World Series Game 1 Preview

8:00 PM ET from Tropicana Field

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Outcome: The day this city has been waiting for for 15 years is upon us.  Game time is only a few hours away.  Cole Hamels once again takes the mound for the Phils as Scott Kazmir gets the ball for the Rays.  Cole is 3-0 in this here postseason and look for him to continue his dominace as he takes the Phils deep into the game and keep the hot bats of Rays offguard.  Cole is one of the few pitchers who continually gets better against batters as he faces them two and three times around during the course of the game.  The stats prove it over the course of the regular season and I see no reason as to why that would change now.

A lot of folks are bringing up the added rest as a possible downfall for the Phils, but this team is as gritty as they get and look for them to come out swinging.  I foresee the Flyin’ Hawaiian Shane Victorino and Pat ‘The Bat’ Burrell to get the juices pumping early and spark the bats of the rest of the lineup.

Charlie Manuel is keeping it quiet as to who will be the DH for this game, but to be honest, I really dont care, whoever he plugs in will most certainly get the job done.  Whether it be the best PH in the majors in Greg Dobbs, the savvy Canuck Matt Stairs or the grizzled vet in Chris Coste, look for all to be swinging for the fences.  Let’s get an early one in Tampa guys.  GO PHILS!

Final: PHI 7   TB 3
Player of the Game: Cole Hamels – 7.2 IP, 5 Hs, 2 ER, 8 Ks

T0bias Funke-

Outcome: FINALLY, we are on gameday of Game 1 of the World Series.  After a week off, the Phightins start the World Series tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays.  A lot has been said leading up to the start of this series regarding the long layoff and how it will negatively affect the Phils, and it could.  But I just don’t see that happening tonight.  I think the Phils are a big stage team and are primed for this opportunity.

Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phils facing off against another young ace Scott Kazmir.  This is obviously the first time both of these teams have faced either pitcher this year, so look for the pitchers to have the early advantage, and the beginning innings to be quick and strike out filled.  Look for the offenses to pick it up a little more into the 2nd and more so the 3rd time through the lineups.

I see the Phils bats striking the big blow first but the Rays will battle and keep it close. Then, what the Phillies really hope the entire series comes down too, the battle of the bullpens to begin.  The Phils have a decisive advantage in this department, one of their biggest going into the series, and look for that to be displayed in Game 1.  The Phillies pen goes an inning and two thirds of no hit ball as the Phillies take game one and home field advantage in game one.

Final: PHI  4    TB  2
Player of the Game: Jimmy Rollins – 2 for 3, BB, 2B, 2 RBI, RS

Phils Win, Phils Win

BEAUTIFUL!  Let me tell you people, the streets were rockin’ last night.   YouTube footage to come later, on my roommates camera.

JRoll got them rollin’ with a lead off jack and Cole Hamels pitched his third gem of the playoffs and the Phils beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 to win the NL championship series 4 games to 1 for its first pennant since the coveted ’93 team.  Manny Ramirez was the lone bright spot for the Dodgers as he provided the only run on a solo shot off Cole in the 6th frame.  Rafael Furcal was pathetic as he was responsible for all three of LA’s errors which proved costly.

Bring on the Rays!

NLCS Game 4 Preview

8:22 PM ET from Dodger Stadium at Chavez Ravine

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Outcome: To be honest, Blanton scares me, but I cant decipher if its more or less then Jamie Moyer.  I knew deep down Moyer would be throwing meatballs across the plate and that’s what scares me about Blanton.  He sucked during the regular season after we acquired him (Eaton-esque) and his only really good game came in the NLCS.  PLEASE FOR LOVE OF GOD continue to pitch well Joey.  I think the Phils are revving to go on all cylinders after last night’s small tussle in the infield after the Kuroda/Victorino incident.  God I would of loved Vic to JACK UP Hiroki.

Anyway look for the Phils to have Lowe’s number after facing him in Game 1 and to be hot in the batters box and flying around the base paths.  I also see the Dodgers getting to Blanton a bit and the scoring to be high and often.  Maybe Ryan Howard will actually do something with the bat tonight as well.  Phils win, Phils win.

Final: PHI 7   LA 4
Player of the Game: Jimmy Rollins – 3 for 4, 3 Rs, 2 SBs, 1 RBI

T0bias Funke-

Outcome: After the intensity level was kicked up a few notches last night, we turn right around and get back on the field tonight for Game 4.  Joe Blanton gets the nod against Dodger ace Derek Lowe coming back on 3 days rest.

Lowe baffled the Phils hitters minus one inning in game 1, but that inning was all Phils needed as Lowe was pinned with the loss.  Look for the Phils bats to be a little more successful this time around, as a shoot-out will break out tonight.

Look for the scoreboard to start firing up in the middle to late innings as the 2 pitchers will come out throwing strikes trying not to fire up things like last night, for fear of ejections and suspensions, and then try to challenge the hitters the second time around, unsuccessfully. The Phils pen will out-duel the Dodgers and send the Phillies to a 3-1 series lead on a 10-7 Phillies victory.

Final: PHI 10   LA 7
Player of the Game: Jayson Werth – 4 for 6, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs

NLCS Game 2 Preview

4:35 PM ET from Citizens Bank Park

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Outcome: Manny Ramirez is still on fire but so is Brett Myers of late.  With Manny only sporting a career .158 (3 for 19) average against Myers, I think Brett can keep him in check.  Hopefully the right hand heavy lineup of the Dodgers has a tough time with Brett today and he can work some solid innings.  I see Jimmy and Chase getting their bats going again after an awesome game last night.  I think that’s exactly what Chase needed to break out of his mini slump there.  Look for Chase, Shane Vic and Jimmy to have a great day and be extremely active on the base paths.  I also foresee some Jayson Werth surprise action.

Final: LA 3   PHI 6
Player of the Game: Jayson Werth – 2 for 3, HR, 2 Rs, 2 RBI, BB

T0bias Funke-

Outcome: Well if the Phillies were not fired up enough for this afternoon’s NLCS game 2, word that manager Charlie Manuel’s mother has passed away, has to put their motivation over the top.  The Phillies can not let down skipper Manuel’s mother’s honor and be defeated this afternoon and I predict that the Phightin’s will come out bats a blazing.  Look for the the Phils to jump on Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley early and often as today’s game will feature much more offense then yesterday.

Final: LA 4   PHI 7
Player of the Game: Ryan Howard – 2 for 3, HR, 3RBI, 1R

NLCS Game 1 Preview

8:22 PM ET from Citizens Bank Park

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Outcome: Manny Ramirez is on fire.  Rafael Furcal is back.  Joe Torre is in the playoffs again.  And Cole Hamels is LIGHTS OUT BAY BAY!  Cole will continue his dominant pitching in Game 1 and take a shutout into the seventh where I think he might get a little tired and let up a few hits, possibly a run before Charlie Manuel gives him the pull.  This will be perfectly fine, because we will have a solid lead at this point behind the timely hitting of our fearless leader Jimmy Rollins and the rest of the order.  A raucous Philly crowd who haven’t been this close to a championship since the Eagles choked in the NFC Championship will be the spark for the Phils as their bats finally get back on track in this one.

Final: LA 2   PHI 5
Player of the Game: Cole Hamels – 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 Ks, 1 BB

T0bias Funke-

Outcome: Both of these teams come in feeling good about themselves.  Game 1 is going to come down to who works out their nerves first.  Reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins does not get phased by the big stage; expect him to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 lead with back to back games with a lead off HR putting the Citizen’s Bank crowd into a frenzy.  Expect the Phillies left handed power bats of Ryan Howard when he gets his chances, but more-so Chase Utley to do a lot of damage in this series as the Dodgers have no left handed arms to combat the sluggers.  Cole put on an ace-like performance we’ve started to become accustomed too, going deep into tonight’s game keeping the Dodgers hitters looking silly with his deadly fastball and curveball combo as Citizen’s Bank Park will be never be louder tonight from start to finish. 

Final: LA 1   PHI 6
Player of the Game: Jimmy Rollins – 3 for 4, HR, 3 RS, 2 RBI, Double, Single, 2 SBs

National League Championship Series Bound

Pat “The Bat” Burrell.  This is my call to re-sign him RIGHT NOW.  Patrick Brian Burrell, in a contract, performed bigger then any Phillie in the biggest game of the season to date.

After struggling to swing the bats through the first three games of the NL division series, Philadelphia’s offense broke out in a big way against the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLDS series.  Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a home run and Pat Burrell connected twice to break out of his postseason slump and Jayson Werth added a solo shot to seal the deal and move the Phils one step closer to a World Series run.

Let’s not forget about Joe Blanton who had possibly his best outing in a Phillies uniform since coming over in the deal with the Oakland A’s earlier this season.  He threw six innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven to get the victory.

After the game Charlie Manuel spoke about how proud he was of this team and also added how he feels about the Phils chances against the upcoming Los Angeles Dodgers:

I think we can hold our own with them. Actually, I think we can beat anybody in the National League, really.

Some Fast Facts (courtesy of ESPN.com):

• The Phillies, who won a postseason series for the first time since the 1993 NLCS, set a postseason team record with four home runs.
• Jimmy Rollins started the game with the Phillies’ second postseason leadoff homer in team history. Rollins belted the other in Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS.
• Prince Fielder’s homer was the first by a Brewer in the postseason since Ben Oglivie’s in Game 7 of the 1982 World Series. It was the Brewers’ only extra-base hit of the game.
• The Phillies recorded 17 extra-base hits in the four-game series. The Brewers, who hit .206 in the set, had four.

Phils Lose, Mets Win

The NL-East leading Phillies missed a chance to reduce their magic number for clinching their second straight division title against the New York Mets, who beat the Cubs 6-2 last night.  Philadelphia leads New York by 1 1/2 games in the NL East. The magic number for clinching the division remains at four.

Casey Kotchman homered, Mike Hampton won for the first time in a month and the Atlanta Braves halted the streaking Phil’s playoff push with a 3-2 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night.

Phils Beat Fish: 1 1/2 Back

Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer, Jimmy Rollins had three hits and three steals and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 8-6 on Monday night.

The Phillies closed within 1½ games of the NL East-leading New York Mets. They remain two behind in the loss column.

“Every game is a must-win,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “We have to win more games than they do.”

Joe Blanton (2-0) pitched five shaky innings to earn his first win since Aug. 2. Blanton allowed four runs and five hits in his 10th start since Philadelphia acquired him from Oakland.  Blanton really scares me as we near the home stretch of the season.  Every time I checked back to the Phils game (watching MNF, some fantasy ramifications on the line) he had given up more hits and more runs.  He needs to get his ass in gear if he expects to pitch in the playoffs.  After averaging 1 walk per 9 IP in the AL for his career, he is now averaging 4 walks per 9 IP in the NL, an easier pitchers league, explain that.

Mets News: Billy Wagner is out for the rest of this season and will likely miss all of 2009 too.

The New York Mets closer will have surgery after an MRI on Monday showed a torn MCL in his pitching elbow has gotten worse during more than a month of rehab. His injury could send the Mets into the free-agent market for a top reliever this winter.

Phillies Sweep Gnats, Head to St Louie

Kyle Kendrick allowed just two runs over 6 2/3 innings and the Phillies rolled to an 8-4 victory that finished off a three-game sweep of the dreadful Washington Nationals.  Led by homers from Jasyon Werth and Jimmy Rollins the Phils also took over first place in the NL East with the win as the Marlins also beat the Mets.

The win makes it 5 in a row for the hot-hitting Phils.  Lets see if they can keep it up as they stroll into Albert Pujols territory for a weekend series.

Tonight: 8:15 PM from Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  LHP Cole Hamels (9-6, 3.27) vs. RHP Kyle Lohse (12-3, 3.68).

‘So’ Sweet

Their it was, all laid out right in front of them, waiting to be grabbed.  A win against their fierce rival, and first place to boot, if only they had someone to notch the final three outs.

There’s nothing better then beating the Mets in New York to take the lead in the NL East.  Oh wait there is.  It’s when you do it by scoring 6 runs in the top of the 9th after being down 5-2 for the latter part of the game.  And in New York.  In front of their fans.  At the hands of Jimmy Rollins to take the lead (after So Taguchi of course).

Let me set the stage in case you missed one of the best endings to a Phillies game I have ever seen in my life.  Its the top of 9th, 5-2 Mets, and apparently Billy Wagner is unavailable for the game, so the Mets bring in Joe Smith to try and close out the victory for the Mets to take sole position of the NL East.  Then: Werth single, Dobbs single, Victorino single.

Next a high bouncing grounder by Carlos Ruiz up the middle that Jose Reyes misplays and misses the base as he trys to field the ball and go to second on his own.  Shane Vic chugged his ass to second and just beat him out, which was later ruled an error on Reyes due to his indecisiveness.  Pinch-hitter So Taguchi doubles down the line to right field knocking in Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs to tie the game at 5.  Next up the reigning NL MVP James Rollins.  Rollins doubled down the line right past David Wright to knock in Carlos Ruiz and So Taguchi to take the lead, much to the shagrin of a STUNNED METS CROWD. One that was actually quite thin due the hundreds of fans who had already left thinking the game was in the bag.  5 runs, 0 outs. 7-5 Phillies. Amazing.