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 Heats Up!

Well the NLCS actually became a series last night as the Phigtin’s fell in Tinseltown to the L.A. Dodgers 7-2 in a very emotional contest not too mention the few hit batters as well as some messages sent.

The Dodgers jumped all over the Professor Jamie Moyer in the first few and the veteran failed to make it out of the second giving up 6 ER in 1 1/3 innings.  The crushing blow coming off the bat of rookie Blake DeWitt smashing a 2-2, 2-out pitch down the right field line opening the flood gates on a 6 run first.  The Phils got one of the runs right back as Pedro Feliz singled in Ryan Howard, but the momentum was quickly killed as Rafael Furcal hit a home run to left field the very next inning.

Things than became real interesting in the 3rd inning, after both Phillies all-star Chase Utley had a Hiroki Kuroda throw a fastball up around the face in the top of the first, Jamie Moyer plunked Dodger all-start catcher Russell Martin in the knee in the bottom of the frame.  Then things got real heated in the top of the third when Kuroda threw a fastball over the head of Phil’s centerfielder Shane Victorino.  Shane immediately made it known he was more then unappreciative of the throwing at his head as he jawed with Kuroda after grounding out to end the inningwhich prompted the benches to clear and words to be exchanged and the series was officially on.

Following the game Russell Martin explained rather wise-a$$ed, “We didn’t throw at his head, we threw it over his head.” Hey Russ, Where do you get off? You talk about you don’t want to hurt people, hopefully, that little comment will indeed get someone hurt, someone in Dodger blue.  Look for the hit batters to continue, and the high and tight pitching to become common place the rest of the series.  Hopefully, that comment, said with the little douche smirk on your face, has lit the fire under the Phillies and we come out with more intensity now that fuel has been poured on the fire, that is, the NLCS.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball

Last night in raucous South Philly, your Phightin’s put up barely enough of a fight to eek out a Game 1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Ace Cole Hamels settled into his usual dominate outing after a shaky first couple of batters and Chase Utley and Pat Burrell provided all of the offense with more home runs as the Phillies took a 1-0 series lead over LA.  Game 2 is set for this afternoon with the first pitch being tossed at 4:35pm.

With the Phillies offense looking pathetic through 5 innings, it was the flying Hawaiian sparking a rally yet again in the bottom of the 6th as he busted his hump down the line on a seemingly routine ground-out.  But Victorino’s hustle forced Furcal to rush his throw which went out of the glove and over the head of first basemen James Loney and Victorino took second on the error.

The very next pitch, Utley ripped a two run blast into the right field seats and the Bank was shaking.  Two batters later, “Bait” as we learned is what one Patrick Burrell is affectionately referred to by his teammates, we think its pretty explanatory what “Bait” is referring too, hit his 3rd home run in 2 games staking the Phillies to their first lead of the series.

Hamels and Ryan Madsen did the rest of the work setting the stage for another Lidge save, as he worked a 1-2-3 9th inning, and the Phillies improved their record to 80-0 when leading after 8 innings.  

NLCS Game 1 Preview

8:22 PM ET from Citizens Bank Park

215 Sportsguy-

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