So Game 7 Isn't Tonight?

As if we needed another name to add to Philadelphia hate-lore, Juan Uribe threw his name onto that list last night. Uribe's eighth inning, two-out, solo home run served as the difference in what was a weird, sad, unfortunate end to the Phillies season. Three straight World Series appearances just wasn't in the cards and it appears we'll need to put those Game 7 tailgate supplies away (or at least I will). Pure suck.

The Phillies had more than enough opportunities to score runs after their two in the first inning but nobody was able to come up with a season saving hit. Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth...they all failed in big spots last night. It certainly wasn't something we were used to seeing the last two postseasons but it was something that happened plenty this year. Of course, that's a discussion for another time (and another post).

So, while there will be plenty of time to wrap up, dissect and eulogize the Phillies' 2010 season (there will be much more once I stop crying) it's now time to grieve. This Phillies team had the ability to accomplish something special and they weren't able to. That hurts, a whole bunch. I already miss baseball.

See you in the spring, Phils.

[photo c/o Tim Shaffer/Reuters]

Oh, by the way, Game 6 is Saturday

Yea, he did that. Pulled his groin. Didn't matter, cause...well...this series isn't over yet. History will tell you about moments when players just give it all they got (Jordan with the flu, Kirk Gibson game, etc.) but rarely do you get to live through that moment as a fan. We just did.

Roy Halladay pulled his groin on Thursday night. He couldn't throw his fastball past 89 mph. He had a good curve, a decent cutter and that's it. But guess what, he won. The Phillies won. And, well, last time I checked...our boys are coming back home.

In case you didn't know, Game 6 is Saturday night. Roy 2.0 on the mound. Sounds like a can't miss to me.

Go Phils.

Let's Go Joe

In the biggest game of the season so far, the Phillies are going to start Joe Blanton. Take a second and read that sentence again. Yep, Heavy B is going to take the mound tomorrow, whether we like it or not.

Faced with a 2-1 hole, Charlie will stick with his original plan instead of moving Halladay up a day to start on short rest. It's obvious that Charlie just feels more comfortable with his guys going on normal rest, and you can't really fault him for that. Although he may change his mind in the morning, it appears the earliest we'll be seeing Doc is Thursday night.

I honestly have to admit I'm a little surprised. A lot was made last year of the Phillies not wanting to pitch Cliff Lee on short rest (which the Rangers refused to do this year as well). When the Phillies basically "swapped" Lee for Halladay in the offseason many people looked at Halladay's ability to pitch on short rest as one reason the upgrade made sense. In six career starts on short rest, Halladay has gone 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA. While that's a small sample size, it certainly looks like Halladay can handle it. Plus, you have to think Halladay would be pumped up by the idea, since he's so close to the World Series title he craves so badly. It doesn't appear he'll get that chance.

However, Halladay's ability to pitch on short rest isn't really the thing I'm concentrating on the most. It's the fact that Joe Blanton hasn't pitched in a meaningful game since October 3rd. That was a one inning appearance against the Braves on the last day of the season. His last start was even longer ago, back on September 29th. That's a long layoff, especially for someone now tasked with saving the Phillies season (although the bats could score some runs and help that out too). Heavy B is certainly going to have to be at his best.

Ultimately this decision will be judged by what happens in the game tomorrow. If the Phillies win, suddenly they have taken back home field and have Halladay ready for Game 5. If they lose, they are going to need H20 to win three straight games (which, while incredibly difficult, is something those three could certainly pull off). Charlie Manuel has pretty much pulled all the right strings the past few years, I just hope this move pays off as well. If not...well let's just not think about that right now.

Go Phils.

Roy Oswalt Doesn't Need Your Stinkin' Stop Sign

Roy Oswalt was phenomenal last night in the Phillies 6-1 victory in Game 2 of the NLCS. You couldn't have asked Oswalt to do more. He was dominant on the mound and even chipped in at the plate and on the base paths. Oswalt running through Sam Perlozzo’s stop sign is going to be a classic moment of the 2010 run.

Shame on any of you who freaked out after the Phillies dropped Game 1. While we may have been a little spoiled by this teams’ performance over the last few weeks, it's incredibly difficult to go 11-0 during a postseason run. Now, our Phils are heading west to San Francisco for Game 3 with momentum on their side. Relax and hang on for the ride. If you're like me, you'll still be at work and staring at your cubicle walls when the game begins. Luckily, I know of several internet feeds that may or may not be legal.

Go Phils!

NLCS Preview: Phillies vs. Giants

So here we are, about to watch the Phillies partake in their THIRD STRAIGHT NLCS. After 10,000 losses, Joe Carter, the 1964 collapse and Celine Dion (she has nothing to do with the Phillies, but she’s awful), who would have a thought our local baseball team would ever see this much success? The best record in baseball? Three aces? Puke monster? It’s still hard to believe this is all real. But guess what folks, it’s real. Very real. And the Phillies have a chance to do something over the next week no NL team has done since 1944, go to three straight World Series.

Standing in their way of history, yet again, is a team from California. This time around though, it’s not those Manny-led Dodgers, but the Pat the Bat-led San Francisco Giants. The Phillies are overwhelming favorites to be sure, but the Giants are a very good (although flawed) team and shouldn’t (and won’t) be taken lightly by our Fightins’.

(Quick side note, the word “Giant” comes from greek “Gigas” which is root for the word Gigantism. Gigantism, also known as giantism, is caused by an overproduction of human growth hormone, otherwise known as HGH. HGH, of course, was used quite frequently by everyone’s favorite Giant, Barry Bonds. Just thought that whole Giant, HGH, cheater, Giants suck thing was interesting.)

Anyway, to defeat our next opponent we must first understand them, so here is a quick rundown of who the San Francisco Giants are:

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner. Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Brian Wilson. Buster Posey.

See what I did there? Yea, it’s pretty obvious what the Giants are all about, and that is why they are so dangerous in this series. The Giants boast an amazing pitching staff, full of both dominating starters and shut-down relievers. They led the majors is ERA, strikeouts and opponent’s batting average. Tim Lincecum has rebounded from a shaking July/August and the bullpen gave up something like 1 run in September. It’s safe to say, when combined with the Phillies awesome pitching (which we all know about), that runs will be at premium. Not surprisingly, I expect the Phillies offense to struggle in this series, so I think you can’t expect much more than two to four runs from our bats in any game. So, to that end, I figure we should focus on what will likely be the deciding factor in this series…can the Giants score enough to beat the Phillies?

If you look strictly at statistics, the Giants offense is pretty underwhelming. The finished 17th in MLB in runs scored and 17th in OPS. They also were awful on the basepaths, with only a 63% steal success rate, worst in the league (both leagues, like 30 out of 30 bad).

However, they thrived on timely home runs, and actually only hit 4 less than our “powerful” Phillies did (166 to 162). Now that doesn’t take into consideration the vast amount of time that Rollins, Utley, Victorino and Howard missed, but the Giants didn’t have Burrell, Posey and Cody Ross all year either (not that they are equals to our guys, just saying). After calling up Posey and adding Burrell, the Giants lineup became a whole lot more imposing. The late season addition of Ross was brilliant to, he's a good hitter who has seven career homers at CBP, the most of any visiting ballpark. Throw in a resurgent Aubrey Huff and a career-year-having Andres Torres and the Giants offense doesn't quite have as much suck in it as it did in April and May.

My ultimate point is, the Giants have enough power on the roster to be scary, and with their pitching a 3 run homer might be enough to win any game. It will be important that the Phillies keep base runners to a minimum (which they do better than any team in baseball, by the way, just look it up) so that those homers (if they happen) are only solo shots. Of course if the Phils pitch like they did in round 1, the Giants might score four runs all series.

The matchups:

Game 1: Roy Halladay (21-10, 2.44 ERA, 219 SO) vs. Tim Lincecum (16-10, 3.43 ERA, 231 SO)

I don't need to tell you that this is an awesome matchup, but...well...it's an awesome matchup. Lincecum was the best pitcher in the NL the past two years, Halladay was the best pitcher in the NL this year. Since changing his grip on his slider in September, Lincecum has been lights out and absolutely dominated the Braves in the first round. The Phillies will offer him a little tougher competition, but if this game is anything else than a 2-1 or 3-2 ballgame, I'll be surprised. Oh, and Halladay threw a no-hitter in the NLDS. Just remembered.

Game 2: Roy Oswalt (13-13, 2.76 ERA, 193 SO) vs. Jonathan Sanchez (13-9, 3.07 ERA, 205 SO)

Giants manager Bruce Bochy shuffled his rotation so that Sanchez will start Game 2. Pretty smart idea, cause Sanchez owns the Phillies. He has a career 2.86 ERA against our Phils and has struck out 40 in 34.2 innings. That's pretty dominate stuff and I suspect more of the same. I have a really strong feeling this series is going back to San Francisco 1-1. Unless Oswalt throws a shutout, since...ya know...it's his turn now.

Game 3: Cole Hamels (12-11, 3.06 ERA, 211 SO) vs. Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14 ERA, 177 SO)

These pitching matchup are ridiculous, aren't they? I mean, the highest starter ERA is Lincecum's at 3.43 and we all know how good he is. The more I think about it, the more I'm positive that the winning team in this series might not score more than 15 runs the whole series.

Game 4 and on is up for debate, obviously depending on where the series stands. Just know this, if Roy Halladay is starting, it means the Phillies are behind in the series. In the end though, I truly expect the good guys to win. The Phillies offense is due for a breakout and I'm hoping facing great pitching forces them to step up to the challenge and bring it. I expect H2O to do their thing too. Plus, we have Carlos. It is Choochtober afterall.

Oh, and I expect to meet the Yankees in the World Series after they dispatch the Rangers in 6. And you can take my predictions to the bank, just see for yourself.

Go Phils.

Your NLCS Postcard

An absolutely perfect depiction of the Phillies starting pitching rotation from The Fightins (via The Daily News). With a Big 3 of Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt, the Phils won't need to expect too much from sleepy Joe "I-don't-have-to-do-shit-anymore" Blanton.

Blanton better be careful, napping like that may cause some of the truffles stored in his cheeks to dislodge. H2O may or may not know CPR.

The Wrinkled, Leathery Reason Phillies Will Win World Series

You didn't think the Phillies were just going to get by on ridiculously nasty pitching and veteran hitting did you? Oh no kind sir, you are sadly mistaken. Those two luxuries are nothing when compared to the power of an old fashioned good luck charm.

Ed Barkowitz of the Daily News has an article on Philly.com regarding Ryan Madson's purchase of the Halloween mask you see in the pic above. And yes, that's him wearing it in the picture at a recent media session. Who needs rally monkeys or cowbells when you have a funny mask?

The article goes on to say the mask has become rather popular in the clubhouse and has become somewhat of a good luck charm. As Madson says, his favorite places to wear the mask are in the in the shower and in hot tub. Yep -- not making that up. My favorite line comes from Chad Durbin as he describes the mask: "It's Miguel Cairo." Oh Chad, you couldn't be any more spot on. LOOK AT THIS.

Anyway, our Phillies have advanced to a third straight NLCS and will have six days off before digging in against the Giants or Braves. To be honest, as a Philadelphia sports fan, it feels a little weird being a fan of the undisputed favorite. It's kind of a surreal feeling...and also one of the most awesome feelings a sports fan can have. Here's to 3 straight NL pennants.

FEAR THE MASK. GO PHILS.

[pic via Associated Press]