I’m back from the extended celebration of my blog-mate’s marriage, and I’ll do what I can here while he enjoys his honeymoon during one of the more exciting weeks in recent Philly sports history. After a late-inning comeback in Game 4, the Fightin’ Phils find themselves up 3-1 in the NLCS and on the verge of a World Series berth. If you take away the struggles of Jamie Moyer, the team has made it look really easy in the postseason. They’re 6-0 in games not started by Moyer and will have their ace on the mound tomorrow with a chance to wrap up the series. They’ll be able to play with little pressure tomorrow, because they really only needed to take one of the games in Los Angeles, but they would obviously like to end this as soon as possible and start resting up for the Fall Classic. Thoughts on the thrilling Game 4 win:
-Joe Buck and Tim McCarver criticized Charlie Manuel for walking Manny in the first inning, but it was the right move, as Manny showed later in the game. You just can’t get that guy out right now, and he should be avoided at every opportunity. Russell Martin and Andre Ethier are solid hitters, but they’re no reason to throw a strike to Manny with runners in scoring position.
-Surprisingly, Buck and McCarver said something that I actually agreed with in the 6th inning when they said that Shane Victorino should not have been bunting with two on and no outs. Victorino is the hottest hitter in the line-up right now (and was even before the big homer in the 8th), so there’s no way he should be sacrificing and leaving it up to Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz to get the runs in. I don’t know if that call came from Charlie or if Victorino did it on his own, but he needs to be swinging in those spots.
-The key to the game was definitely the Phillies getting out of the bottom of the 6th with only two runs allowed. When it was second and third with nobody out, I was just hoping they could keep it to one more run given up in the inning, but thanks to an Ethier line-out, an intentional walk to Manny, and the incredible unassisted double-play by Utley, they escaped with only a two-run deficit and were still right in the game. By the way, Ryan Howard really needs to learn how to throw the ball this offseason.
-I know Cory Wade had a great rookie season, but he looks hittable and it seemed like a matter of time before the Phils took advantage of him. And how about Matt Stairs coming in and clobbering that home run off of Jonathan Broxton, who had given up two home runs all year. I loved the interview with Stairs after the game. When players are asked about a home run, they always say the same things, like what Victorino said before Stairs, something like, “I was just looking to hit a line-drive and it happened to go out”. Stairs response was, “Yeah, I just did the same thing I’ve done my whole career, go up there and swing for the fences”. Awesome.
-A final strategic note: I agreed with Charlie going to Lidge in the 8th. With Manny up and two out, it was the perfect situation. I know he didn’t get him out, but Sandy Koufax in his prime couldn’t get Manny out right now. It was still the right call.
Kid Cole will take the ball tomorrow and hopefully the Phils will be cracking open the champagne bottles for the third time in the last few weeks. As for the ALCS, the Red Sox are down 2-1 and have Tim Wakefield going tonight, but they’re far from out of this. It still could go either way, and I’m still rooting for the Rays.
You gotta like Stairs attitude toward hitting dingers. He might want to get into the home run derby next year… that is all about hitting dingers. It’s the truest test to date we have on judging pure home run hitters.