Arms hold down Rays, Phillies take 1-0 series lead

Cole Hamels allowed two runs on five hits through seven innings, and Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, as the Phillies edged the Rays 3-2 in Game 1 of the World Series.

Hamels, Madson, Lidge and Chase Utley, who greeted Scott Kazmir with a two-run first-inning homer, represented some of the standout stars in the Phillies biggest win in 15 years. Pedro Feliz contributed two hits and robbed B.J. Upton of a bases-loaded smash and turned the twin killing to keep the early lead in place. Rays outfielder Carl Crawford would get to Hamels with a solo shot in the fourth inning and standout performer Akinori Iwamura, who went 3-for-4, doubled in Jason Bartlett in the fifth to complete Tampa's scoring.

Hamels improved to 4-0 in four postseason starts and helped hold Tampa's 2-3-4 hitters hitless. For Lidge, make it 47-for-47 in 2008 save opportunities.

Beerleaguer: To go into the Orangina SunnyThunderDome ... that stupid bubble, that dumb turf, its monster truck rally lighting, those kickball rules, that Little League World Series camera angle, the "ring your bell if you've been a fan for 15 minutes" crowd ... to go there and stop the buzzsaw the way Hamels, Madson and Lidge did. Unbelievably clutch. Nothing was stopping these pitchers tonight, and I loved Utley's snap homer to get it started. Very quietly, Utley is sneaking past Shane Victorino as the Phils' most valuable hitter this post-season.

Yes, this was a huge win, and the Phils are three wins away, but if the offense doesn't improve, they'll lose this series. They can't count on two runs from Tampa. If not for the pitching, this isn't just a loss, it's a brutal loss. Watching these postgame shows, they're talking about how they won, and thus, didn't look rusty. They looked plenty rusty. Ask anyone who's ever seen Jimmy Rollins play the game of baseball whether he looked rusty at the plate tonight. Jayson Werth flicked two doubles. He looked rusty. Chris Coste, the choice at DH, couldn't catch up with fastballs. He still looks rusty.

Then there's Howard, who can't use rust as an excuse. It's so bad for Howard that Joe Maddon finally had the guts to do what opposing managers probably toyed with doing all season: walk Utley to bring up the cleanup hitter. Lefties fed him a steady diet of low-and-away slop, and as usual, he couldn't resist. At this stage, I'm hoping those ballots stashed inside the sealed envelopes read "Pujols," just to avoid the awkward silences.

But I digress. Three mores wins and the name "Swindle" could be inside the envelope for all I care.

Comments

[mm]

As happy as I am for the win, the score should have been 6-1. Two times in the game we could have double stole, and it was broken up by the batter. We need to be smarter in game two. Hats off to the pitching, especially Ryan Madson. He's become an invaluable part of this team. His excellence has been a treat for us all.

Go Phils in Game two. I might have smoked entire pack of cigarettes during the game, but it was worth every future tumor.

[Founding Father]

Phills win game 1 while Ryan Howard is swinging at passed balls. Good news for Phillies fans.

Phills in 5... or 6... maybe 7.

Be A Man.
-The Founding Father

www.themantuary.com

[Terry Harmon]

I stopped thinking about this group as an offense-first team as of the last series.

We will go as far as our starters and relievers take us. Offense may or may not show up.

Bottom line: one down, three to go.

[Hitman]

I just emailed my son (bap) who has been ranting all game long about how pathetic the Phils were stranding all those runners. True, but the heart of the Rays order was so stymied that they didn't produce many runners to strand. The bottom line is that we won game one with little offense. If Myers is effective tomorrow, he will surely be helped by better run support. If we take two in Tampa, the Rays can kiss it goodbye.

[J.R. King]

100 WINS!!

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Phenomenally well pitched game. Lots of LOB but no shame in it. Howard and Rollins need to get it together.

[BloodStripes]

Phils do it better.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Joe Maddon's comments are the essence of class. I like Maddon, and I want the Phillies to beat the crap out of his team.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Hamels is 4th pitcher to win game 1 of DS, CS, and WS.

One win away from tying Randy Johnson for most wins in a single postseason.

[Iceman]

The Rays had absolutely no clue- none- against Madson and Lidge. That bodes extremely well for the Phils if they take leads into the late innings during this series. Not only did they not hit them, they looked completely baffled.

[EastFallowfield]

To paraphrase T. Lasorda, I'd rather get em on and not get em in than not get em on and not gem em in.

[EastFallowfield]

Cole does what Schilling couldn't do in the 1993 Series...win game 1.

Hope Cole just matches his other start in that series if we need him to pitch a game 5.

[bob]

EF - how true. when jeannie the fox said after the game that the Rays lost because they missed a bunch of opportunities, i sat there scratching my head. the Rays are lucky that they didn't lose by a lot more. that said, i'm glad we're saving our runs for the rest of the series; howard and rollins can't be happy with the way they played tonight; they're going to be back with a vengeance tomorrow. shields better watch himself.

[dave d]

Those rays batters were totally baffled all night. And all that cheese on both sides!

[brother]

Game 1 bonus - ESPN's Jim Caple is already wrong, as he predicted the Rays to sweep.

[Bob]

Hamels 4-0, 1.55 ERA post season. It seems superfluous to ask now, but are we pretty much done with the idea that he isn't a true ace or big game pitcher?

[GoPhilsGo]

Someone picked the Rays to sweep? Has he ever watched baseball?

[ms26]

I'm reading Jim Caple's pick now; what a joke. It would be nice if ESPN didn't provide such great job security, and making a crappy prediction like that would land you in the unemployment line.

Majors vs. AAA? Heh.

[Replacement Player]

In true Philly fashion, I'm going to gripe about J-Roll. I'd always thought he was a red-light player, having come up huge in big games in the past (see: Mets showdowns the past few seasons), but he's looked clueless in the postseason. I've only seen a bare handful of good AB's from Jimmy in the past few weeks.

[Bernie]

Someone beat me to it, but yeah: What makes this win even sweeter is the fact that all the arrogant AL-biased analysts for ESPN.com are gonna have to start backpeddling and quick... (Hats off to Caple for his Rays-in-4 prediction... Your bold-but-pathetic prediction failed miserably, Caple...)

Expect another win from Hamel in Game 5. So with two wins in our pocket, I have to think we have a good shot winning 2 of the remaining 5.

Phils in 6.

[ms26]

RP: Jimmy actually was the only guy who seemed to show up in last year's post-season, against the Rockies. I think he's had a really bad 2008 through and through.

[GoPhilsGo]

J-Roll has had a couple of big hits this postseason, but he looked lost tonight. But in true J-Roll fashion, he'll snap out of it.

[crisco]

Alright I made the prediction that the Phillies would win tonight 3-2 with the Phillies stranding a fair amount of runners but the pitching would save our a$$. For tomorrow I would like to say I see us winning 7-5 with Myers knocking in one RBI. His pitching will be less then steller but fair enough for us to get the win.

[ms26]

"For tomorrow I would like to say I see us winning 7-5 with Myers knocking in one RBI."

I... don't think that's going to happen.

[timr]

Winning game one on the road when you strand 9 or 11 or however many runners the Phils left on is quite a feat. The bottom line is, when you've got an ace like Hamels you can get away with that stuff. I am really excited and I feel really good about this game and series, but Hamels isn't going to be back for three starts. Hopefully the Phils have shaken off the rust of a 6 day layoff and will start hitting in the clutch, because with Myers, Moyer, and Blanton on the hill they need to.

[GoPhilsGo]

How did Caple get a job with ESPN? My cat has barfed up more insightful hairballs than that article.

[Ian]

Someone may have commented on this in the last thread, but if you aren't going to start Toguchi in LF so that Burrell can DH and doesn't have to be taken out, what's he doing on the roster? If you don't have confidence in him, start Bruntlett in LF or have Golson on the roster.

Plus, of course, they DON'T hit for Coste because they'd be taking out the backup catcher, which would, if they needed him to catch, amount to giving up the DH.

The mind boggles. The double switch problems came with Chollie's move to the NL, now he seems to have forgotten how to manage in the AL. He deserves credit for all this success, but I like to watch baseball for the chess games and not the hitting instruction.

It's a W which is what matters

[AWH]

Good night. Sweet dreams.

See you tomorrow.

[Wes Chamberlain]

Sorry crisco, American league park means DH, which means Myers won't be batting and therefore will not have an RBI tomorrow.

But who cares. Phils take game one and I feel very good about their chances to pull this out.

GO PHILS!

[bob]

crisco - do you want to make a wager that Myers will knock in one RBI tomorrow? i'll give you 100-1 odds.

[kbless]

Some points:

Utley- looked like a guy who played hard the whole season, needed some time off and got his power back.

Jroll/Howard- looked like guys who haven't seen live pitching in 6 days, I feel confident they will come around.

BJ Upton- this guy is supposed to be the Ray's premier hitter?

Mad Dog- confident as ever, hitting 97 on the gun! I'd say get to the eighth with the lead and we can slam the door.

Lidge- dominant, why do I still get nervous when he pitches.

Tomorrow- lets really put the pressure on these guys, Dobbs at 3rd and Stairs DHing.

GO PHILS! Three more to go baby!

[slackerjoe]

I believe the Rays are now cursed with what I call "The Curse of the Backstreet Boys" based on their horrendous national anthem. How do you choose those A-holes to sing the national anthem in Game 1?!?!

The Rays will not win the World Series this year thanks to the Backstreet Boys.

There's only one way to remove that curse...

[Carter]

Mitch just predicted that at some point during the series, Coste would step up and do something "magical". He was right on the money with his prediction about how well Cole would pitch tonight, and I agree with most of what he says, but after tonight you have to wonder whether Coste will get another shot or not.

[KoolEarl]

I am drunk (but noit til after the game). Good win but the Phils baters sseemed to be the jumpy ones. But hey, pitching wins it right?

[Tray]

"What makes this win even sweeter is the fact that all the arrogant AL-biased analysts for ESPN.com are gonna have to start backpeddling and quick..."

No, not really. All but Caple picked the Rays in more than 4 games, and I'm sure if you asked them which game, or games, the Phillies would win, they'd point to this one. I picked the Rays in 7 and I thought we were huge favorites in this game. I still expect Tampa to win.

[kbless]

I almost forgot: United States, meet Colbert Hamels, who has been everything we could have hoped for this postseason.

[UD Hens]

Pluses - Cole, Chase, Feliz, Maddog, Lidge

Minuses - JRoll, Howard, Coste

Looking forward to Game #2.

Good night!

[ms26]

Boy, Tray. I love your optimism.

[GoPhilsGo]

Yea, the Rays sure were impressive tonight.

[vegas]

103 wins, that's the number.

Pitching is what wins games in the postseason, and tonight we got it.

Let's look for Brett to locate his curveball and with our heavy lefthanded line up, tomorrow should be win 101.

Sleep easy tonight Phillie fans, big game one win!

[PeachBuckle]

Pathetic...

from si.com's summary of the game:

"Cowbells were sounding and fans were petting the cownose Rays in a tank in right-center during Tropicana Field's first World Series game.

There was a minor league feel, with the public-address announcer hawking season tickets for 2009, an on-field fan contest in left field during the middle of the fifth inning and a trivia contest to give away a video game after the sixth."

[Morandini]

This was the kind of game you need to pull out to win a Series. The pitching once again bailed out the offense for leaving all those scoring opportunities on the table.

Lidge looked like a different pithcher from the past month or so. And Hamels...he's become the reliable ace this staff needs. Tip one up Philadelphia...the Phillies are playing like champs.

[bay_area_phan]

Ok, now that my stress level has subsided a little . . . Alright!! We won Game 1 of the World Series! And Morandini is right: these are the kinds of wins that championships are made of. World Series are won with pitching. There aren't too many teams that have slugged their way to World Series titles.

That said, the offense HAS to pick it up a little because it's difficult to imagine any of our remaining starters holding Tampa to 2 runs. For about the first half of tonights' game (until Kazmir left), we were actually hitting pretty well; we just weren't hitting when men were on base. You would think that's got to change sooner or later (hopefully sooner).

[RSB]

Thoughts after the Game 1 squeaker:

-This was every lousy Phillies game I've watched for years, foolish baserunning, tons of strikeouts with easy runs standing on third base. The difference - and the reason why this team is where it is - is because it finally has the pitching. Hamels, Madson, and Lidge just keep on doing the same thing every single time out.

-Other than those three, neither team distinguished itself well tonight. A close score does not a quality baseball game make.

-Really, I'm not complaining. If there's going to be a parade - the one post-season event which won't cost you a month's rent - the Phillies just got a huge quarter of the way to it tonight. Can they go 3-for-3 with 2-0 series leads?

-Agreed that Tampa's presentation was thoroughly minor league. The Backstreet Boys - that's just embarrassing. The "monster truck rally lighting" is a good way to put it, and that was about the standard for the Rays' pre-game intros. And speaking of bush league, how about Joe Maddon attempting to inspire with Alan Greenspan quotations in the locker room. God, I wish they were in Boston instad. But really, I'm not complaining.

-Ryan Howard, please stop trying to pull everything. It's so incredibly obvious what you're doing wrong and you don't seem to get it.

-I'm really looking forward to seeing a DH other than Chris Coste.

-Seriously, imagine if Tampa loses the game tomorrow. Even if they win, the Phillies are still in decent shape, so we're allowed to indulge in such imaginings.

-They've finally managed to get the radio and TV broadcasts synchronized; so if you're not listeing to the local guys call the Series, you're really missing out on a crucial part of the experience.

[bay_area_phan]

As for Howard and Rollins, they have been our two most maddening players all season long. What can you say about Howard? There's no way we would have won the division without him. There's no way you could ever replace his production if you got rid of him. And, at the same time, because of certain glaring deficiencies in his game, you know, with near 100% certainty, that he's going to be totally useless against good pitching (i.e., in the playoffs) or in the late innings of any game (where he can be neutralized with a LOOGY). In sum, he is one of the most dominant players in baseball and, at the same time, one of the most frustrating. Somewhere along the line this season I just decided to come to terms with it.

[EDGE]

The Phillies gave the Rays every chance to come back and win this game. It was an ugly game offensively, but after Lidge got the last out I stopped caring about the offense, at least until tomorrow. The bottom of the lineup was able to put men on base and put pressure on Kazmir, that was a positive. Ruiz called a great game throughout and his RBI groundout proved to be huge. I hope they come out tomorrow and put more pressure on the Rays. I like Myers tomorrow, there won't be as much pressure on him with the win tonight and everybody is expecting Shields to out pitch him anyways. If Myers comes out with his good curveball and can locate his fastball, he should pitch deep into the game and maybe put a sense of doubt into the Rays.

[Len39]

Hats off to Hamels, Lidge, Madson and Chase for the win tonight. You can't feel good if you are a Rays fan knowing A) you lost this game when you offense didn't show up and B) it should have been a blowout.

Let's hope that J-Roll and Howard can break out of this funk quickly. If they can we are looking at wrapping this thing up at Citizens Bank Park. If they don't I think we are looking at the Phillies in 7.

This did feel really good tonight and I'm still riding high from this win. I am also really enjoying watching Hamels take his place among the elite lefties in all of baseball. I think we have seen Hamels and Lester replace Glavine and Johnson this year. Sometimes it is hard to remember that Hamels is only 24. Think about how good he'll be when he reaches a player's normal peak years 27-32.

Anyone catch Cole's surprise interview with Leslie Grudal (sp?)? That was kinda funny.

[loctastic]

wow, we got away with one. i hate tampa and all they stand for, but we almost let that one slip away. lets go ahead and win tomorrow and make them realize their mistake!

[bay_area_phan]

RSB: Good summation. I too am relieved we don't have to use a right-handed DH for the rest of the series. It's funny. All week long I've been writing posts about how Cholly absolutely had to use Coste tonight. I think my contempt for Bruntlett and Taguchi blinded me to the reality that Coste has actually been even worse than the other 2 for the last 3 months. Hopefully, we never have to see any of these 3 clowns in a Phillies uniform in 2009. Gillick deserves credit for putting together a World Series team, but the bench is one area of our roster that remains decidedly below average.

[MG]

Coste is going to get another shot likely in this series to do something meaningful becasue the Rays have a ton of lefty arms in the pen and I can't think that Cholly has much faith in Taguchi or Bruntlett.

[Tray]

So basically, if Myers has a good game, he'll have a good game, but we have no strong reason to expect him to have a good game. Kazmir's really their #2, maybe not in terms of talent but certainly in terms of second-half results. Now we're facing their best starter. Unlike Kazmir, he's not a walks whore, and he usually goes deep into games. Pitches extremely well at home. If that was all we could do against Kazmir, it doesn't augur well for tomorrow.

[MG]

Leaving Bruntlett in tonight to face Wheeler was one of the most foolish decisions I have seen Cholly make in a while and here is why:

1. Phils were only up 1 run and had 2 runners on including a RISP at 2nd with 2 outs
2. Dobbs has been arguably the best PH in the NL this year and the Phils have the lefty-righty matchup they want.
3. Phils have Taguchi and Jenkins yet to play the OF.
4. Bruntlett has been a very poor PH all year and his production since early July has been pathetic.

Phils were lucky tonight that Cholly's poor tactical decisions didn't cost them the game. I will say though that Cholly was okay in handling his pitching staff tonight including actually having a lefty (Eyre) and a righty (Durbin) ready to go to start the 7th instead of waiting for Hamels to potentially get in trouble. That was incredibly refreshing to see for a change.

[MG]

This postseason really has been about one man in paritcular on this team - Cole Hamels. Yeah Victorino has had a couple of huge hits and the bullpen duo of Madson/Lidge has been working like a charm but it is Hamels' performances so far that have propelled.

Hamels has now had 4 postseason starts where he has been borderline dominant/brilliant at times or more simply he has 4 of the 8 Phils Ws this postseason. Hard for even the baseball traditionalists to argue with that number.

Now maybe he isn't getting the glowing attention from the Philly fans becasue he doesn't blow away hitters with his fastball and his comments at times can make him seem a bit aloof and estranged from the team. Still, I am incredibly impressed by his composure on the mound and his ability to make a pitch this postseason he has had to in a couple of situations.

Hamels really has gone from the guy who tried to mow down hitters just 2 years ago to a pitcher who has become deadly efficient at working his way late into games. In the postseason, that is often what counts especially if you have a stellar setup man and a closer. No bridge from your potential shaky middle relievers required.

[MG]

Last thought:

- This series to me was about a team with perhaps the best individual talents (Phils) vs a better overall team. Tonight, the team with the best individual players won exactly because their ubertalented players (Hamels, Lidge, Utley) came up big.

For the Phils to win this Series though, they are going to need one other starter to pitch decently and one of their second-tier bats (Werth, Vic, Dobbs) to set up with some timely hits.

[Sam]

This game didn't look any less ugly than game 1 of the LCS vs Lowe.

And i'll buy into the rust...ESPN had a graffic which shows the phillies to be the 2nd team ever to win game 1 after a 6 day layover.

And at this point, what does it matter anyway? An ugly win is still a win, and we don't have to worry about how it will look any longer in the long haul.

[John]

How exactly did Werth look rusty tonight? He was 2 for 4 with a walk. That seems pretty solid, especially for someone who's meant to be the sixth best hitter on the team. He had a 1.600 OPS tonight, right? What more would one expect of him?

Rollins, Howard, Burrell, Coste and Ruiz were useless at the plate tonight (and Howard had some gruesome fielding plays - although apparently only the one actual error). Thankfully, the pitching was great, the fielding was good other than Howard (especially Feliz and Utley), and there was decent hitting not just from Utley, but from Werth, Feliz, and Victorino. They should have wone by more (and they probably would have, if they hadn't tried to send Victorino home on that shallow "sacrifice fly" in the second.)

[Baumer]

Completely agree with MG. Cholly was entirely wrong not to PH Dobbs at that spot in the ninth... Dobbs at least gives us a shot to put up a fourth run on the board. We would not have sacrificed anything by replacing Bruntlett with Taguchi in left field either. I know he is a player's coach and all, but Cholly really doesn't have any baseball sense whatsoever? It is pathetic....

[MG]

Going to be interestig to see how Knucklehead performs tomorrow at the plate and on the mound. I am optimistic he will continue his nice ABs and manage to get a hit. On the mound, I am not so optimmistic.

Get a feeling Game 2 has all the makings of one where Myers give up 2-3 HRs and struggles with his fastball control and to make it into the 6th. I see a 5 2/3 outing from Myers tomorrow with 5 ER and 2 HRs. Only way I see Phils winning tomorrow is if Myers uses his curveball and slider effectively and his he has at least average control on his fastball. I just don't see the Phils scoring a ton of runs against Shields tomorrow either.

[Sophist]

Phils looked very disciplined tonight. Great pitching and solid approach at the plate. If they could hit with a man on third, it would not have been close. Near dominant performance.

[MG]

Sophist - Agreed the plate disclipline wasn't bad but Kazmir wasn't exactly forcing them to be too picky either. Never understand how most of the talking heads were comparing him to Hamels though when 2nd half/playoff performance did indicate a dominant starter and his velocity still wasn't at upper end on his fastball either.

Rays do have the starting pitching advantage the next two games. Hope the Phils can squeeze out one of them.

[MG]

One last thing:

- Victorino said in his post-game comments that he got "mixed-up" with Smith at 3B when he tried to tag up on that Rollins' fly in the 2nd. Smith clearly told him to "hold" and Victorino went anyway.

I love the hustle and energy Victorino brings to the Phils but he makes more per capita stupid decisions on this team than anybody except Myers.

[mschofer]

A win is a win...That is all there is to it. The sign of a "great" team is to win when you are not on top of your game.

It is time to settle into the series. I watxh this team and become frustrated, but then again I humbled by how somebody always comes up huge.

A 13-1 blowout counts the same as 3-2 nail biter. Ill take 4 nail biters over 3 blow outs.

This team has learned how to win...

[Tray]

"Going to be interestig to see how Knucklehead performs tomorrow at the plate and on the mound. I am optimistic he will continue his nice ABs and manage to get a hit. On the mound, I am not so optimmistic."

But we're playing in their park, so he can't get a hit. Nor can he get a hit in Game 6, which he's also starting.

[GM-Carson]

My thoughts:
*Hamels has undoubtedly etched his name in the staff ace category. He's been a saving grace this postseason.

*Ryan Howard is back to hurting the team more than helping it. His inability to even hit a sacrifice fly or make contact in rbi situations didn't kill us last night, but it easily could have.

*Jimmy Rollins was disgusting last night, like he went to the plate without any plan besides "swing at everything".

*Utley's homerun = Mr. Awesome.

*The combo of Madson/Lidge has become damn near infaliable.

*That was a balk by Hamels, I've seen much less called.

*If you listened to the telecast closely you could hear slurping and gagging noises coming from the booth when Buck and McCarver spoke of the Rays.

[Yikes!]

For the record, it took a perfect throw from Upton to nail Vic, I had no problem with him challenging the outfielder's arm there.

[The Truth Injection]

An ugly win, but a win nonetheless. As someone said- it was very similar to game 1 of the NLCS. The Phillies will absolutely need to be better with runners in scoring position but the Rays will need to be also. B.J. Upton stranded 6 runners by himself.

This is the type of game they would've lost over the past few years. They found a way to win this time. Also, credit to Carols Ruiz for actually putting the ball in play when it needed to be.

- Leaving in Bruntlett was silly and there is no defending that decision.

- MG, I'm a little more optimistic about Myers tonight than you are. I think the Rays are beatable with offspeed and breaking pitches. I think Myers can control his stuff tonight. He'll be rocky at times, but I think we get a start similar to the Brewers series. He'll dance in and out of trouble but give us 6 or 7 innings and maybe 1 or 2 ER

- I think some of you are overstating how Buck and McCarver were talking about the Rays. For one, they are a huge story so they are going to get a lot of attention, but I didn't think they were overly gushing about them or anything.

- Also, on the "balk." From years of coaching I think by interpretation of the rule Hamels was fine with what he did. The rule states you can't intentionally deceive the runner. Pena actually left a beat too early. He did go on first move, but that is tricky with a left-hander. Many left handers have a move like Moyer where the leg comes up and they casually move to first. The only thing that was balk worthy was how Hamels kind of froze and then threw the ball. But nothing in the initial move deceived Pena into running. Also as the home plate ump said, he did step toward first ever so slightly.

- One more thing: Top priority this off-season has to now be signing Cole Hamels to a long-term deal. He has proven he is a big game pitcher and he has been amazing in this post-season. I think we are seeing the final step in maturation for Hamels.

[phargo]

Good Morning!

I am feeling fine about last night. They haven't played in 6 days but they still got it done. I think they will be more in the groove tonight. Plus, they did get some hits from folks other than J-Roll and Ryan. And oh, the ptiching makes me smile.

Have a great day.

[squatter]

If you're feeling a little nervous after yesterday's win just ask yourself this question: What's more likely to happen today, Rollins and Howard batting in some runs or Upton, et al, figuring out how to hit Madson and Lidge. TB is a great young team, and the answer this year to that question will not be the same as next year, but for this year the maturity edge of the Phils will see them through.

By the way, remember last month when we had to put up with the "Ryan is MVP" nonsense?
He is not the most valuable in the league.
He is not the most valuable in the division.
He is not the most valuable on the team.
He is not the most valuable in the infield.
He is the most valuable regular starting first baseman on the Phillies.

[George S]

Cholly got away with (another) one tonight.

First off, when you are playing with the DH, it gives you a chance to replace your good bat/bad glove regular in the field. But no, CM decided to keep both Howard and Burrell out there. For what? Coste? If the other team has a LHP in there, and they have enough LH arms in the pen, what are you going to do, simply concede all your good LH bats on the bench and play your weaker RH Coste, Bruntlett and Taguchi? Let Dobbs, Jenkins, or Stairs have a shot. (Howard is the true butcher in the field and the one who should be DHing. His lack of concentration and decision-making in the field could very well have cost the Phillies that game).

As for Howard, he does not seem to have any ability of late to recognize a pitch. He's not guessing or sitting on a fastball. He just doesn't know what the pitch is even when it's on it's way, as evidenced by the depressing number of check swings he has every AB and getting called out on strikes on a straight down-the-pipe fastball. This was not rust. (Cholly, when the opposing team walks a batter to GET TO your cleanup hitter, you know they have the book on him and have no fear of him.)

Someone earlier mentioned Cholly letting Bruntlett bat in the 9th vs a RHP with 2 precious runs set up at 2nd and 3rd. Is Bruntlett's glove THAT good out there?

As for managing the pitching staff, the pitching went exactly as scripted in game 1. CM had no decisions to make. None.

CM has to address the Howard situation, and the fact that his leadoff man is the least patient and disciplined batter in his lineup right now.

A good win nonetheless, and interesting seeing all the experts rationalizing away the fact that the Rays not only couldn't get a hit after the 5th inning, but couldn't even get a ball out of the infield for 4 innings (I think they had one lazy fly to RF). That's how dominant the Phillies' pitching was tonight.

Go get 'em in game 2!

[ozark]

I agree that there's a lot not to like about last night, especially considering it was a must-win w/ Hamels pitching. Hopefully Myers will throw lots of first-pitch strikes and get his curveball over. Perhaps Dobbs will provide a spark as he often does. Gotta admire Maddon's cojones walking Chase to pitch to Howard. On second thought it was a no-brainer.

[AFish]

Howard had a bad game, but he'll be fine against RHP. People are overreacting, as normal.

I can't find any stories dealing with Cholly's decision not to bat Dobbs for Bruntlett. That seemed like an obvious move at the time, so someone must have asked Cholly about it. Has anyone seen an explanation?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Randomly:

-Howard's two misplays were maddening. Having two DH's in the field and one on the bench is a reason to hate this game coming in.
-Cole wasn't that sharp early but the pitcher's best friend was there when we needed it.
- Cole was great in his last 2 innings. Madson was sick and Lidge was very effective with his slider, w/o bouncing it once that I recall.
-Howard saw alot of pitches but a guy who can't put the ball in play when needed is beyond frustrated. Maybe he should stop using the he-man iron bar to stretch out before every at-bat. His routine and approach is obviously for sh!t.
-Who couldn't predict that Burrell's spot would come up in the 9th when he was lifted for Bruntlett. NOte to Ruben Gillbuckle, the man is a DH if he can't stay in the game after the 6th.

[phanatic's brother]

Last nights Camara shots :

Manual = 2

Madden = 97

Do you think if Manual wore trendy black rim glasses, he would be on camara more?
I mean geez! I dont know bout you guys but I am sick of seeing Madden's grill on my TV screen !!!

[phanatic's brother]

Last nights Camara shots :

Manual = 2

Madden = 97

Do you think if Manual wore trendy black rim glasses, he would be on camara more?
I mean geez! I dont know bout you guys but I am sick of seeing Madden's grill on my TV screen !!!

[TL]

Everyone's talking about the offense, but look at it this way....they had combined 14 hits and walks. That's a pretty nice total. You keep that up, you're gonna score some runs.

Yeah, they were bad with RISP Wednesday night, but there's never been any evidence to suggest that type of thing is a repeatable skill. In other words, you can be 0-11 with RISP one night, and 8-8 the next and there's rarely any type of pattern to it. If you told me before the series that we'd be able to get 14 men on base, I'd take it.

[phanatic's brother]

Last nights Camara shots :

Manual = 2

Madden = 97

Do you think if Manual wore trendy black rim glasses, he would be on camara more?
I mean geez! I dont know bout you guys but I am sick of seeing Madden's grill on my TV screen !!!

[GM-Carson]

Are people overreacting in regards to Ryan Howard in the postseason? I think not. The stats don't lie: 10 g, 35 ab, 5 r, 8 h, 2 dbl, 0 hr, 3 rbi, 9 bb, 10 k, .229 avg, .672 OPS. That's piddling.

[GM-Carson]

Are people overreacting in regards to Ryan Howard in the postseason? I think not. The stats don't lie: 10 g, 35 ab, 5 r, 8 h, 2 dbl, 0 hr, 3 rbi, 9 bb, 10 k, .229 avg, .672 OPS. That's piddling.

[loctastic]

AFish - My guess is that Dobbs is a poor left fielder, and so Charlie went with defense and prayed Bruntlett could be useful.

Last night was fun but I don't understand how there were many times that we had a runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs, and didn't get the run home. Inexcusable.

[loctastic]

AFish - My guess is that Dobbs is a poor left fielder, and so Charlie went with defense and prayed Bruntlett could be useful. The Phils were still ahead so sticking with defense makes some kind of sense.

Last night was fun but I don't understand how there were many times that we had a runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs, and didn't get the run home. Inexcusable.

[loctastic]

AFish - My guess is that Dobbs is a poor left fielder, and so Charlie went with defense and prayed Bruntlett could be useful. The Phils were still ahead so sticking with defense makes some kind of sense.

Last night was fun but I don't understand how there were many times that we had a runner on 3rd, less than 2 outs, and didn't get the run home. Inexcusable.

[jeanine]

I live in Scranton and turned on the radio coverage for about one minute to find out that we are getting the espn radio broadcast. I am seriously bummed out, and can't understand why, after being part of the Phillies Radio Network all year, I have to listen to this.

At any rate, thanks so much for the excellent coverage. I discovered this site while on my honeymoon in Montreal, sorely missing Phillies coverage, and have been addicted ever since.

[EastFallowfield]

Ah, the old joy of victory, agony of reading about it the next day.

If we lost this game, it would all be about 'good teams find a way to win this game.' 'You gotta win one run games in the postseason.'

If our team had gotten only one baserunner in the last four innings-and that on an error on a ground ball-we'd be killing them for coming up small.

If our team had only a few runners get on in the early innings and hit into big DPs, we'd be killing them.

And if the other team got so many runners in scoring position and didn't score them we'd be very afraid of them in the rest of the series. "We dodged a lot of bullets tonight-can't expect that to happen again."

[Jeanine]

I live in Scranton and turned on the radio coverage for about one minute to find out that we are getting the espn radio broadcast. I am seriously bummed out, and can't understand why, after being part of the Phillies Radio Network all year, I have to listen to this.

At any rate, thanks so much for the excellent coverage. I discovered this site while on my honeymoon in Montreal, sorely missing Phillies coverage, and have been addicted ever since.

[AWH the RBP]

Wow, I amazed at some of the griping this morning, especially about the hitting.

Last night, I too, was a little upset about the lack of hitting with RISP, but after sleeping on it I offer this:

The layoff was definitely a factor. The Phillies hitters' timing was off, and with a couple of exceptions, they were late on fastballs all night.

Even Werth's 2B were both to RF.

Coste definitely showed some rust as he hasn't seen significant AB since the middle of September, but he didn't K.

Howard was Howard against LHP, and JRoll was really late on fasballs a couple of times.

Vic looked overanxious and terrible striking out late in the game, and got nailed at the plate (it took a perfect throw), but hey...did you notice he had 2 hits last night?

I expect a better performance from them tonight, as they got a win under their belts, and the pressure is now on the Rays.

Last night's story was, obviously, pitching and defense, as it has been through most of the postseason.

Cole Hamels answered the call, picked up his teammates, and was in control most of the night.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge were dominant. Lidge, especially, who sent a clear message to the heart of the Rays order.

If you missed the look on Mad Dog's face after he K'd Upton, I'll describe it thus: he knew what he had done, and just knows he can do it again. With his increased velocity he has entered the upper echelon of RP. His slider was at 89 - 90 MPH. The difference between a 90 and 97 MPH fasball is huge, and Mad Dog can blow hitters away if he needs a K. He knows this, and that makes all the difference.

Pedro Feliz, with one play, showed why Chollie has him out there. He also got 2 hits. (Dobbs should still start against RHP).

Utley continues to play a very underrated 2B, and Rollins IMO, is showing he is the best defensive SS in the game right now.

So.......last night was a good win, even when Cole didn't have his best stuff and the hitters showed some rust.

[EastFallowfield]

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[EastFallowfield]

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[BobbyD]

We were wondering if the Phillies could continue winning with Rollins and Howard struggling. Well Rollins and Howard got worse and they still won. Still, those guys need to step it the hell up.

[BobbyD]

We were wondering if the Phillies could continue winning with Rollins and Howard struggling. Well Rollins and Howard got worse and they still won. Still, those guys need to step it the hell up. How can you have 6 days off and still look exactly the same at the plate?

[EastFallowfield]

Daily News

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

From Jason Stark's Column on ESPN.com (Cole Hamels):

And if that's the role his team wants to put him in, "he likes being in that position," said his pitching coach, Rich Dubee. "I think Cole's mentality is knowing that he's got stardom written all over him, and he thrives on that position."

So, Dubee was asked, does that mean Hamels goes into games like this knowing he has to win?

"No," Dubee deadpanned. "He thinks he's going to go out and throw a no-hitter."

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

From Jason Stark's Column on ESPN.com (Cole Hamels):

And if that's the role his team wants to put him in, "he likes being in that position," said his pitching coach, Rich Dubee. "I think Cole's mentality is knowing that he's got stardom written all over him, and he thrives on that position."

So, Dubee was asked, does that mean Hamels goes into games like this knowing he has to win?

"No," Dubee deadpanned. "He thinks he's going to go out and throw a no-hitter."

[Mark B.]

Great pitching by Hamels, Madson, Lidge. Great to see them hit the scoreboard early. Hopefully, they'll score more runs to give pitchers elbow-room in the next games. They're gonna need to score more to win the series.

[Mark B.]

Great pitching by Hamels, Madson, Lidge. Great to see them hit the scoreboard early. Hopefully, they'll score more runs to give pitchers elbow-room in the next games. They're gonna need to score more to win the series.

[thephaithful]

BJ Upton is the best example of a true $#@!^% i've seen since TO - i can't wait for that kid to come to Philly and get his poor little feelings hurt

[thephaithful]

BJ Upton is the best example of a true $#@!^% i've seen since TO - i can't wait for that kid to come to Philly and get his poor little feelings hurt

[EastFallowfield]

I pick the Rays to sweep because the American League is that much superior to the National League, which once again got smoked in interleague play and the All-Star Game. It's like the majors versus AAA.

Jim Cagle, ESPN 'expert'

[EastFallowfield]

I pick the Rays to sweep because the American League is that much superior to the National League, which once again got smoked in interleague play and the All-Star Game. It's like the majors versus AAA.

Jim Cagle, ESPN 'expert'

[EastFallowfield]

I pick the Rays to sweep because the American League is that much superior to the National League, which once again got smoked in interleague play and the All-Star Game. It's like the majors versus AAA.

Jim Cagle, ESPN 'expert'