At least Lidge did not blow a save…

In the bottom 7th with the Phillies down 4-2, C C Sabathia got Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino out to start off.  Chase Utley who got to C C in Game 1 homered off Sabathia one more time to trim the Yanks lead to 1 run.  Ryan Madson made things interesting in the top 8th when Jorge Posada walked and Robinson Cano singled with 1 out, but left them stranded.  Since Joe Giradi did not want Mariano Rivera to get a 2 inning save in this game, he went to Joba Chamberlain to pitch the bottom 8th.  Just like what C C did in the 7th, Joba retired Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez by striking them out, but then Pedro Feliz would homer to tie the game at 4!

In the top 9th, Brad Lidge came on to keep the Yankees at 4.  He started by getting PH Hideki Matsui to pop out then Derek Jeter to strike out.  He would then allow a 2 out single to Johnny Damon in a 9 pitch at bat.  With Mark Teixeira batting, Damon stole second base and since the Phillies had the overshift for Damon, nobody was covering third so he took third base too.  Lidge would then hit Teixeira to put runners on the corners.  A-Rod would hit a double to score Damon and Jorge Posada hit a 2 run single to give the Yanks a 7-4 lead.  Mariano Rivera pitched the bottom 9th inning.

C C Sabathia went 6 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and struck out 6.  Joe Blanton went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and struck out 7.

Times Square’s bright lights blind Hamels

Remember how excellent Hamels was last year in the World Series?  Of course most of us Phillie fans do.  However in Game 3 of the WS, he did not bring over his success from last year against the Rays.  He only went 4 1/3 innings and allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, and struck out only 3.  Compare that to his start against the Yankees on May 24 when he allowed 2 runs on 8 hits and struck out 5 in 6 innings.  He had an easy first 3 innings when he did not allow a hit and allowed 1 base runner when he hit A-Rod with a pitch in the 2nd inning.  Trouble stirred in the 4th when after he got Johnny Damon to fly out, Mark Teixeira walked then A-Rod hit a ball to right field.  It was origninally ruled a double but it was overturned and ruled a home run since it hit one of the television cameras in the stands over the scoreboard wall in right field.  In the 5th inning, Nick Swisher led off with a double then after Melky Cabrera struck out, Andy Pettitte hit an RBI single.  Derek Jeter would follow with another single then Johnny Damon followed with a 2 run double.  After Hamels walked Teixeira, Charlie Manuel pulled Hamels from the game.

Andy Pettitte went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and struck out 7.  The Phillies would get to him to jump to an early lead in the 2nd when Jayson Werth hit a solo HR to lead off.  After Raul Ibanez struck out, Pedro Feliz doubled, Carlos Ruiz walked, then Cole Hamels hit a bunt single to load the bases.  Jimmy Rollins drew a bases loaded walk and Shane Victorino hit a sac fly to make it 3-0 Phils.  Werth hit another leadoff HR in the 6th off Pettitte but that was not enough for the Phils since the Yankees scored 3 more runs off the Phils pen as the Yankees would win 8-3.

caught: 5-1
missed: 3-3

MS/FB status: “RRAAAATTTTSSSS!!! Phils down 2-1– If they lose the series, I’ll never hear the end of it! DOUBLE RATS!! As of 12:55 AM, I have to wait ANOTHER hour for the Eagles game!” (daylight savings ends)

Burnett burns Phils

In Game 2 of the World Series A.J. Burnett took care of the Phillies similar to how Cliff Lee took care of the Yankees in Game 1.  In 7 innings, he allowed 1 run on 4 hits and struck out 9.  His only run came on a Matt Stairs RBI single which followed a Raul Ibanez double.  Mariano Rivera pitched 2 innings to get the save.  The Phils threatened in the 8th, when Rivera walked Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino singled with 1 out, but Chase Utley hit into a 4-6-3 twin killing to end the inning.

Pedro Martinez was not that bad.  He went 6+ innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and struck out 8.  His only problem was he gave up 2 long balls to Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui.  In the 7th, he allowed back to back singles to Jerry Hairston, Jr and Melky Cabrera to lead off that inning.  Chan Ho Park came in and pitched to PH Jorge Posada who hit an RBI single for some insurance.  Luckilly after Derek Jeter struck out on a foul bunt for the first out, Scott Eyre got Johnny Damon out when he lined out into a double play.

caught: 5-0
missed: 3-3

MS/FB status: 1. “Fact of the day: even though the Phils were 1-5 when I went to a Phillie game this year, A.J. Burnett was the opposing pitcher in that 1 win.”
2. “RATS!! Phils lose! At least it is back to Philly where REAL BASEBALL is played (no stupid DH)”

No Yankee messes with Lee!

Well I finally got my wish of the New Jersey Turnpike World Series.  Since the Yankees beat the Angels in 6 games, the Yankees will face the Phillies in the World Series.  Funny thing is it is my old favorite team vs my new favorite team.

On April 16, the new Yankee Stadium held its first game against the Cleveland Indians.  Cliff Lee was the starting pitcher and he went 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 7 hits and walked 3.  He allowed the first ever HR in the new stadium to Jorge Posada.  With the game tied at 1 going into the top 7th, the Yanks pen was Mets-esque as they allowed 9 runs in the 7th and the Indians won 10-2.  They also won 22-4 2 days later which was highlighted by a 14 run 2nd inning (lol they scored more TDs in one inning than the Cleveland Browns did in 6 games last year).

Anyway, in Game 1 of the World Series, Lee went the distance and allowed 1 run on 6 hits, no walks and struck out 10.  The only run he allowed came in the bottom 9th after Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon singled, Mark Teixeira hit an RBI groundout and Jeter scored on a error by Jimmy Rollins to score the lone run for the Yanks.

Also on April 16, CC Sabathia made his first start at the new Yankee Stadium too.  He went 5 2/3 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits, 5 walks and 4 strikeouts.  The only run he gave up came on a Kelly Shoppach double in the 4th inning.

In Game 1, Sabathia went 7 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 6.  The only 2 runs he allowed came on 2 HRs by Chase Utley in the 3rd and the 6th.  The Phillies would get 2 more runs in the 8th and 9th inning off the Yankees bullpen.

caught: 5-0
missed: 3-2

MS/FB status: “Thank you Cliff Lee for cleaning up this “news/live/ or whatever it is called nowadays feed” from 34000 posts about the Yanks”

7 combined HRs as Phils clinch NL championship

That is right, the Phils and Dodgers combined for 7 home runs in the NLCS clincher.  The Phillies hit 4 of them for 7 runs (Werth had 2, Victorino, and Feliz also homered).  For the Dodgers, Orlando Hudson, James Loney and Andre Ethier each hit a solo HR.  The Phillies offense chased ex-Phillie Vicente Padilla out of the game early.  He went 3+ innings and allowed 6 runs on 4 hits.  Werth hit a 3 run HR off Padilla and Feliz hit a solo HR to lead off the 2nd.  After a 1-2-3 3rd, he allowed a leadoff single to Werth who scored on Raul Ibanez’s RBI double.  The Dodgers pen was not that much better in the 4th, Ramon Troncoso got 2 Phils out but walked Carlos Ruiz and hit Jimmy Rollins to load the bases.  George Sherrill came on and hit Victorino with the bases loaded to score another run and make it 6-2 Phils.

Cole Hamels had a rough game.  He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and allowed all 3 Dodger HRs.  In the 1st, he got 2 quick outs but then had a long 8 pitch at bat with Andre Either who would then hit a HR.  Hamels would yield a leadoff HR in the following inning to James Loney.  After retiring the next 10 of 11 batters, he allowed a PH HR to Orlando Hudson, then Rafael Furcal hit a double which chased Hamels out from the game.

The Phils bullpen had a rough go in the 8th when Chan Ho Park allowed 2 back to back singles to Ronnie Belliard and Ethier to start.  Ryan Madson took over and walked Manny Ramirez to load the bases, then Matt Kemp singled in a run.  However, Madson retired the last 3 in order to prevent any more damage.

caught: 4-0
missed: 3-2

MS/FB status: “WOHOO!!!! THE PHILLIES ARE GOING TO THE WS FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR!! I HOPE THEY FACE THE YANKEES!!” (aka New Jersey Turnpike WS)

Slammin climatic comeback!

In the bottom of the 9th with the Phils down 4-3 against the Dodgers and were facing Jonathan Broxton.  Raul Ibanez led off with a groundout, then PH Matt Stairs walks.  Carlos Ruiz would then be hit with a pitch, then PH Greg Dobbs lined out to third.  With 2 outs and runners on first and second, Jimmy Rollins would then hit a double to RF which scored Bruntlett (PR for Stairs) and Ruiz to win the game!!

Anyway as for Joe Blanton, he went 6 innings and allowed 4 runs (1 unearned) on 6 hits and walked 2.  Blanton retired the first 9 batters in order he faced.  However, he allowed 4 straight Dodgers to reach base which allowed 2 runs to score.  In the following inning, Matt Kemp would hit a solo HR off Blanton.  Another run scored in the 6th when Casey Blake hit an RBI single to score an unearned run since Manny Ramirez reached on a Pedro Feliz throwing error.

As for the Phillies offense, Ryan Howard hit a 2 run HR in the 1st and Chase Utley had an RBI single in the 6th.

caught: 3-0
missed: 3-2

MS/FB status: “1 more!! BEAT LA BEAT LA!!”

Phils knock out Kuroda!

Sunday was bizzaro world for the Philadelphia sports teams (no, I will write about the Eagles in a separate post like usual).  The Eagles struggled against the hapless Raiders in Oakland and only came up with 3 lone field goals, while the ex-Los Angeles Coliseum Raiders D took care of the Eagles “tired” offense and won 13-9.

A couple reasons why the Eagles struggled offensively was because 1: the Eagles owed the Raiders one for upsetting the Bucs last year so the Eagles could make the playoffs and 2: the Eagles donated their offense to the Phillies to attempt to beat the ex-Los Angeles Coliseum Dodgers.

If you recall a long time ago when I did the series preview for an earlier Dodgers-Phillies series, I mentioned that Kuroda was super dominant against the Phillies.  However Sunday proved to be an abberation.  Kuroda could not get out of the 2nd inning and allowed 6 runs on 6 hits, no walks, and 1 strikeout.  He allowed 4 runs in the 1st inning when Ryan Howard hit a 2 run triple and then Jayson Werth followed with a 2 run HR.  He did not fare any better in the next inning when Carlos Ruiz doubled and Cliff Lee bunted him over to third.  Kuroda’s last batter Jimmy Rollins doubled in Ruiz.  Of the 6 hits Kuroda allowed, 4 of them were for extra bases.  The Phils scored another run in the 2nd, 2 more in the 5th, and 3 in the 9th when Shane Victorino hit a 3 run HR.

Cliff Lee was dominant once again.  He went 8 innings and allowed no runs on 3 hits and struck out 10.  He did not walk a batter.

Ironically, in Game 3 of the NLCS last year, Jamie Moyer had a similar line to Kuroda’s.  Moyer went 1 1/3 innings, and allowed 6 runs on 6 hits, but the difference was he struck out 2 Dodgers.  Another interesting thing was Moyer was facing Kuroda in that game.

caught: 3-0
missed: 2-2

MS/FB status: “Slammin blowout Phillies! Hey Eagles, you should have did that to the awful Raiders today, but I gusess we can’t have everything…”

Phils or Mets bullpen?

Sorry I’m posting this up late once again, and you can hate me and this blog all you want to, as long as you remember that it is my blog, my rules.  Anyway, Pedro Martinez was dominant through 7 innings against the Dodgers.  He pitched 7 shutout innings and allowed only 2 hits.  Ryan Howard brought in the Phillies only run with a solo HR off ex-Phillie Vincente Padilla in the 4th inning.

Then the trouble began in the 8th inning.  Ex-Dodger Chan Ho Park took over to start the inning (Pedro Martinez should have stayed in the game, imo since he only threw 87 pitches.)  Park allowed back to back singles by Casey Blake and Ronnie Belliard to start the 8th.  Russell (whatever is in the middle) Martin hit a ground ball to Pedro Feliz who threw to Utley to get Belliard out, but then Utley threw the ball wide which allowed Blake to score the tying run.  Scott Eyre took over to pitch to the PH lefty Jim Thome who singled to put runners on the corners with 1 out.  Ryan Madson was the next victim as he walked Rafael Furcal to load the bases but got Matt Kemp to strike out swinging.  J.A. Happ relieved Madson to pitch to the lefty Ethier with the bases loaded and would walk Ethier to score the go ahead run.  Chad Durbin pitched to Manny Ramirez who popped out to third.

The Phillies went down in order against Jonathan Broxton.

caught: 2-0
missed: 2-2

MS/FB status: “smh, 5 pitchers in 1 inning– is this the Phils bullpen or the Mets bullpen?”

Phils take Yankees Red Sox-esque Game 1

Both Clayton Kershaw and Cole Hamels were crisp through the first 4 innings when the Dodgers were up 1-0 on a James Loney solo HR.  Kershaw had a rough 5th when he allowed a leadoff single to Raul Ibanez, then walked Pedro Feliz before Carlos Ruiz hit a 3 run HR.  Kershaw would then walk Hamels on 4 pitches, but then he got the next 2 batters out.  He would walk Chase Utley then Ryan Howard hit a 2 run double to extend the lead to 5-1 and to take Kershaw out the game.

In the bottom 5th, Hamels allowed a leadoff double to Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin (say that 5 times fast).  After striking out Orlando Hudson, Rafael Furcal got on base with a single.  Andre Either hit an RBI groundout to score Martin, but it should have been an 6-4-3 inning ending double play, but Utley made a throwing error.  Manny Ramirez would then hit a 2 run HR to pull the Dodgers within 1 run.

In the next inning, Hamels only retired Casey Blake on a foul pop out to leadoff the inning.  James Loney and Ronnie Belliard both singled.  Chad Durbin got Russell Martin to lineout and J.A. Happ took over and walked PH ex-White Sox and Phillie Jim Thome.  He got out of the bases loaded jam by getting Rafael Furcal to ground out.  In the 7th, Antonio Bastardo allowed a leadoff double to Andre Either and ex-Dodger Chan Ho Park did an excellent job stranding Either.  He got Manny Ramirez to ground out, Matt Kemp to strike out, and Casey Blake to ground out.

The leadoff double by Either was costly because the Phillies would answer back off George Sherrill.  He walked Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth before Raul Ibanez hit a 3 run HR to extend the Phillies lead to 8-4.  However, Ryan Madson made the game even closer in the bottom 8th.  He allowed the first 3 Dodgers James Loney, Ronnie Belliard, and Russell Martin to single which scored a run.  He got PH Juan Pierre to ground out and Rafael Furcal to hit a sac fly.  Either would then single to put runners on the corners, but Madson would then get Manny Ramierez to ground out.

Brad Lidge came on to get the save in the 9th, and he started off by getting Matt Kemp to single.  However, the momentum changed and the crowed got silent when Casey Blake hit into a HUGE double play.  James Loney walked and took 2nd base, but Lidge got Ronnie Belliard to pop out for the final out.

caught: 2-0
missed: 2-1

MS/FB status: “Yay! Phillies take game 1 in yet another postseason game which took longer than 4 hours (4:02)!”

Sorry Rockies, no game 5!

Cliff Lee was excellent once again in Game 4.  He went 7 1/3 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 unearned) on 5 hits, and walked 3.  The only earned run Lee allowed was a Troy Tulowitzki double which followed a walk by Todd Helton.  Ryan Madson had a rough 8th inning.  With runners on first and second with 1 out and the Phils up 2-1, Madson got Tulowitzki to fly out, but then allowed a RBI single to PH Jason Giambi and a 2 RBI double to postseason Phillie killer Yorvit Torrealba which put the Phils down in a 4-2 hole.  Since first base was open, Madson intentionally walked Seth Smith, then threw a wild pitch when Clint Barmes was at bat and the runners moved up to second and third.  Luckilly, Madson got Barmes to groundout to end the inning.

Besides solo HRs by Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth, Ubaldo Jimenez held the Phils in check through 7 innings.  He only allowed 6 hits and struck out 7.  Franklin Morales came on to pitch the 8th and allowed a leadoff walk to Chase Utley who stole second.  Next he struck out Ryan Howard, and then intentionally walked Jayson Werth to pitch to Raul Ibanez.  Morales walked Ibanez on 5 pitches, then Rafael Betancourt took over and got Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz out to end the inning.  That was a huge opportunity the Phillies wasted with a 2-1 lead to get some insurance because Ryan Madson allowed the 3 runs to score in the bottom of the 8th.

In the top 9th, Huston Street came on to get the save.  He started off by getting PH Greg Dobbs to strike out, then Jimmy Rollins singled.  Shane Victorino would reach base on a 4-6 ground out, then would advance to second.  Chase Utley walked (at one point of the Utley AB, Street had a 2-2 count on him and was 1 strike away from the Rockies winning).  After Utley’s walk, Ryan Howard hit a crowd silencing 2 run double to tie the game.  Jayson Werth hit a RBI single for the go ahead run and to give the Phils a 5-4 lead.

Scott Eyre came on in the bottom 9th to get the save since the Rockies had lefties in their lineup at that point.  Eyre got Eric Young, Jr. to ground out then Carlos Gonzalez singled.  Dexter Fowler flewout then Todd Helton singled.  Lidge came on to get Troy Tulowitzki and retired him on a swinging strikeout to silence the Rockies crowd and to get the Phillies to advance to the NLCS against the Dodgers.

caught: 2-0
missed: 1-1

MS/FB status: “YAY!! The Phillies advance to the NLCS and face the Dodgers in a rematch from last year!! GO PHILLIES!!”