Hamels Pitches Phillies to World Series, Wins NLCS MVP
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Shortstop Jimmy Rollins led off the game by working a full-count on Chad Billingsley before depositing the next pitch in the stands in right centerfield for a 1-0 Phillies lead. Ace lefthander Cole Hamels once again came up big with a seven inning gem as the long-suffering Phils, losers of over 10,000 games in their history, beat the Dodgers by a 5-1 score to clinch their 1st NL pennant since 1993.
For his 2 wins in the NLCS, Hamels was awarded the MVP award. He’s won his 3 post-season starts giving up a total of 4 runs in 22 innings.
Meanwhile, in the AL, the Boston Red Sox have been pummelled in their last 2 games at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, most recently in Tuesday’s 13-4 drubbing. Boston now trails by 3-1 with one more game left in Beantown. games 6 and 7, if necessary will be played Saturday and Sunday in Tampa Bay.
And so, the long-time pennant-starved Phillies won their 6th NL Pennant in workman-like fashion putting on another late-season charge through the month of September and through a post-season in which they are 7-2 thus far.
The Phils scored 2 in the third and two more in the fifth on 3 errors in the inning by shortstop Rafael Furcal.
AP Sports Writer John Nadel describes the Phils’ third and fifth inning scoring, Furcal’s errors and leftfielder Manny Ramirez’s solo shot for Yahoo sports;
Billingsley walked Rollins, who stole second, and Chase Utley in the third before [Ryan] Howard and Pat Burrell hit RBI singles with two outs to make it 3-0. Chan Ho Park relieved with the bases loaded and worked out of trouble.
Billingsley, 6-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his last seven regular-season starts at home, lasted just 2 2-3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander, who went 16-10 with a 3.14 ERA this season, gave up a career-high eight runs in 2 1-3 innings in Game 2, won by the Phillies 8-5.
The Phillies made it 5-0 in the fifth against [Greg] Maddux thanks to the errors by Furcal. The first two came on one play, when he booted Burrell’s potential inning-ending double-play grounder and then threw the ball away, allowing one run to score. The second came when Furcal made another throwing error on Carlos Ruiz’s two-out grounder, drawing boos from the disappointed Dodger Stadium crowd of 56,800.
The only other player to commit three errors in one inning in the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, was Dodgers center fielder Willie Davis, who did so in the fifth inning of Game 2 in the 1966 World Series against Baltimore.
The crowd came alive in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff single by [Casey] Blake when Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers from 1977-96, stood near the team’s dugout waving a white towel, with the image shown on the video board. Matt Kemp followed with a single, but rookie Blake DeWitt grounded into his second double play of the game and Kent struck out as a pinch hitter.
Ramirez hit a 1-2 pitch over the right-field wall with two outs in the sixth, but Russell Martin took a called third strike to end the inning.
Hamels walked Kemp and pinch-hitter [Nomar] Garciaparra with two outs in the seventh before throwing a called third strike past Kent—the last of his 104 pitches.
The keys to the Phillies pennant-clinching win were getting to Billingsley early once again, as they had 5 days ago in game 2, flawless defense and the pitching of NLCS MVP Hamels, reliever Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge even though the Dodgers had at least 1 hitter reach in all but the third and fourth innings. Hamels coaxed rookie Blake DeWitt into 2 big doubleplay grounders, the 2nd of which rubbed a 2 on, none out jam.
Centerfielder Shane Victorino, also a prime candidate in my book for MVP, is hitting .281 for the post-season, although he hit only .222 against the Dodgers. His tying homer in the eighth inning of game 4 was huge. Utley, Howard and Burrell were huge in this series, not so much with homers as with consistently getting on base and driving in runs.
Closer Lidge is perfect for the seson and post-season thus far; 46 saves in 46 opportunities and the Phillies extended their perfection when holding a lead after eight innings to the post-season and are now 86-0.
The Phillies now have the week off to savor their NL Pennant and to prepare for the World Series which starts next Wednesday in either Tampa Bay or Boston. Charlie Manuel left after the game to attend the funeral of his Mother who passed away before game 2.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Thursday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.
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