I’m going to be honest: There wasn’t a single point during last night’s game, until Ben Francisco gloved the last out, that I thought the Phillies were going to win. You would think I would have learned by now with this team, but I just wasn’t optimistic. Even though I picked the Phillies in 4, I didn’t exactly count on a arctic game, and just had a feeling the Phillies bats would go silent in such cold weather. Furthermore, games like Game 2 have sent us into extended offensive funks at times this year, and Colorado has a distinct home field advantage. But, this Phillies team continues to surprise me, and now has a chance to book their flights to L.A. with their ace on the mound tonight.
Here are my thoughts on the game…
- I don’t know if it was the cold or the situation, but J.A. Happ was not comfortable on the mound and delivered a really disappointing performance. He didn’t have control over his pitches the entire night, usually missing low. We certainly counted on him for more than 3 innings.
- I know this isn’t game related so it should probably go at the bottom, but that kid behind home plate with the white Rockies jersey was the most annoying person I’ve ever seen at a baseball game. Every single pitch he would go crazy. Ball in the dirt? HOW ISN’T THAT A STRIKE!? Strike 1? YEEEEAHHH, GOOOO ROCKIES!!!!! I’ll give him credit for staying energetic in that cold for 9 innings, but man did I want to punch him in the face.
- For the last 2 games, Rollins has driven me nuts all game on offense and then gotten a key hit in the 9th. He’s got to be better at the plate though, struck out on balls nearly in the dirt his first 2 times up. I will give him credit for seeing a team-high 29 pitches last night though.
- Hardcore stat heads will tell you that there is no such thing as a clutch hitter, but it certainly does seem like Carlos Ruiz’ run production goes up exponentially in the playoffs. Before the playoffs last year, it looked like Lou Marson would be pushing Ruiz out, but he’s has really made himself a very important part of this team, both offensively and defensively.
- Speaking of the bottom of the line-up, Pedro Feliz has played so poorly this series offensively (hasn’t his a ball hard, and hit into several rally killing double plays) that, when combined with his very low peripheral numbers in the regular season, it makes me wonder whether or not the Phillies will pick up his option. Garrett Atkins trade, anyone?
- Why the Rockies didn’t go crazy on that ball in the top of the 9th that clearly hit Utley is beyond me. It was very clear to me that it hit him right away. I had no idea why he was running to first. However, typical Utley to sell it the way he did and leave no doubt.
- Raul Ibanez is having some tremendous at-bats in this series, and his catch on Atkins in the 7th or 8th might have been a game-saving play.
- Did I tell you Carlos Gonzalez would be the break-out star of this series, or did I tell you?
- Lots and lots of credit to the patch-work bullpen of Blanton (very solid), Eyre (tough break on the bunt), Madson (big-time strikeouts), Durbin (shockingly effective) and…
- Brad Lidge. As I said above, there wasn’t a single point during the game where I thought we were going to win, and that included, as it probably did for many of you, the entire time Lidge was in there. Tulo bailed him out a little bit, and obviously Tulo knew it, but he got the job done against a tough line-up. Madson should absolutely be closing the next game, but credit is due to Lidge for staying with it, and Charlie, for giving Lidge the confidence that he could still do it. Terrifying, terrifying 10 minutes though.
- Ryan Howard has quietly had a very good series. 4 RBI and a .417 average in 3 games. I say quietly because he has yet to homer.
- Besides the back-end of the bullpen, I think the biggest difference for me from last year in watching these games is how little faith I have in Greg Dobbs or Matt Stairs up at the plate. Last year, Dobbs would be good for a big hit every series, and we know what Stairs did. Pinch hitters are so important in the NL playoffs and right now we are lacking. I think Charlie needs to stop playing the right/left game and make Ben Francisco our go-to pinch hitter, regardless of who is pitching.
- Finally, a playoff game finishing at 2:15 am when it didn’t go into extras and did start at the appropriate time, is just ridiculous. But I doubt the MLB learned anything.
A couple notes on the Birds? Why not?
There is simply no time for me to do an entire Eagles post, but the Birds predictable domination of the Bucs made for a pretty good Sunday/Monday day of sports in Philly. Since all we really know is that the Eagles are awesome at pounding crappy teams, here are some super-quick learnings from yesterday’s game…
- Jeremy Maclin? Good!
- Donovan McNabb? Healthy and tossing deep balls!
- Run game? What run game?
- Trent Cole? Best season yet!
OK – that’s enough of that. We’ll likely trounce the Raiders next week and then finally start playing some teams that can hang with us.
That’s all I got, feel free to discuss the Phils Game 3 or Game 4 and the Birds in the comments field while I try to stay awake at work…
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Pete, Carlos Gonzalez looks like G.Brett up there, he has one beautiful swing. Blanton seems to have found his role for the rest of the playoffs, Charlie can really read his players. We need Dobbs/ Stairs to come through at least once apiece in the next couple weeks because though the quantity isn!t there this year, hopefully we get one quality at bat apiece before these playoffs are done.
Rollins leave something to be desired at the plate, especially as table setter, but take away his metronome defense and Phillies don’t land on top in any year of late. The outs he accomplishes for needy pitchers can be taken for granted.
Pete, I agree in that there were many things about last night that led me to believe the Phills would lose. You allude to it, but a HUGE key to that game in my opinion was the Ibanez AB in the 4th. Takes a 1-2 count where he had looked silly on a couple of swings and through his patience and two-strike discipline was able to walk and allow Ruiz to deliver another clutch RBI.
Something else that has surprised me (pleasantly): The Phills ability to create runs without hitting HRs. I think so often their offense slumps were generated because they weren’t hitting HRs which on the flip side allowed them to put up 8-10 runs in a game. Remember last postseason how atrocious they were with RISP?
The Rockies also are a tough team. I thought Simpson actually made a good point about Happ early on in that a number of those hitters in the early innings were just making good hits. Happ obviously was having a tough time finding the zone, but he generally was not missing over the plate (albeit he did miss occasionally right over the plate) and even when he was missing around the plate he was close. He did not do himself favors by always giving them hitters counts, but the Rockies were not doing him any favors by really working those counts and also hitting some good pitches. Certainly two resilient teams playing right now.
Happ’s 76 pitch, 3 inning, 3 run stinker set an easy precedent for replaced Pedro to top in his first Phils playoff appearance, should it transpire.
Regarding Happ. The observation I had was Happ didn’t have his normal cool and confident mound demeanor. I think he was done in by a 1-2 punch:
Every time he just missed or didn’t get an 50/50 strike call he would follow that pitch up with one dead center thigh-to-waist high to overcompensate.
jjg – agree on Rollins, glove is always there. maybe he’ll give us a leadoff HR tonight like he did in the clinchers last year.
Pete- great call on that rockies fan behind home plate I pointed that out numerous times to the people I was watching with. I don’t think there has ever been a more annoying fan. Also I really don’t like that fact the Rockies mascot gets right behind home plate for the 8th and 9th inning trying to distract the pitching by doing his Phantaic impression and twirl his belly around….
On another note that was one of the most stressful games of baseball I have ever watch. I think you put it perfectly that I never felt like the Phillies would win the game.
Lastly, in general the umpire crew has struggled in this series (thankfully we have been the benefit of most of the calls). Also the ump last night kept calling the outside strike to left-handed batter and not for right handed ones. Specifically with Matt Stair’s at bat, not a single pitch was in the “strike zone” according to the TBS pitch tracker yet he had 2 called strikes on him….
And my final note…who would have ever thought going into the game that the final stat line would be Durbin as the winning pitcher and lidge getting the save. Probably are 2 least reliable relievers this season….but that’s baseball for ya!
can someone show Feliz how to hit? what kind of player taps (did he even hit it?) into a 1-2-3 DP? the free swinging is cute when he pulls the ball for a grand slam but this is ridiculous! at least make it a 5-4-3 and give us a run.
great job bullpen; if we go to NLCS, i would start Blanton Game 2 or 3. he has been so sharp this series. It was all hands on deck tonite and our only lefty might be on ice. maybe time to move Happ back into bullpen if we advance.
Rockies played like they were on fire; just kept getting hits, from Helton’s nubber to Gonzales’ HR. speaking of, we might wanna plunk that guy, seriously, maybe it’ll rattle him some. Atkins is back to killin us. Phils were lucky to pull it out.
I hope Charlie continues to manage the bullpen that way and not get deceived into thinking he can just hand it off to Lidge all the time now.
Jesse/Pete: “On another note that was one of the most stressful games of baseball I have ever watch. I think you put it perfectly that I never felt like the Phillies would win the game.” - is’nt that the definition of an exciting game. Rockies are really good.
I think the Rockies are just okay not “really good” and the Phillies haven’t been playing anywhere near their potential and are still up 2-1 with our ace going tonite
I give credit where it is due and the Rockies are playing hard and fighting. But I really don’t think they stack up to us at all.
And one big positive is that we have gotten to their closer in both his appearances thus far.
Pete, Would be a fun matchup: Pedro, the matador vs. ol’ pal Manny, the bull. But it seems the more time elapses, the less likely he’ll be used (unless in a bind), since Manuel cited Pedro’s 10 day dormancy as one of the reasons for the switch of plans re last night. Of course, Charlie, the Mad Hatter, is, shall we say, instinctual and capricious, unrestrained by map or logic.
Dannie, Agree, Happ was rattled, lost his composure. Not a gamer last night, just a rook. Luckily, teammates took him off the hook or Philly would be grumpy and all over him today.
Jesse – I don’t think TBS’s pitch tracker has called a strike yet in this entire series. Can baseball please go to the camera straight behind center field like I know the Red Sox have? The angle sucks.
Anyone believe Utley when he said he didn’t even feel the pitch hit his leg? If the umpire had called him out at first, would he have flipped and begun claiming it hit his leg? I saw it hit his leg live and wanted the foul ball. Clearly it worked out for the Phils, but I just don’t get why Chase did what he did there. Maybe he really didn’t feel it (or he did) and he just hustled like he always does and hoped for the best. But that play could have really backfired on us.
Thank you Columbus Day for not requiring me to work today. Sorry for those of you struggling to stay awake.
Dannie: if you’re going by just okay, then I’d say the Dodgers are just okay too cos right now it looks like either team could knock them out. considering the Phils potential, I dont know what that is, they are amazingly fickle.
YAY GO CLIFF LEE, GONNA BE UR BIRTHDAY IF U BAG THIS ONE.
wait, best case scenario we win tonite, means Hamels will have to start Game 1 on Thursday probably.
I think I saw someone mention this above but that AB by Ibanez in the 6th or 7th (my memory’s a little foggy) was amazing. I believe he was down 0-2 (maybe 1-2) and fought off some really tough pitches and worked a walk. He has been great this series, a lot better than I thought he’d be.
Pete, I’m with you as far as Dobbs and Stairs. I couldn’t believe it when Matt got in late. I remember sitting there thinking, “he’s gonna strike out, he’s gonna strike out, why is he in there, he’s gonna strike out.” then he struck out.
I was also hoping that the asshole behind the plate and that retarded mascot were going to get mauled by a polar bear. If only there was now netting, how awesome would it have been if Madson were to just reach back and hurl one right at that fucking mascot? What the hell is that thing supposed to be anyway?
Probably the most agonizing four hours of my life. I remember feeling very optimistic after the Utley home run because they hadn’t gotten any offensive production in the early innings and I thought that was going to rattle Hammel. I just sat there, rocking back and forth nervously; desperately wanting the damn thing to end, regardless of outcome.
Hey, its nice that we get a reasonable start time tonight, guess thats what happens when everyone else has already gone home.
Best part of the article: Kid behind the plate was the most annoying person on earth.
My brother and I could not stop talking about that kid the whole game and what terrible things we wished would happen to him. There has to be something seriously wrong with him..or so I hope.
I completely agree with your take on Ruiz. I can’t stand him at the plate for 162 games then the playoffs come and he’s HUGE! He’s like Bizarro A-Rod.
this is very funny… http://www.the700level.com/annoying-fargo-rockies-fan.html