Suspended Belief

The Phillies and Rays had their World Series game suspended after 5 1/2 innings with the score tied 2 - 2.

The Phils struck first early on the strength of a 2-run Shane Victorino single that drove home Jayson Werth and Chase Utley.

The Rays finally got to Phils starter Cole Hamels in the 4th inning on a Carlos Pena double and an Evan Longoria single.

The Phils, meanwhile, had Rays starter Scott Kazmir on the ropes during his 4 inning stay in the ballgame, but failed to put him away on a couple of occasions. Kazmir walked 6, but the Phils failed to come up with the big hit to break the game open.

The Rays tied the ballgame as the rains really began coming down. Carlos Pena drove in BJ Upton from 2nd, tying the game at 2, and, after Evan Longoria flied out, the umpires finally suspended play.

As of this writing, MLB is unsure as to when they'll start up play again, as the forecast tonite in Philly doesn't look much better than last night.

Notes:

- I've waited this long....I can wait a little longer.

- Went to Finnigan's Wake on Spring Garden to catch the game. The place was packed and the crowd was into the game. The crowd reaction to suspending the game ranged from drunken anger at stopping the game to drunken anger at NOT stopping the game before Carlos Pena drove in BJ Upton in the top of the 6th. Yeah, people were pretty hammered last night and ready to celebrate.

Rays Even Series with Phils

The Tampa Bay Rays held the Phillies offense in check last night en route to a 4 - 2 victory in Game 2 of the World Series. The Rays' victory evens the World Series at 1 game apiece as the Series heads to Philadelphia for the next 3 games.

The Rays jumped on the Phillies early in the first. Phils starter Brett Myers, in a continuing theme of having early game troubles, allowed the first two batters of the ballgame to reach base. Both of these batters ended up scoring on groundouts to give the Rays an early 2 - 0 advantage.

The Rays struck again in the 2nd inning, loading the bases with 2 outs for BJ Upton. Upton singled home Dioner Navarro, but fortunately for the Phils, RF Jayson Werth was able to gun down Rocco Baldelli at the plate to stop the bleeding and keep the score at 3 - 0.

The fourth Rays' run was scored on a safety squeeze whereby Jason Bartlett laid down a sacrifice and Cliff Floyd, on third after singling to lead off the inning, scored once determining the bunt was successful.

The Phils offense, meanwhile, continued to be stymied by a combination of bad luck and good pitching. Rays pitcher James Shields pitched well, but the Phils were able to run deep pitch counts on him. What the Phils were unable to do, however, was to get timely basehits to score runners. The Phils had leadoff baserunners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th inning while Shields was in the ballgame, but like Game 1, they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

The Phils did not score until the 8th inning when Eric Bruntlett, pinch hitting for DH Greg Dobbs, hit the first pitch he saw from David Price over the left field wall to give the Phils some hope. The Phils threatened again in the 9th, with Carlos Ruiz stroking a double to lead off the inning and coming home after Evan Longoria booted a Jayson Werth shot, allowing Ruiz to score from 2nd base. The threat died, however, after Chase Utley struck out swinging and Ryan Howard grounded out meekly to 2nd, ending the ballgame.

The series continues (maybe) on Saturday, with Jamie Moyer facing Matt Garza at 8:20pm.

Notes:

- The last time I was this frustrated as a fan watching my team play in a Championship game was when the Eagles were wasting time during Super Bowl 39 and not running a 2-minute offense. The Phillies were consistently getting men on base, but just could not break through. This game was there to be had; instead, the Phils now have a dog fight on their hands.

- I know the Phils wouldn't be in the World Series but for the pinch hitting skills of Greg Dobbs, but Dobbs embarrassed himself in his first two plate appearances last night. He struck out his first time up and never took the bat off of his shoulder. He struck out again in the 4th inning, taking feeble cuts all the while. Maybe a change of scenery to Citizen's Bank Ballpark will help Dobbs, but the fact is, the Phils' DHs in the first 2 games are a paltry 1 for 7 in the series.

- Phils batters left a combined 24 runners on base last night. Pedro Feliz left 6 runners on by himself last night.

- Chooch Ruiz was the only one who could seemingly find his bat last night, getting two doubles and walking twice. He also performed a text book block of home plate to enable the Phillies to get Rocco Baldelli at the plate in the 2nd inning.

- What in the hell was Jayson Werth doing in the 5th inning allowing himself to get doubled off of first base? Inexecusable.

- Jimmy Rollins is now 0 for 10 in the World Series. His reputation for coming up big in big spots is looking unearned in the first two games.

Phils Take Game 1

The Phillies took the initiative in Game 1 and took out the upstart Rays by a score of 3 - 2. They lead the World Series by a count of 1 game to none.

The Rays got their nose bloodied early in the first inning, when, with 1 out, Jayson Werth walked, bringing up Chase Utley. Utley took a 2-2 pitch from Scott Kazmir over the right field fence to give the Phillies a 2 - 0 lead.

The Phils added a third run in the 4th inning by virtue of a Carlos Ruiz ground out, scoring Shane Victorino from third.

The Rays, meanwhile, were stifled by Cole Hamels for the most past. Carl Crawford took Hamels deep to make the score 3 - 1 in the bottom of the fourth inning and Akinori Iwamura doubled home Jason Bartlett in the bottom of the fifth to draw within a run. Other than those two threats, however, the Rays didn't really make a lot of noise offensively. Hamels went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out 5.

The Phillies, meanwhile, seemed to allow Scott Kazmir to pitch in this game far longer than he had any right to. After taking a 2 run lead in the first, the Phils had lead off baserunners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th inning, but failed to get anyone home. The closest the Phils came to getting another run early was squandered in the bottom of the 2nd when Shane Victorino, on third because of an infield single, was thrown out at the plate by BJ Upton on a shallow Jimmy Rollins fly out.

Hamels gave way in the 8th inning to Ryan Madson, who pitched a scoreless 8th inning and later, to Brad Lidge, who closed out matters gaining his 6th save in the post-season.

The series continues tonite with Brett Myers facing James Shields.

Notes:

- Loved the attempted bunt by Chase Utley in the first. What is with that shift they are playing on Utley? I guarantee he will drop a bunt down the third base line in this series.

- No more Ryan Howard at first base. Please. I can't take it anymore. He. is. TERRIBLE in the field. DH him in the AL ballparks. Whatever. But no more.

- Howard also struck out 3 times and left 4 men on base.

- Jimmy Rollins. 0 for 5. Left 5 guys on base.

- While I'm on the topic, the Phillies batters were responsible for leaving 21 runners on base last night. This game should have been a laugher. Instead, it was a nailbiter that tested both my nerves and my liver.

- Shane Victorino really seemed to get under the Rays' skin on the basepaths.

- What was with the BJ Upton glare while at the plate in the 3rd inning? I particularly enjoyed his two GIDPs.

Picture: Yahoo.com(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Hey America.....Why Not Us?

I almost forgot how much fun it is to get to a championship round of one of the four major sports. Since the Phillies got into the World Series last week, it's amazing how much it's done for the morale of people who live in and around Philadelphia. Everyone is wearing red to work, people are a little nicer, the sun is shining just a little brighter.

The one interesting thing I've found so far? A vast majority of people outside of Philadelphia are rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays. Hell, a vast majority of the major media outlets (*cough*ESPN*cough) have (anecdotally) spent more time highlighting the Rays than they are the Phillies. This is remarkable, if only because the Phillies have the last 2 NL MVPs on their team and a third guy, Chase Utley, who is easily the best 2nd baseman in all of baseball. You would think this would make the Phillies the more prominently featured of the two teams, but this has not been the case.

Now, some of these people rooting against the Phillies are rooting against the Phils strictly for one reason: scheudenfreude. And believe me, I get that one. I spent the better parts of 10 years at a certain Wall Street firm and most of my co-workers were either Yankee fans and Mets fans. I would rather gargle a bottle of Pine Sol than to go through the 2000 Subway series again. That World Series featured two of the most annoying fanbases in all of sports bickering over who had the better team, the better stadium, everything. This was akin to watching the Two Corey's discuss who had the better movie career.

But some of you good people of America are rooting for the Rays strictly out of the good, altruistic reasons. If you fall into this category, you probably are rooting for the Rays because they have been perennial losers, they have interesting players, etc. I want to try to sell you on the idea that if you are rooting for Tampa based on these factors, that NO team deserves your rooting interest more than the Philadelphia Phillies.

1.) The Perennial Loser Factor. Are you aware that the Philadelphia Phillies franchise has more losses than any team in the history of professional sports in North America with over 10,000 losses? That's a mind boggling number of losses. When the Phillies registered their 10,000th loss, I compiled a lineup of Phillies who represented losing baseball to me since about 1977. Fact is, I probably could have compiled several lineups worth of really bad Phillies players going back to 1883.

You like the Rays because they have been perennial losers? Hell, from the perspective of a Phillies fan, the Rays are spoiled, having been to 1 World Series in their 10 year history. The Phillies have been around since 1883, and have been to only 6 of these things; that's one World Series every 21 years!

2.) Compelling Players. The youth and skill of BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, and Scott Kazmir have really drawn people to this team. Even guys who haven't even pitched 10 regular season innings like David Price are getting a ton of press leading up to the World Series.

Not to brag, but the Phillies have quite a few pretty good players on their team. As mentioned previously, the Phillies have the last two NL MVPs on their team in 1B Ryan Howard and SS Jimmy Rollins. If you never saw great left-handed sluggers like Willie Stargell or Willie McCovey hit, Ryan Howard is a worthy successor to that lineage. Jimmy Rollins has a style all of his own and a knack for coming through when the Phils need him most (see the leadoff homers he had in both clinching playoff games the Phillies have had this year as reference). Both Rollins and Howard are just short of 30 years old.

The Phillies also have a 3rd guy just short of 30 that could win the MVP any year now in 2B Chase Utley. People in Philadelphia already love Utley, but you may not know much about him. Check out this article as a primer on a guy many consider to be one of the best all-around players in the game.

And don't forget about the energy of CF Shane Victorino, the quiet confidence of young SP Cole Hamels, and skill and sagacity of 45 year old starting pitcher SP Jamie Moyer.

3.) Committed Fanbase. You don't need me to get into the attendance figures from Tampa's history from when they were bad. I'll simply use this year as an example.

The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays drew only 1.78 million people this year; well below the AL average of 2.46 million. Also to be considered in Tampa's attendance are the number of northern transplants from places like New York and Boston who go to the ballpark to see the Yankees and the Red Sox more than the Rays. And this was in a year when the Rays were good.

The Phillies fans, on the other hand, have been coming out in droves this year. The Phils drew 3.4 million fans this year; well above the NL average of 2.75 million people.

The point? If people in Tampa have barely cared about this team this year, why should you?

4.) Entertainment Factor Upon Victory. The city of Tampa had the Buccaneers, which won the Super Bowl in 2002. They have the Lightning, which won the Stanley Cup in 2004. Both of these championships were won by going through a Philadelphia sports team.

Tampa does not need another championship. Philadelphia NEEDS a championship much like a junkie needs their next fix. This much is well documented.

If the Phillies win this World Series, there is no telling what will happen in the city if they win. I'm not saying rioting or looting, but I'm sure they'll be enough jackassery that will occur and get posted on YouTube such that bloggers will be kept busy making fun of Philly fans for the next month.

And if the Phils win, and we get made fun of? Well, that'd be just fine.

Phillies Beat Dodgers; Advance to World Series!

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.

Shane, Stairs Power Phils

The Phightin' Phils came back from a two-run deficit late in Game 4 to come back and win by a score of 7 - 5. The win allowed the Phils to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the best-of-7 NLCS with the Dodgers.

The Phils came out of the gate quickly in the 1st inning, with Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth both getting on with singles. Then, Chase Utley dropped the bat head on a ball and drove a double down the right field line, scoring Rollins and putting Werth on 3rd. Werth came home on a Ryan Howard ground out to make the score 2 - 0, but the threat ended when Shane Victorino grounded into a double play.

Phils starter Joe Blanton gave one of runs back in the first, off of a James Loney double, which scored Rafael Furcal, making the score 2 - 1.

The game coasted along until the 5th inning, when Phils starter Joe Blanton put the first two men on base and gave up an RBI single to Manny Ramirez, tying the score at 2. A Russell Martin ground out gave the Dodgers a 3 - 2 lead. Blanton got out of the jam by inducing Blake DeWitt into a double play.

The Phils fought back in the top of the 6th, putting men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but could only get Ryan Howard home on a Chan Ho Park wild pitch, tying the game at 3. Only a great play by Andre Ethier out in right field kept the game tied at 3, as he made a sliding catch on a So Taguchi blooper.

The tie was short-lived, however, as Casey Blake greeted Chad Durbin in the bottom of the 6th inning by going deep to break the tie and give the Dodgers a 4 - 3 lead. The Phils coughed up another run on a Ryan Howard throwing error when the Dodgers were trying to give the Phillies an out on a sacrifice. The thowing error allowed Juan Pierre came around to score to make it 5 - 3 Dodgers. Ryan Madson was able to stop the bleeding, when he induced Russell Martin to line out to Chase Utley, who deftly dove to second base to double the runner off of second base.

The 8th inning saw the Fightin' Phils pound their way back from a deficit. After a Ryan Howard single and a Pat Burrell pop out, Shane Victorino hit Cory Wade's first offering over the right field wall for a 2-run shot to tie the game at 5. Then, after a Carlos Ruiz single, pinch hitter Matt Stairs hit an absolute titantic shot out to right field off of reliever Jonathan Broxton to put the Phils up 7 - 5.

The back-end of the Phillies bullpen took over from there. JC Romero got Andre Ethier to ground into a double-play setting the stage for Brad Lidge to record his first 4-out save as a Phil.

The series continues tomorrow night, with Cole Hamels facing Chad Billingsly at 8:22 pm.

Notes:

- Another big, tough Dodger threw a temper tantrum in the dugout; this time, it was Derek Lowe after he gave up 2 runs in the first.

- Phils put Manny on first base in the 1st inning....I'm actually OK with it, as long as they are confident they can get Russell Martin out on a regular basis. Especially with the crazy numbers Manny has against Blanton. Ramirez hits at a .560 clip in 25 career at-bats against Blanton.

- For what it's worth, both Manny Ramirez and Hiroki Kuroda got fined a nominal amount of money for last night's stupidity.

- Jimmy Rollins has to come up with that ball in the 2nd inning off of Derek Lowe.

- Ryan Howard's defensive woes continue.

- The Shane Victorino homer underscored the stupidity of having Victorino bunt the runners over in the 6th inning. Yeah, Howard came around to score in that inning, but could Victorino have done more damage?

- Utley went 3 for 5 with an RBI....Phils could use the April and May version of Utley right now.

- Matt Stairs is a Philadelphia folk hero if the Phils hold on in this series.

- Notice Shane Victorino glaring menacingly at the Dodgers from his dugout after the homerun? Big hits like the one Victorino got should be how you make a team pay for throwing at your head.

Phils Thumped by Dodgers

The Phils dropped Game 3 to a highly motivated Dodgers team by a score of 7 - 2. Even with the loss, the Phillies are still up in the NLCS 2 games to 1, with Game 4 this evening.

Phils starter Jamie Moyer did not come out and have the kind of 1st inning the Phillies were looking for. Moyer gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and generally did not look sharp. Even as semi-interested in sports as an LA crowd can be, even that crowd was cheering pretty wildly and giving the Dodgers the boost they needed.

The Phils were able to respond in the top of the 2nd, with Pedro Feliz delivering an RBI single, scoring Ryan Howard, who had doubled and advanced on a Jayson Werth fly out.

Moyer was pulled, however, in the 2nd inning after giving up a home run to Rafael Furcal. He was relieved by Clay Condrey, who, while pitching to Russell Martin, threw one high and tight during an at-bat that Martin ultimately grounded into a double play on. Martin, furious because he had been hit (weakly) by Jamie Moyer in the first inning, threw a hissy fit in the dugout.

Upsetting the catcher virtually guarenteed a Phillie would be thrown at the next inning and sure enough, Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda threw over Shane Victorino's head in the next inning. Victorino eventually grounded out during the at-bat, but after Victorino exchanged words with Kuroda, the benches emptied. Most of the pointing and shouting was done by the coaching staffs, but it was funny to watch Manny Ramirez attempt to push through a crowd to get at a Phillie.

After the "gathering" in the middle of the field, the game settled in, with the Phillies batters seemingly doing everything possible to make Hiroki Kuroda's life much easier by swinging at bad pitches and not working the count. When Kuroda departed in the 7th inning, it was after throwing only 84 pitches.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, managed to tack on a 7th run off of JA Happ in the 4th inning, who came on and pitched pretty well in 3 innings of relief, all things considered.

The Phils did manage to scratch out a second run in the 7th inning, when Chase Utley led off with a double and was eventually chased home on a single from Pat Burrell to make the score 7 - 2.

The series continues tonight with Derek Lowe pitching on short rest against Joe Blanton.

Notes:

- The entire notion that the Dodgers somehow needed to get "revenge" against the Phillies by throwing at Victorino's head was just ridiculous on every level. Even if Myers was throwing at Ramirez in Game 2, did anyone associated with the Dodgers stop to think that it was maybe because Ramirez sat there and preened after he hit that long double against Hamels in game 1? Most players actually do get thrown at for that sort of thing, but Ramirez is consistently allowed to get away with it.

And I don't care what anyone says or how they couch it; Russell Martin embarassed himself with his behavior last night. He got hit on the knee by a guy who was obviously wild in Jamie Moyer. Furthermore, Moyer hit him with a breaking ball and Moyer couldn't break a pane of glass with his stuff even in his younger days. For Martin to pout like he did after getting pitched up and in was a joke.

The fact that the Dodgers seem to think that every inside pitch is an attempt to hit them is in the Phillies favor as it is obviously in the Dodgers' heads. The Phils need to keep pounding the inner half of the plate.

- Could someone let Jimmy Rollins know the NLCS has begun?

Phils Take Game 2

Brett Myers: Dangerous Offensive Weapon?

That might be exactly how we need to start thinking about Myers. Amazingly, he was the Phillies' best offensive weapon last night in the Phillies' 8 - 5 triumph over the LA Dodgers. The Phillies lead the best of 7 series 2 games to none, with the series shifting back to Los Angeles.

It all started with Myers in the second inning, where, with the game tied 1 - 1, Myers stroked a single with 2 outs, scoring Chooch Ruiz from second base to put the Phillies ahead 2 - 1. Myers would eventually come around to score in that inning courtesy of a Shane Victorino 2-run single.

Myers did it again in the 3rd inning; this time with 1 out and the bases loaded. With the Dodger infield in a bit at the corners, Myers laced a single down the right field line, scoring 2 runners and putting the Phillies out in front by a score of 6 - 2. Victorino eventually drove in Myers (and Ruiz) with a 2-run triple making the score 8 - 2.

In terms of his pitching, the best that could be said of Myers was that he hung in there for 5 innings. He had an interesting moment in the first inning, when a ball "slipped" out of Myers' hand giving the appearance that he was throwing at Manny Ramirez. Ramirez eventually got payback for the pitch in the 4th inning, hitting a liner out to left that landed in the flower box, cutting the Phillies lead to 8 - 5.

After the 4th inning, both teams' bullpens took over and Brad Lidge closed out the game for the Phillies.

There was a moment in the 7th inning, where every Phillies fan's heart skipped several beats. With two on and two out in the 7th, Casey Blake sent a drive to deep center field (roughly the same part of the park where Manny hit his double in Game 1)) that sent Shane Victorino feeling his way towards the fence and warning track before he finally made a leaping catch in front of the wall to preserve the lead.

The series picks up again tomorrow night, with Jamie Moyer facing Hiroki Kuroda at 8:22pm EST.

Notes:

- Myers is the story of the game, but Shane Victorino was amazingly clutch both at the plate and in the field. Shane went 2 - 5 with 4 RBI.

- Chase Utley was 0 for 1 with 4 walks.

- Pat Burrell's night was a bit rough....1 for 4, with 3 Ks and 4 men LOB.

- Interesting reference today in the LA Times from TJ Simers....he mentions towards the end of the piece that the local Philly fans might "burn the place down" if the Phils win the World Series. I guess if anyone would know if a local populace might riot, it would be a writer from Los Angeles.

- By the way; if Manny Ramirez had entertained thoughts of rushing the mound after Myers' "mistake" pitch in the first inning, he was smart to reconsider those thoughts considering Myers' amateur boxing experience.

Phils Take Lead in NLCS

Chase Utley and Pat Burrell both hit homers and Cole Hamels went 7 strong innings as the Phillies beat the Dodgers last night in Game 1 of the NLCS. The win gives the Phils a 1 - 0 series lead, with the NLCS continuing this afternoon with a Happy Hour starting time.

Hamels struggled a little bit in the early going of this game, giving up consecutive doubles in the first inning to Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez to give the Dodgers a 1 - 0. The Dodgers extended the lead to 2 - 0 in the 4th inning, off a double from Matt Kemp, who was eventually advanced and chased home on a sacrifice fly from Blake DeWitt.

Offensively, the Phillies struggled mightily to do anything with Derek Lowe in the early going. The made some noise in the bottom of the 5th, getting two out singles from Chooch Ruiz and Cole Hamels, before Jimmy Rollins flied out to end the inning. That set the stage for a 6th inning of fireworks from two of the Phillies big guns.

Shane Victorino led off the inning by getting on base via a Rafael Furcal throwing error. Chase Utley then hit the first pitch of his at bat into the first couple of rows in right field, evening the score at 2. Utley's homer revived the home crowd, who was put to sleep by the Phillies pounding the ball into the infield for the better part of 5 innings. The Phillies eventually took the lead in the 6th inning, when Pat Burrell took a 3 - 1 pitch out of the yard to left in what could be charitably described as a flower box shot.

Hamels, meanwhile, got through the 7th inning by striking out two of the three batters he faced and that ended his evening with 8 strikeouts and 2 runs allowed. Ryan Madson pitched the 8th inning and Brad Lidge closed matters with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

As mentioned earlier, the Phils and Dodgers play again today at Happy Hour (4:35pm) with Brett Myers facing Chad Billingsly.

Notes:

- Like you, I thought Manny Ramirez's double in the first inning was out of the park from the bat. Apparently, so did Manny. If he had run that ball out, it would have possibly been a triple and he might have scored on the passed ball incurred by Chooch Ruiz in the first inning.

- TJ Simers is trying his best to take shots at us in his columns of late (today's offering is here). And for the record, I'd much rather live in a passionate and substantive city like "Angryville" than the shallow and fake "Fairweatherville" that is the city of Los Angeles.

- Good offering in yesterday's USA Today on some of the previous playoff clashes between the Dodgers and Phillies. The symmetry of Davy Lopes and Larry Bowa's careers is something I touched on here in the beginning of the season.

2008 Phillies: Why Not Us?

As we focus on MLB's final four teams, I feel sort of lucky that a second of my four favorite sports teams were able to make it to their sports final four participants (the Flyers being the other). If your team is out of the hunt for the World Series right now, I think I can break it down for you and let you know why you should most assuredly be rooting for the Phillies.

1.) The Other 3 Cities Have Recently Won Stuff. Think about it.

Tampa won a Super Bowl after the 2002 season and they won the 2004 Stanley Cup. And by the way: they won both of those championships by going through a Philadelphia team. Besides, no one in Tampa gives a damn about sports when their team isn't good. Do I have to remind you there is no income tax in Florida?

LA? They had the Shaq and Kobe years, which like, just happened 5 minutes ago. And LA has all the hot actresses you can gape at in addition to beautiful weather. Not worthy.

And do you really need me to get into it about Boston???

Trust me, Philly needs this championship more than Wall Street needs more cheap loans.

2.) The way the team was built. I wish I could say it was by design that the Phillies are in contention. The previous GM did not really have a plan for the Phils, but the Phils were built through the draft (5 of their starting 8 were Phillies draft products), sound free agent acquisitions (namely, Jayson Werth and Chad Durbin), and shrewd trades (getting Jamie Moyer from the M's, Brad Lidge from the 'Stros). Furthermore, there are no Alex Rodgriguez-like salaries on this team.

It's funny, but the Tampa Bay Rays are often lauded for having developed their own talent, but you could make this same case for the Phils. Where would the Phils be without Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Ryan Madson, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brett Myers, and Shane Victorino (Rule 5 draftee)? All of those players were drafted by the Phils and figure prominently in their success.

3.) The Phillies players are really a likable group. Hate on the fans all you want, but these Phillies players are a great group.

Rollins may have called out the fans earlier this year, but he comes up big on the bigger stages and does everything with style. Shane Victorino is such a ball of energy, that the manager needs to remind him to tone it DOWN once in awhile. What is not to like about the short, crisp swing of Chase Utley? And the Big Man, Ryan Howard.....outside of Albert Pujols, he is as powerful a hitter as there is in baseball. Who wouldn't want to sit and have a beer with Pat Burrell as he tells you how he REALLY feels about Billy Wagner?

And don't forget about Brad Lidge, coming back from the baseball dead, Jayson Werth overcoming years of injury problems to realize his potential, and our ace in the making, Cole Hamels.

We may boo, cajole, complain, and catcall on occasion, but Phillies fans genuinely like this team.

So feel free to hop on the bandwagon, America*. Beers at McFadden's are on me**.

* Note: Offer does not apply to Mets fans.
** Note: I really can't afford to buy America beer.

Deep Thoughts on the Phils' Game 2 Win

Couldn't get a post done earlier this AM, as my boss did the one thing I will never do myself as a boss: call an 8AM meeting. What's worse, is that he called the meeting and was 15 minutes late. After that meeting, I was caught up all AM in other people's drama. God, I hate work.



Some Thoughts on the Phils and the NLDS series so far....

- So far, so good for the Fightins. If I had a criticism offensively, so far, is that they have only scored in two innings of this series so far. It just so happens that when they scored in those innings, the aggregation of runs was such that it rattled the Milwaukee starter and whomever the Phils were starting made that big inning stand up.

What I am getting at here, is that it would be nice once the Phils got into the other team's bullpen that they would actually score some runs when they got baserunners. They seem unable to put the kill shot to Milwaukee when they get men on base. I am hoping that this is a function of a good Milwaukee bullpen and not some weird state we are getting into with this Phillies lineup.

- Thank you, Brad Lidge, for not killing me in game 2 the way you killed me in game 1. If I was anywhere near a bar, reputable or otherwise, watching game 1, I would have gotten hammered just during Lidge's ninth inning, let alone from the previous 8 innings of play. He threw only 12 pitches last night, and should certainly be available on Saturday.

- Brett Myers' ABs in Game 2 of this series will go down in Phillies lore as two of the greatest ABs to not produce a hit. What they succeeded in doing is making CC Sabathia, pitching on 3 days rest for seemingly the last three months, work much harder on what should have been automatic outs. Myers worked a 9-pitch walk that kept the Phillies big inning going in the 2nd inning and later, in the 4th inning, made Sabathia throw 10 pitches before eventually flying out to center. The 19 pitches Sabathia threw to Myers represent almost 20% of the pitches Sabathia threw for his 3 2/3 innings he could stay in the game. Sure, Shane Victorino was the offensive star of the game for his grand slam, but don't overlook Myers.

- Was it me, or do the Brewers just not look comfortable trying to be patient (passive?) at the plate? They look like they're going up against pitchers like Myers and Lidge with a game plan of being patient, but they looked slow once Myers and Lidge eventually started pounding the strike zone instead of nibbling around.

- Chase Utley did not look good at the plate yesterday and neither did Ryan Howard. They struck out a combined 6 times and collectively left 6 runners on base.

Hamels Hurls Gem; Phils Win Game 1

The Phillies, behind the dominant pitching of Cole Hamels, took game one of the 2008 NLDS by a score of 3 - 1. They lead the best-of-5 series 1 -0 and the victory marked the first post-season victory by the Phillies franchise since the 1993 World Series.

On a windy and rainy day in South Philly, Cole Hamels was positively dominant. In his second ever post-season start, Hamels did not give up a basehit or a baserunner until the 5th inning. He only gave up two hits in all during his 8 innings of work and also struck out 9.

The Phils scored their only runs of the game during a weird 3rd inning that started with a Carlos Ruiz single. Cole Hamels successfully attempted a sacrifice to move Ruiz over, but the Brewer covering 1st base (Ricky Weeks) failed to secure the ball to force Hamels, giving the Phils two men on and no one out. After Rollins flew out and Werth struck out, Chase Utley hit a ball in the left centerfield gap that Mike Cameron appeared to get leather on, but could not control. The ball fell on the outfield grass as two Phils scored and Utley stood on second base. Brewers starter Yovanni Gollardo then proceeded to intentionally walk Ryan Howard, and then walked two more batters to give the Phils their 3rd run.

Hamels was lifted after the 8th inning and Brad Lidge provided yet another eventful save, giving up a run on two hits, but he also struck out the side to preserve the victory.

The series continues today at 6pm, with Brett Myers facing CC Sabathia.

Notes:

- When did Brad Lidge turn into Mitch Williams? Did I miss the memo? And since he threw 35 pitches, is there anyway that Lidge is available today? I can't see it.

- If Utley had kept his feet when receiving the relay throw from Jayson Werth in the 9th inning, Ray Durham either stays at 3rd or gets cut down at the plate. As it was, when Utley did lose his feet and Durham broke for 3rd, a decent throw might have gotten Durham.

- Speaking of Utley, he made a great play on Tony Gwynn Jr's attempted bunt in the 8th inning.

- Pedro Feliz left 6 men on base in going 0 for 4. He'll probably play again today, with lefty Sabathia on the mound.

- The Brewers practically emptied their bullpen yesterday after Gallardo could only go 4 innings; they better hope Sabathia eats some innings today.

Photo: Yahoo.com ((Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images))

Quick Weekend Review

If there has been a weekend where there was more to see than this past weekend, I can't think of when that weekend took place. For now, this is just a quick overview of the weekend's events, but I'll do a deeper dive on each of the biggies as it pertains to the Philly sports scene.

The Phillies. Wow. Don't make it easy on us or anything. When Lidge was on the mound over the weekend, doing his best Mitch Williams impersonation, I thought for sure I was witnessing a meltdown. Jimmy Rollins' sprawling effort to gain control of a grounder up the middle and his flip to Utley, who turned a game ending double play was as big of a defensive play as you'll see.

The Phils clinched their second consecutive NL East division championship and have earned themselves an NLDS series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who made the wildcard, after battling the choking Metropolitans of New York.

The Eagles. Great game last night, but in losing to the Bears, they definitely left a win out on the field. David Akers can seemingly no longer be counted on over 40 yards out and the red zone woes of last season returned for another night.

The Flyers. Went to the last Spectrum game on Saturday and saw the ceremony. I have some pictures to post when I get around to writing about it. The Flyers did a tremendous job and it was nice to see Bobby Clarke get a nice standing ovation after the way his tenure as GM ended. It would have been nice to see Eric Lindros make it to the ceremony (he was invited), but he had another engagement to attend to, but he did apparently record a video that I'm trying to get a hold of to post.

Penn State. Ranked No. 6 in the country and are especially being viewed differently after USC lost to Oregon State. The Big 10 is theirs to lose right now, if they can survive road trips to Columbus and Madison.

Phils Drop Series to Braves; Mets Lose too

This Phillies team does not want to make it easy on themselves or their fans.

The Phils dropped the rubber match of their final 3 game set with their personal whipping boys, the Atlanta Braves, by a score of 10 - 4. But because the Mets lost to the Cubs last night, the Phils' magic number managed to get down to 3.

It was obvious from the first inning that starter Brett Myers did not have his best stuff. He gave up 2 early runs and struggled with the location of his fastball through his entire time on the mound. He did not make it through the 5th inning, and ultimately, he was charged with 6 runs, 2 of which were not earned because of a throwing error by....wait for it.....Ryan Howard.

The bullpen was not of much help last night either. Chad Durbin was only able to get one out last night and Scott Eyre came in and gave up a 3-run bomb to Chipper Jones.

Offensively, the Phils hung in the ballgame until that fateful fifth inning. They got on the board after being down 2 - 0 on a Pedro Feliz RBI single. Down 3 - 1, the Phils got solo homers from Chase Utley in the 3rd inning and Ryan Howard in the 4th inning to even the score at 3. The Phils got an excuse-me run late in the game, when Pat Burrell scored from 3rd on a passed ball.

The Phils have an off day today to think about how they are driving the entire Delaware Valley to drink and start with their last series of the year against the Washington Nationals.

Pitching Matchups:

Friday: Joe Blanton vs. John Lannan
Saturday: Jamie Moyer vs. Odalis Perez
Sunday: Cole Hamels vs. Shairon Martis (hopefully, they don't need to win this game and they can rest Hamels)

Notes:

- Anyone hear that in-game interview with Davey Lopes? Tom McCarthy, Sarge, and Davey Lopes were talking about Shane Victorino's outfield defense and Lopes intimated that the Phils would bring in a centerfielder in the offseason and move Victorino to right field and Jayson Werth to left field. You might recall that Pat Burrell is the current left fielder and a free agent at year's end. Did Lopes just tip the Phillies hand for this offseason last night or was he just speculating?

- There was a gathering of players late in the ballgame in the 8th inning, when Shane Victorino was leading off of 3rd and, because of a defensive shift, no one was holding Victorino on. Braves reliever Julian Tavarez, obviously not bright, decided with a 6 run lead, to chase Victorino back to third base himself. Victorino said something to Taverez (probably questioning his intelligence in that situation) and the benches cleared and players milled about for a few minutes before order was restored. Despite his diminutive stature, doesn't Victorino strike you as one of those little guys you just wouldn't really want to eff with?

Photo: Yahoo.com....(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Phils Magic Number at 4

Phils rookie JA Happ pitched another fantastic game and Pat Burrell provided late inning fireworks, as the Phils beat the Braves by a score of 6 - 2. Since the Mets lost (again) last night, the Phils now own a 2 1/2 game lead in the NL East with 5 games left in their regular season (the Mets have 6 games left).

JA Happ pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up only 2 runs, with the big blow being a Kelly Johnson homer. If you watched the game, it was apparent that Happ was going to have a tough inning. After putting 2 men on in the fifth, but wriggling out of trouble, Happ walked Martin Prado on 4 straight pitches. The next batter, Kelly Johnson, crushed a ball to right field, tying the score at 2. Happ went on to allow one more basehit to Jeff Francoeur before getting Casey Kotchman to fly out to deep right field on a ball that made me glad the athletic Jayson Werth was in right. Werth had to track the ball to the wall and did a little half leap, having a sort of controlled collision with the right field wall while making the catch.

Offensively, the Phils busted the game open in the 8th inning. Leading 3 - 2, Pat Burrell sent a 3 - 1 pitch over the left field wall for a 3-run homer, giving the Phillies the final margin of victory.

The series with the Braves continues tonite, with Cole Hamels facing Jo-Jo Reyes. As a side note, Johan Santana is going tonite for the Mets against the Cubs.

Notes:

- Chase Utley collected his 100th RBI last night. After watching him in April and May, I would have never guessed it would have taken him this long to get to this point.

- Scott Eyre collected his 5th win last night coming on in relief. It was his 3rd win since he arrived from Chicago on August 7th.

Phils Happ-y to be in 1st

The Phils, behind early offense and the starting pitching of JA Happ, beat the Braves by a score of 6 - 1. The win allows the Phils to remain in first place in NL East, as the Mets also won (albeit they made it interesting on their fans, winning 9 - 7 over the Nationals).

The Phils jumped on a wild Jair Jurrjens early, scoring 4 runs in the 1st inning on run scoring singles from Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz. Jayson Werth scored on a stolen base, and a throwing error from catcher Brian McCann.

Phils starter JA Happ, substituting for an ineffective Kyle Kendrick, made those 4 runs stand up, pitching 6 strong innings. He gave up only 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. All in all, a performance that should at least earn Happ one more start.

The bullpen held down the fort the rest of the way, and the Phils tacked on a couple of excuse me runs late, in the form of a Matt Stairs PH home run and a Pedro Feliz RBI single to round out the scoring.

The series concludes tonight with Cole Hamels going against Mike Hampton.

Notes:

- Shane Victorino just wears the Braves out. He was 3 for 4 last night, and for the year, he's hitting .339, with 6 steals, and an OPS of 1.010.

- And by the way, Victorino was safe on that infield single he beat out in the 6th inning after taking a ball off of his thumb while at the plate. The ump got that one right, IMO.

- Has anyone heard Chris Wheeler mention that the Phillies don't have a lot of speed in their lineup? He's said this before, and I don't understand why he says it. Victorino, Rollins, Utley, and Jayson Werth can all run really well. The stolen base figures:

Rollins 43
Victorino 33
Werth 18
Utley 12

Three of these 4 players play "up the middle" and the fourth is a corner outfielder. Has anyone heard why Wheeler thinks the Phillies don't have a lot of speed? I'm not saying they are the '85 Cardinals, but they have as much speed as anyone and probably use it better than anyone, thanks to Davey Lopes' tutelage.

Photo: Yahoo.com...... REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES)

Howard Hauls Phils into Phirst

Ryan Howard is seemingly dragging this team on his back offensively right now.

Trailing by a score of 7 - 4, Howard hit a triple to knock in a run in the 6th inning and hit a 2-run bomb in the 7th inning to lead the Phillies to an 8 - 7 win. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Nats, pushed the Phils into first place in NL East by a 1/2 game.

Starting pitcher Jamie Moyer struggled to get through 5 2/3 innings. Moyer lacked command on his pitches; most notably in the 3rd inning, where he hit one batter, walked another, and generally ran some deep counts en route to giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in the inning. He settled down in the 4th and 5th inning, but had problems in the 6th inning that he was unable to overcome when he loaded the bases on a couple of walks and a single. Chad Durbin was of little help, in allowing Moyer's inherited runners to score and giving up a run of his own.

In addition to Howard's heroics, Jayson Werth continued his amazing season by going 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Werth hit his 23rd homer in the 3rd inning to give the Phils what was, at the time, a 3 - 0 lead. Shane Victorino (single), Chase Utley (double), and Carlos Ruiz (homer) also knocked in runs for the Phils.

The series continues tonite, with JA Happ taking Kyle Kendrick's spot in the rotation against the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.

Notes:

- Rollins dropped a throw from Carlos Ruiz in the 3rd when the Phillies had Josh Anderson dead to rights at second base. Anderson, naturally, went on to score.

- Speaking of that 3rd inning, the Phillies seemingly had about 10 mound conferences. It was obvious that Moyer did not have his best junk last night.

- In the month of September to date, Ryan Howard is hitting .354 and slugging an astounding .917. And yes, he continues to lead the NL in both HR and RBI.

- Pat Burrell....0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts. Should. Be. Platooned.

Phils Sweep Brewers

The Phillies swept a day-night doubleheader from the Brewers yesterday and in doing so, moved into a tie for the Wildcard lead with the Brewers. Additionally, the Mets ended up losing to the Braves yesterday, which means the Phils are now 1 game back of the Mets for the lead in NL East.

Game 1 of the doubleheader saw the Brewers jump out to an early 2 - 0 lead on Phillies starter Joe Blanton in the first inning. Blanton did manage to settle down and allowed only 3 runs over 7 innings of work.

The Phillies overcame a 3 - 1 deficit when, the sixth inning, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run homer to tie the game. They went on to take the lead for good in the 8th inning on a Pat Burrell single and a Shane Victorino 3-run homer to make score 7 - 3, which the bullpen made stand up.

Game 2 was the Brett Myers show. Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter was (rightfully) the top baseball story yesterday, but Brett Myers pitched pretty well in his own right. Myers gave up only two hits en route to a 6 - 1 complete game to finish the series and doubleheader sweep of the Brewers.

Offensively, the Phillies jumped on the Brewers early, scoring 1 in the 1st and 3 in the 2nd inning. One of the run scoring hits was by Brett Myers himself, who singled to score Pat Burrell.

Jimmy Rollins was on base in all 5 plate appearances in this game, going 2 for 2, with a single, double and 2 walks. Shane Victorino also contributed 4 hits and Pat Burrell hit his 31st homer of the year.

The Phils now go on to play the Atlanta Braves in a series that starts on Tuesday.

Notes:

- Chase Utley was hit (again) with a pitched ball in game 1, making it 26 on the year. This needs to be addressed next year.

- Jimmy Rollins was caught stealing in game 2 for only the 3rd time all year.

Phils Chug Brew; Gain Ground

The Phillies jumped on the Brewers early and captured a 7 - 3 win in front of 45,000 folks at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Braves, puts the Phils 2 1/2 games behind the Mets in NL East and only 2 games behind the Brewers in the Wild Card race.

The Phils wasted little time in this one, sprinting out to a 3 - 0 lead in the first inning on the strength of run-scoring hits by Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, and Shane Victorino. They struck again in the 2nd inning on a Ryan Howard 2-run single, giving Cole Hamels an early 5 - 0 lead.

Cole Hamels, while not dominant, pitched more than well enough. He had baserunners on in every inning but the 2nd and the 6th, but managed to strand most of the men he put on base. The 2 runs he did give were ultimately preventable, in that the ball that Jason Kendall hit to left to score the first 2 Brewer runs should have been caught by Pat Burrell. Burrell misjudged the fly ball, took a bad angle, and allowed the ball to get over his head.

Hamels ultimately gave way to the bullpen in the 7th inning.

Offensively, the Phillies were led by their catalyst, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, in addition to getting on base and scoring in both the 1st and 2nd inning, hit a 2-run homer to put the game out of reach in the 6th inning, when it looked like Hamels was tiring a little and the Brewers seemed to be getting a little frisky. Chase Utley also went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

As a result of Friday's rainout, the Phils and Brewers will play a day-night doubleheader. For the Phils, it's their second Sunday in a row playing a doubleheader and for a Philly fan, it's just as well as the Eagles don't play till tomorrow night anyway.

Pitching matchups:

Day game: Joe Blanton vs. Dave Bush
Night game: Brett Myers vs. Jeff Suppan

Notes:

- I was critical of Cole Hamels when he lost that game against the Mets on 3 days rest; this game is probably the biggest game that Hamels has won in his young career. Contrary to what I read in some outlets describing Hamels as "sharp", I would contend that Hamels can pitch much better. All in all, though, the outing was a positive step in Hamels' development as a big game pitcher.

- With Pat Burrell's struggles, there is no way he should be batting 5th as he did yesterday. Right now, I'd put him no higher than 6th. I'd even rather see Pedro Feliz or Victorino batting 5th right now. Burrell and Ruiz were the only starters to not get basehits yesterday.

Photo from Yahoo.com....REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)

Phils Drop Series to Nats

The Phillies, allegedly girding themselves for a run at the NL East lead, dropped a series they easily could have won last night by losing to the Nationals by a score of 9 - 7.

The game got off to a good start, with the Phils posting 2 runs in the top of the first on a home run from Ryan Howard. But starter Joe Blanton, who only lasted 4 innings last night, gave those 2 runs back in addition to 2 more runs before giving way to Ryan Madson and bullpen in the fifth inning.

The bullpen, led by Chad Durbin, has been one of the most reliable parts of the Phillies this season. Not last night. Durbin came in during the 7th inning and gave up a bomb to straightaway centerfield to Ryan Zimmerman. He combined with JC Romero to give up more runs in the 8th inning allowing the Nats to salt the game away, despite the Phils scoring 2 in the top of the ninth.

Offensively, the Phils were led by Ryan Howard's 2 homers and Chase Utley's 2 RBI.

The Phils begin probably their most important series of the season this Friday at Shea Stadium when they take on the Mets. According to various reports, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is looking to move up Cole Hamels' start so he gets the opportunity to face the Mets in what will be his first start against them this year. Anything less than taking 2 of 3 and the Phils are putting themselves in a mighty big hole down the stretch.

Probable Starters:

Friday: Myers vs. Pelfrey

Saturday: Moyer vs. Martinez

Sunday: Hamels vs. Santana.

Notes:

- The whole business with the Nationals having to make sure they got their pound of flesh from Chase Utley for bowling over their catcher was astounding. For one thing, Utley never went at the guy's head; it was a shoulder to shoulder hit. Secondly, let's not forget it was Nationals starter John Lannan who hit Utley with a pitched ball last year, shelving Utley for period of time down the stretch last year. So if any team should have had a beef, it should have been the Phillies.

Back to last night....Utley was hit by a pitched ball from Odalis Perez and was upended on a hard (clean) take out slide by Lastings Milledge. Hmmmm......

Let's add on that Chase Utley leads the league in being hit by pitched balls and frankly, I think it's now time for the Phillies pitchers to begin protecting the All-Star second baseman. Interestingly, Washington comes to Philly for the last series of the year. If the Phils are out of the race by then, things could get nasty.

Photo: Yahoo.com....(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)