 1986, the Angels held a 3-2 lead going into Game Six of the ALCS.

With two outs and the Angels holding a slim 5-4 lead, Moore gave up the go-ahead home run to Boston’s Dave Henderson in the top of the ninth.

The Angels came back to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, 6-6, but a sacrifice fly by Henderson off Moore in the 11th gave Boston a 7-6 win.

(The Red Sox went on to win the next two games in Boston and advance to the World Series.)

On July 18, 1989, after being cut by the Kansas City Royals, Moore got in an argument with his wife and fatally shot himself.

Let history show that Moore did not shoot himself because of the Henderson home run, but suffice to say that relieving is a tough job in baseball.

So despite Sabathia, Burnett, and Lee, I have a nagging feeling that the bullpens will play a big role in this 2009 World Series.

Ryan Madson, Scott Eyre, and Chan Ho Park pitched in Game Two for the Phillies, while the Yankees have use Phil Cake, Brian Bruney, David Robertson, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera.

Rivera already made his impact on the series.

The All-World closer pitched two shutout innings on Thursday night to preserve the Yankees’ 3-1 win in Game Two and tie the series for the Yankees.

I don’t know much about the Yankees’ bullpen performance this year, other than Rivera. Phil Hughes is the set up man for the Yankees.

While Rivera has a 0.71 ERA  in 12.2 innings in the 2009 postseason, Hughes sports 0-1, 9.64 ERA in 4.2 innings in the postseason.

It was no accident that Yankees manager Joe Girardi put Rivera in to pitch the eighth and ninth innings in Game Two, so the Yanks would not face an 0-2 hole going back to Philly.

However, Girardi can’t pitch Rivera for two innings three out of four games, can he?

Both bullpens will have to be used as the series progresses to three games in Philadelphia.

Brad Lidge has been perfect in the 2009 postseason after a shaky regular season, where he blew 11 saves.

Lidge is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in four innings pitched.

Phillies set up man Ryan Madson has pitched reasonably well in the postseason with a 1-0 record, 3.86 ERA in seven innings.

Both team’s trouble spots in the bullpen?

Top left-hander J.A. Happ, a starter during the regular season, has a 7.36 ERA in 3.2 innings.

Park, the seventh inning reliever who missed the first round of the playoffs, has pitched well at times in the post season, but has a 7.36 ERA in 3.2 innings.

For the Yankees, reliever Brian Bruney has a 54.00 ERA in 0.10 innings, and Alfredo Aceves has a 7.71 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched.

Putting stats aside, what is my feeling?

The Phillies in at least one or two games upcoming, will explode for four or five runs against the Yankees bullpen.

However, Girardi might realize this too and consider coming back with Sabathia in Game Four.

The Phillies bullpen has gotten progressively stronger as the playoffs have moved along.

However, I am not feeling secure with the Phillies holding a one-run lead going into the late innings in a game.

What I can’t get out of my head is a vision of Alex Rodriguez coming up to the plate with a runner on second, two outs, a one-run Phillies lead in the bottom of the ninth.

And Brad Lidge is on the mound.

Bam.

I wake up in a cold sweat.

I can only hope that Girardi’s plan to pitch his aces with three days rest blows up in his face.

And the vision of Ryan Howard at the plate against Mariano Rivera with the game on the line does not give me the same sweats as Lidge/Rodriguez.

Still, bullpen advantage Yankees, due to Rivera.

Yankees will win tonight behind Andy Pettitte, while the Phillies take the next two games to go back to New York with a 3-2 series lead.

If that happens, I won’t get much sleep.

Bam.

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A.J. Burnett, Hideki Matsui Beat Phillies in World Series Game Two

All the bright spots and the warts have been exposed after two games in the 2009 World Series.

Mariano Rivera, perhaps the brightest of all stars, pitched a two-inning save to preserve a 3-1 Yankees victory over the Phillies on Thursday night in New York.

The World Series is now tied, at one win a piece.

Hideki Matsui hit the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Yankees their first lead of the series, 2-1.

A.J. Burnett was masterful, giving up one run (should have been unearned) on four hits, nine strikeouts, and two walks in seven innings.

The series resumes Friday in Philadelphia, with evening games on three straight days in the City of Brotherly Love.

Either team could close the series out with a sweep in the next three games, but that is not likely to happen. However, the balance of power will be decided in the next three games.

Cole Hamels (10-11) faces Andy Pettitte (14-8) in an important Game Three battle. Pettitte has been terrific in the postseason, going 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA.

Hamels, meanwhile, has been a bit of an enigma during these playoffs. Last year’s NLCS and World Series MVP has been ordinary in the postseason.

Hamels is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA. His strikeout/walk ratio is good, giving up two walks and notching 12 strikeouts. The most alarming stat is the 11 earned runs he has allowed in 14.2 innings.

The first game against the Rockies, Hamels must have had the birth of his first child on his mind.

Hamels was trailing 4-0, when after being told he would not bat in the bottom of the fifth, he then walked briskly to the dugout.

He was on the way to the hospital to see his son being born.

The Rockies won the game, 5-4, and Hamels took the loss.

Hamels won Game One of the NLCS but gave up four runs in eight hits and gave up two home runs. The Phillies won the game, 8-6.

Some say Hamels’ fastball is flat, but I think he lets errors and mistakes affect his pitching.

I think he needs to shut everything out and just pitch. It was no accident that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel chose Pedro Martinez to pitch in New York.

Martinez did not pitch badly, but Burnett was better.

On the Yankees’ side of the ball, the concern has to be for Alex Rodriguez.

After getting an RBI in eight straight playoff games, Rodriguez has yet to get a hit in the World Series.

He struck out three times in Game Two.

Out of the two, who is more likely to break out of his slump: Rodriguez or Hamels?

Rodriguez has to get a hit sooner or later, and Manuel will continue to pitch to him until he hits one out.

I think the Phillies will win two out of three at home.

That would give them a 3-2 lead heading into New York.

Not an easy task.

Especially if Rodriguez starts hitting.

Pettitte appears strong for Game Three. I’ll take the Yankees to win, 6-3, on Friday night.

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The Phillies Don’t Really Expect To Win The World Series, Do They?

Shane Victorino in a cheerleader skirt graced the front page of Tuesday’s New York Post with the headline, “Gotham Trembles.”

The paper called the Phillies “The Frillies.”

The town’s other publication (save the New York Times), even picked on the Philly Phanatic, shown above.

New York Daily News writer Joanna Malloy called the Phillies top mascot a “green, pig-nosed monster” in a column today that trashed all things Philadelphia.

“Believe it or not, people down here in Silly-delphia actually think the Phillies will beat the Yankees in the World Series, which starts tomorrow,” Malloy writes.  “Mass delusion may be a better term for the phenomenon.”

The casual Yankees fan thinks it is a mere formality that the Yankees claim their 27th World Series title.  Wikianswers said that the Yankees have played in 39 World Series and have won 26.  That means they have lost 13 times in the World Series.

In baseball, it is not even close.  The St. Louis Cardinals, with 10 World Series victories, have the second most World Series victories.

“Who’se your daddy?” a catchy Yankee chant for future Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez chanted in 2003 may catch on in the new Yankee Stadium.  Phillies manager Charlie Manuel doesn’t mind: Martinez is slated to pitch Game Two in New York.

Martinez pitched seven shutout innings in his no-decision start against the Dodgers in Game Two of the NLCS.

Martinez is 11-11 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 career starts against the Yankees in the regular season and was 8-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 16 career starts at the old Yankee Stadium.

Martinez is 1-2 with a 4.72 ERA in six postseason appearances against the Yankees and is 0-2 with a 5.93 ERA in his past five.

New Yorkers, to a man I imagine, expect fully to be knee deep in cheesesteaks (the official government bet) well before Game Seven, slated for Nov. 5.

But the Phillies led the National League with 43 come-from-behind wins.  The Yankees led the American League and the Major Leagues with 51 winning rallies.

The Phillies led the National League with 224 home runs.  The Yankees have 244, again tops in the majors.

Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels is married to former Playmate and “Survivor” Heidi Strobel.  Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez currently goes out with actress Kate Hudson.

Whew! I guess I should give up.  I should be happy with the Phillies’ two World Championships.

“Christ, they all stick in a lick,” said Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts on Monday at a Philadelphia Press conference when asked about the Phillies offense.

What does he know?  As a member of the 1950 Whiz Kids, his team lost four straight to the Yankees.  Roberts pitched Game Two and gave up the winning run on a Joe DiMaggio home run in the 10th inning for a 2-1 Yankees victory.

Philadelphia was the birth place of America, home of the Liberty Bell and where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

According to the web site, the Straight Dope: In 1626 Peter Minuit bought Manhattan island from the local Indians for a load of cloth, beads, hatchets, and other odds and ends then worth 60 Dutch guilders.  Otherwise $24 in trinkets.

Ouch.

I guess I will settle to my couch and watch my Phillies take a beating by the Yankees.

What was I thinking when I said I wanted to play the Yankees in the World Series?

I must have been delusional.

 

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Phillies Fans’ World Series Dream Finally Realized

It was midway through the season when I said on Bleacher Report that I wanted a Phillies-Yankees World Series. At that point, I stated that the Yankees would win in six games.

Now that I am here, I want it all.

Sabathia, Pettitte, Rivera, Rodriguez, Jeter, Damon, and Posada.

Lee, Hamels, Martinez, Howard, Utley, Ibanez, and Werth.

There is more name power in the Yankees lineup. But let’s look at some numbers.

Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, and Jose Posada’s combined average is .299, buoyed by Jeter’s .344 regular season batting average.

Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, and Jayson Werth’s combined average is .275.

Advantage, Yankees.

Power numbers? The four Yankees have 94 home runs and 329 RBI. Phillies’ four have 146 home runs and 426 RBI.

Not even close. The power numbers favor the Phillies.

C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee are consecutive AL Cy Young Award winners with the Indians. Sabathia was traded late last season to the Millwaukee Brewers and then signed a huge contract to come to the Yankees. Lee, the 2008 Cy Young Award winner, was traded to the Phillies for four prospects in the middle of the 2009 season.

Andy Pettitte came up huge in Game Six of the ALCS, while Pedro Martinez pitched seven shutout innings for the Phillies against the Dodgers and got a no-decision in the Dodgers’ only NLCS victory, 2-1.

New York won 31 of its last 39 regular season home games and finished with the best home record in the majors at 57-24.

Philadelphia was 48-33 on the road this season, tied for the best mark in the majors.

New York fans must believe that the tough ALCS was the real World Series for the Yankees and, if necessary, Sabathia will pitch in Game One, and on three days’ rest for Games Four and Seven.

They must also believe they have dominion over Pedro Martinez, as they are still his “daddy.” Um, 2004, Yankees fans?

The Los Angeles Dodgers improved their bullpen and shored up their starting rotation in 2009, and the Phillies hit all they threw at them, save Game One of the NLCS. The Phillies are 18-5 in playoff games in the past two postseasons.

Numbers, stats, home and away records, can all be juggled to favor either side. The Yankees have history on their side, with 26 World Series championships, while the Phillies are trying to become the first National League team since the Cincinnati Reds to win back-to-back World Series titles (1975-76).

So to be fair, the only way I can predict this World Series is to go game by game.

Game One: C.C. Sabathia pitches seven shutout innings, while Phil Hughes and Mariano Riveria close things out for a 3-0 Yankees victory. Series: 1-0 Yankees.

Game Two: Pedro Martinez gives up one run in seven innings as the game breaks open late for the Phillies with home runs from Howard and Werth in an 8-4 Phillies victory. Series: tied 1-1.

Game Three: Joe Blanton gives up four runs in a 7-3 Yankees victory. Series: 2-1 Yankees.

Game Four: The Phillies finally get to Sabathia, and Cliff Lee picks up the victory, 5-1 Phillies. Series: tied 2-2.

Game Five: The Phillies’ offense explodes again as Pedro Feliz’s three-run home run leads the attack in a 10-8 Phillies victory. Series: Phillies 3-2.

Game Six: Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez spark a 3-1 Yankees victory. Series: tied 3-3.

Game Seven: Rodriguez hits a walk-off home run to give the Yankees a 5-4 win and their 27th World Championship.

I was going to put a question mark in Game Seven, but Rodriguez can’t be held down forever, and I had to make a pick.

Who will be the hero? Will one team find the momentum and produce a sweep or five-game victory?

I think it will be a great series and hopefully no games are influenced by an absolute bar of soap like the one Angels pitcher Scott Kazmir threw in Game Six of the ALCS in the 5-2 Yankees win Sunday night.

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These Philadelphia Phillies Just Know How To Win in Baseball Playoffs

As I watch the New York Yankees fight the Los Angeles Angels and Mother Nature for the chance to win the American League pennant and advance to the World Series, I realize something, albeit elementary.

This Phillies team knows how to win. More succinctly, the find another gear when playing in postseason baseball.

During the past two years, the Phillies have gone 18-5 in postseason play.

Carlos Ruiz, a .255 regular season eight-hole hitter for the Phillies, is batting .385 in the postseason with one home run and 4 RBI.

Jimmy Rollins, who was cold in the opening round against the Rockies, hit .250 during the season. Recent hits have brought his postseason average up to .244. But his two-out, two-run walk off double to win Game Four of the NLCS was stuff made up in legends.

Pitting big Dodgers flame thrower Jonathan Broxton against the smaller Rollins, was a David slaying Goliath moment for Phillies fans.

And to a man, they all believe the job is not done.

They held their first post-pennant workout Friday at Citizens Bank Park. My friend, who is a cameraman for a Philadelphia television station, sent me the picture above, along with several others.

I believe it is Shane Victorino taking swings, Jimmy Rollins closest to the cage and Ryan Howard leaning on the bat.

While the Phillies avoided the rain drops for their workout, Major League baseball will do its best to get these American League games done this weekend.

With the Yankees holding a 3-2 series lead over the Angels, one game could finalize the Phillies’ World Series opponent.

The Yankees, who came back from a 4-0 first inning lead to take a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh, could not hold on to the victory. The Angels took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh and held on for a 7-6 victory.

The Phillies meanwhile, in their NLCS, split victories in Los Angeles, then won three straight in Philadelphia to close the series out.

This Phillies team, under Charlie Manuel, truly has an attitude of focusing on one game at a time. Ironically, they are a big picture team.

I was very confident that the Phillies would win Game Five and not have to go back to Los Angeles.

While Yankees fans stick out their chest and say they are confident that CC Sabathia will win a Game Seven if it comes to that, the Phillies simply took care of business in five games, not six or seven.

Their offense hammered a good Dodgers bullpen, while the Phillies bullpen sharpened up when they had to.

This Phillies team is like no other in history.

The have a solid lineup top to bottom and a better starting pitching staff than last year’s champions. And they win much more than they lose.

The only question mark is if the bullpen stays hot.

Their 93 regular season wins was the fourth best in Phillies history.

Sound like a winning formula to me.

Go Phillies.

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For Phillies, It’s Deja Vu All Over Again

In the end, it was a lot like 2008, when the Phillies beat the Dodgers in five games.

Once again, Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton stared down Matt Stairs in Game Four and blinked. He walked Stairs on four pitches.

Broxton then hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitch, got the second out, then on a 1-1 fastball, let Jimmy Rollins take out the heart of this Dodgers’ team and give the Phillies an improbable 5-4 victory and a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The Dodgers were two pitches away from a 2-2 series tie, before Rollins’ walk off double. Same series deficit, same result for the Dodgers. Two years in a row.

On the deciding Game Five in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier woke up from his series long slump and hit a solo home run off Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels, who by the way has looked quite ordinary. The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead.

With one man on in the bottom of the first, Dodgers’ pitcher Vicente Padilla pitched around slugger Ryan Howard. It was apparent that Dodgers’ manager Joe Torre, like he did with Albert Pujols in the NLDS, was not going to let Howard beat him with the series on the line.

That’s when Jason Werth stepped up to take the role of the Phillies’ major run producer. On a 3-2 pitch from Padilla, he smacked a three-run home run to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

Werth added a long center field solo shot to give the right fielder four RBI on the night. Pedro Feliz and Shane Victorino added home runs. Neither Howard nor Utley had any RBI and this team still scored 10 runs on eight hits.

Amazing.

Ryan Howard, shown above, was named the NLCS MVP. He had a .333 average in the Championship series with two home runs and eight RBI. In the playoffs overall, he is hitting .355 with two home runs and 14 RBI.

So now the Phillies await the winner of the Yankees–Angels series. They will not play for a week and if the World Series goes seven games, baseball will be over Nov. 5.

The opponent will likely be the Yankees, and they are not called the Bronx Bomber for nothing.

Alex Rodriguez has had RBI in eight straight playoff games. Along with Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees have a potent offense. Add to that a multi-million dollar rotation, led by C.C. Sabathia and all World closer Mariano Rivera.

They can score at will any time, any instance, and with amazing production in a short period of time. While the Phillies led the National League with 43 come-from-behind wins, the Yankees led all of baseball with 50 come-from-behind wins.

(Grasshopper, to become a man, you must first grab this pebble from my hand).

The Angels, who many consider a roadblock to the Yankees, have a balanced offense, led by Vladimir Guerrero, Erick Aybar, and Maicer Izturis.

Yankees fans who I have approached wearing my Phillies gear look at me like I am crazy when I say I want a Phillies-Yankees World Series. They have a blank look on their face and must think “The Phillies are the minor leagues. We have 103 wins.”

The Angels fans would respect the Phillies more.

The Yankees and Phillies are similar type teams. Their histories are not the same, however.

The Phillies look for their third World Championship and to become the first National League team to win back-to-back World Series titles since the Reds did in 1975-76.

The Yankees have 26 World Series Championships. They last won in 2000, their third straight World Championship.

They are the standard in baseball, to say the least.

But to be considered the best, you have to beat the best.

Bring it, I say.

The Phillies await their opponent in the 2009 World Series.

 

 

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Phillies Look To Raise Curtain On World Series, Avoid Tinseltown

Just when you thought the Phillies could not make things any more exciting, drama struck again Monday night in Game Four of the 2009 NLCS.

It has been a parade of “Can you top this?”: The unlikely 5-4 NLDS Game Four victory this year against the Rockies highlighted by Ryan Howard’s two-run, two-out ninth inning double or last year’s dramatic Game Four NLCS 7-5 win featuring Matt Stairs’ two-run eighth-inning home run in 2008.

Dodgers‘ closer Jonathan Broxton entered the game in the eighth inning of Game Four Monday to record the last out, then got the Phillies’ Raul Ibanez to ground out for the first out in the ninth inning.

Innocent enough.

He was throwing heat, 99 to 100 MPH and the Dodgers held a 4-3 lead.

Then something magical happened for the Phillies.

Enter Stairs, who is not nearly the slugger he was last season, to face Broxton. Sure enough, I knew TBS would show the dagger, a bomb of a home run Stairs launched against Broxton last postseason in Los Angeles.

Stairs must have been inside Broxton’s head, because he walked Stairs, who hit .194 this season with five home runs and 17 RBI.

What happened next, prompted my one friend to text me: “Wow.”

Broxton hit catcher Carlos Ruiz on the leg, putting runners on first and second. Eric Brunlett was on second as he pinch ran for Stairs.

After pinch hitter Greg Dobbs, lined out softly to third for the second out, the top of the order was up for the Phillies.

The stage was set and up came Jimmy Rollins.

One of the MLB Network commentators said after the game that Jimmy loves Jimmy. Hey, if you can perform, so what?

Perform Jimmy did. With two outs.

Rollins stroked a 1-1 Broxton pitch into right center. The ball skipped quickly to the wall and you knew, just knew, both runs would score. Game over.

Phillies win 5-4 and now hold a 3-1 series lead.

“You knew it was getting in the gap,” said Dodgers’ reliever George Sherill of Rollin’s game-winning double, in an LA Times Sports story.

How desperate is it for the Dodgers, facing a 1-3 hole?

As Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times wrote:

“Reporting from Philadelphia – Win – or else. Or else the Dodgers will end their season on Wednesday. Or else they won’t play another game at Dodger Stadium until April. Or else Jonathan Broxton will head into the winter with another October meltdown to ponder.”

Wow. Remember how heavyweight fighter Mike Tyson could not beat Evander Hollyfield in the ring? This has a similar feel to it. The Phillies might have just gotten into Broxton’s head.

“Just throw the cheese,” an exuberant Ricky Botalicco said on Comcastsportsnet Philadelphia after the game about Broxton facing Stairs.

Looking ahead, Cole Hamels (1-0 6.75 ERA in NLCS) faces Vincente Padilla (0-0 1.23 ERA) in Game Five in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The Phillies must get to Padilla, knock him out to get as many of the Dodgers bullpen pitchers in the game. Because as good as the Dodgers bullpen is, Padilla may be better.

However, this is Philly and we have been known to rattle pitchers in the past. As is the case with Padilla, rattling pitchers can be even easier when the pitcher has pitched in Philly before in his career.

If the Phillies win Wednesday and the Yankees advance, C.C. Sabathia could come back into town. Remember last year’s playoff with the Brewers and Shane Victorino’s grand slam against Sabathia?

But I am getting ahead of myself.

The Phillies have three games to win one. They most definitely would like to repeat last year’s five-game series win over the Dodgers and not have to go back to Los Angeles.

But this is baseball and anything can happen.

Ryan Howard has been red hot and he became the first player in Major League history to record an RBI in seven consecutive playoff games in the same year.

The Phillies have not only wrestled away home-field advantage from the Dodgers, they have shortened their National League season to having to win one game in the last three.

Sound familar? The end of the regular season in the National League East this year?

What happened there?

As always has usually been the case for this team in the past two seasons, the Phillies took care of business.

Expect no less with a chance to go to their second straight World Series.

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Dodgers-Phillies: NLCS Blowout Win Shouldn’t Lull Philly to World Series Dreams

First off let me give kudos to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee—who pitched an eight-inning shutout in an 11-0 whitewash of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday during Game 3 of the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia.

Lee allowed three hits, struck out 10, and walked none. His 10 strikeouts tied a Phillies playoff record, joining Curt Schlling and Steve Carlton.

He was ahead of hitters and kept play moving, using an array of pitches with such a fast-pace not seen since Carlton.

Last night was heady stuff for Phillies fans. Highlighted by a Ryan Howard triple and Jayson Werth home run, the Phillies posted four runs in the first. They put Dodgers’ starter Hiroki Kuroda out of the game with two more runs in the second.

Shane Victorino’s three run blast in the eighth was icing on the cake.

Chad Durbin finished the game with a 1-2-3 ninth.

With the win, the Phillies took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Tonight’s game at 8:07 EST pits former Phillies pitcher Randy Wolf (11-7, 3.23 ERA) against Joe Blanton (12-8, 4.05 ERA).

Wolf—who was the starting pitcher for the Phillies when the team opened Citizen’s Bank Park in 2004—won’t let emotion get the best of him, as reported on the Dodger’s team Web site:

“I have a lot of memories here, a lot of good memories here,” Wolf said. “I always enjoyed pitching here. The fans were always really great to me. But I think it’s a lot of fun just being in a playoff game, an NLCS game against my former team. The fact that it’s a rematch from last year makes it exciting. But the main thing is when the game starts, it’s a game, and it all starts over. I’ve got to pitch my game and all that stuff that’s a memory, you’ve got to block that out.”

Wolf has a lot going for him. His soft stuff could thwart the Phillies left handed bats. Ryan Howard lifetime against Wolf is 1-9 with four strike outs.

I tried to remember a team that responded from a championship series beat down as my mind immediately went to the 1993 NLDS pitting the Atlanta Braves against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies won the first game 4-3, then lost big 14-3 (I remember Fred McGriff hitting an upper deck homer at the old Veterans Stadium in that game), and Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead with a 9-4 win in Game Three.

The Phillies came back to win Games Five and Six, by scores of 4-3 and 6-3, respectively.

While watching last night’s broadcast on TBS, the cameras panned Ryan Howard in the dugout with his head on his bat, eyes closed and deep in thought.

The announcers said that after talking to Howard, he said he was trying to forget his last at-bat. It could have been a three-run home run, a strikeout, or pop up with men on base.

I think all baseball players are like that, as well as managers, in terms of forgetting the last game.

A Phillies win tonight would put a chokehold on the series for the Fightin’ Phils.

But, two well pitched Dodger wins against a suspect Phillies bullpen would give the boys in blue a 3-2 lead heading back to Los Angeles.

Even if that happens, I am not concerned.

In Game Seven, a rested Cliff Lee will emerge from the visitors’ dugout and take control of the deciding game.

It ain’t gonna be easy.

This series is far from over.

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Philadelphia Phillies’ Bullpen Offensive Enough To Tie NLCS Series

For Phillies fans, the joy of Game One of the NLCS was gone, when the Dodgers walked away with a 2-1 victory Friday.

The series is now tied 1-1 with Game Three in Philadelphia on Sunday night.

Wasted was a two-hit, three-strikeout, no walk performance by veteran Pedro Martinez, who hadn’t pitched in 17 days. Martinez’s day was over when Greg Dobbs pinch hit for him in the top of the eighth inning.

The Phillies used five relief pitchers in the bottom of the eighth and singles, walks and Chase Utley’s second error in as many days gave the Dodgers their first lead of the day. J.A. Happ allowed a bases-loaded walk to Andre Ethier to put the Dodgers up 2-1.

Even in Game One, with the Phillies holding an 8-4 lead in the bottom of eighth, Madson gave up two runs before getting Manny Ramirez to ground out to end the inning.

A Philly.com article on Saturday deemed the first four pitchers in the eighth as “The Faulty Four” and the results as a disaster. True. But really, though, the Phillies bullpen has not been bad.

But the deeper you go in the playoffs, not bad is not good enough.

The Dodgers meanwhile—save Game One goat George Sherill, whom Ibanez made look like he still pitched in the Independent League—shut down the Phillies after Vincente Padilla’s fine one-run, 7 1/3 inning performance.

In fact, Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton allowed no hits, no runs, and no walks in their combined inning and a half work.

Perfect. Where have you heard that term used in relation to bullpen pitcher(s)?

Brad Lidge, 2008: 48-for-48 save opportunities, including the playoffs.

Before you panic, Phillies fans, I still believe that the Phillies’ offense is better than the Dodgers pitching.

But how often in the past month have you seen the Phillies go cold, save Ryan Howard’s powerful bat?

The Phillies will lose in seven games if they alternately produce great and timely hitting/average pitching, followed in the next game by cold offense, great starting pitching and suspect bullpen.

The further you go in the playoffs, the less room for error.

A trip home should bode well for the Phillies. They are in good shape with three straight home games and three wins needed to return to the World Series.

But they have to get skinny on pitching (Pedro Martinez did his job) and fat on offense.

As Jimmy Rollins said in the locker room after the Rockies series, “Defending the World Championship is not that easy.”

 

Note: As an FC, I wrote my third story of the week Friday. The photo for my story would not post all morning long, making it impossible to post my story. It happens: When I worked for a newspaper laying out pages, occasionally I would lose a whole page. It seemed easier to put the page back, remembering what it looked like. In this case, I wrote a second-game story. A first-game story posted today would be outdated.

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