It wasn’t the most encouraging win possible, but a win is a win, as they say, and the Phils have one down and three to go in the hunt for the title. It was basically more of the same from the first two rounds of the playoffs. Hamels was great, the bullpen was unhittable, and the offense was mediocre at best. Some thoughts I had throughout the game:
-I was going crazy with excitement as the starting line-ups were announced and the players came out on the field….then the Backstreet Boys appeared. Absolutely nothing kills your buzz like a 10-minute rendition of the National Anthem by the Backstreet Boys.
-We’ve seen a couple teams in the past put the shift on Utley, but it doesn’t seem like a good idea. I’m sure the Rays have some scouting reports that say it’s a good move, but Utley is not Howard. He can spray it all over the field and that shift is libel to backfire if they keep doing it.
-When Utley hit the homer, I liked how the Phils bench stayed relatively calm. It looked like they came in with a business-like approach. Of course, it may have just seemed like they stayed calm compared to how I reacted.
-Jimmy Rollins took the prize for worst at-bat of the night in the second inning. He comes up with the bases loaded and one out. Kazmir has walked three in 1 1/3 innings, including two of the previous three batters. Rollins takes ball one, then gets jammed for a shallow fly-out to center, resulting in Victorino getting thrown out at home to end the inning. Jimmy: Make the guy throw a strike!!!
-B.J. Upton hit into two big double plays in the first three innings, including with the bases loaded in the third. Amazingly, he didn’t hustle down the line either time. He’s a fast guy, and he was nowhere near first when the Phils completed the 5-4-3 DP in the third.
-What’s up with Japanese second-baseman against the Phils in the playoffs? Hamels couldn’t get Akinori Iwamura out last night, and it definitely brought back memories of Kaz Matsui last year. It was interesting how Hamels seemed to struggle more against the lefties last night, between Iwamura’s three hits and the Crawford homer.
-It was a nerve-racking game, thanks to the continued inability of the offense to add on runs. A few weeks ago, Bry 
pointed out to me that Ryan Madson is suddenly throwing 97 mph, and it is crazy. For years, he basically threw a low-90’s fastball that was pretty straight, and he got guys out (some of the time) with the change-up and curveball. Now he’s not only throwing 96-97, but the ball is tailing back on to the right-handers hands, and he is looking VERY tough to hit.
-Game 2 tonight. Hopefully Myers can keep Longoria and Upton off-balance, as Hamels did, and maybe Howard can get going off the righty James Shields.
All we have to do to WIN THE WORLD SERIES is play .500 ball for the next 6 games!!!!!