The Philadelphia Phillies beat the LA Dodgers by a score of 5 - 1 to win the NLCS and earn their 6th National League pennant in their 126 years of existence.
Jimmy Rollins quieted the crowd right out of the gate by slamming a lead off homer to give the Phils the early lead and the early momentum.
The Phils extended their lead in the 3rd, when with one out, Jimmy Rollins singled and stole second. After a Jayson Werth strikeout and a Chase Utley walk, Rollins scored on a Ryan Howard basehit. Pat Burrell plated Chase Utley with a single of his own, giving the Phillies a 3 - 0 lead.
The Phils extended their lead in the top of the fifth. With Howard on 1st and Utley on 2nd with 1 out, Pat Burrell hit a nubber to Rafael Furcal. Furcal booted the ball, and Utley, seeing Furcal lose the ball, ran hard all the way around 3rd and came home safely to extend the Phillies lead to 4 - 0. Furcal was also charged with a throwing error in a vain attempt to throw out Utley at home, allowing Burrell and Howard to advance. The Phils were able to get Ryan Howard home on yet another Rafael Furcal throwing error with two outs to make it 5 - 0.
Cole Hamels, meanwhile, went 7 strong innings giving up 1 run and striking out 5. The only run he gave up was to (who else?) Manny Ramirez on a solo home run. Hamels turned it over to the bullpen, which meant Ryan Madson in the 8th inning and Brad Lidge to close matters out in the 9th.
Notes:
- Because David Boreanaz announced the Phils starting lineup for Fox, Channel 6 weatherman Dave Roberts, who is Boreanaz's father, got a shout out from announcer Joe Buck during the telecast.
- Good to see Scott Boras in the crowd last night. How does he hide his Satan horns and where does he keep his pitchfork?
- Great turn by Jimmy Rollins on that double play the Phils turned in the 5th inning.
- Tremendous running catch by Burrell on Ethier's drive in the bottom of the 6th. Did not think Burrell would come up with that ball.
- Why wasn't Russell Martin thrown out after vehemently arguing balls and strikes with the home plate? Loved the Fox replays of Martin slamming his equipment after the discussion. If Martin could hit with the same aplomb that he threw equipment around in this series, the Dodgers might still be in the series.
- Can't believe that Dodger fans cheered when they thought Victorino got hurt sliding back into first on a pickoff attempt late in the game. I've written it in comments over at 700level.com and I'll write it again: if that had happened in Philly, the announcers would have made a point to mention it and it would have been a much bigger deal. The stories about Dodger fans in this series have not been good ones.
- Great diving grab by Chase Utley on Furcal's shattered bat shot in the bottom of the 8th.
- Lidge gave us a couple of "moments" in the 9th; both "moments" disappeared into the glove of Shane Victorino, deep in center field.
- NLCS MVP: Cole Hamels.
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