Shortstop Jimmy Rollins took matters right to Milwaukee’s Jeff Suppan launching a lead-off homer.  Leftfielder Pat Burrell and rightfielder Jayson Werth clubbed back-to-back homers accounting for 4 third inning Phillie runs with Burrell going yard for good measure in the eighth. Mid-season acquisition Joe Blanton tossed a six inning gem with reliever Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge nailed down a 6-2 win clinching the Phils’ spot in the NLCS against the Dodgers.

Burrell was unquestionably the offensive star of this show, going 3 for 4 with 2 homers and driving in 4 runs in a performance that recalled memories of the red-hot Burrell who sizzled through April and through most of May.  With 1st baseman Ryan Howard having gone 2 for 11 in the series while walking 5 times and striking out 5 times, and with 2nd baseman Chase Utley faring even worse at 2 for 15, Burrell was almost single-handedly THE run producer.   Against the Dodgers, the trio will have to come to life and the pitching will have to keep Manny Ramirez out of the offense.   Also advisable to hit plenty in Manny’s direction;  one could say that he’s been known to be defensively nonchalant.

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel recaps the game;

the Phillies’ dormant offense awoke with a clap, pounding playoff-tested Jeff Suppan and the Brewers, 6-2, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series…

Scoring all six runs via the long ball — the first ripple came on Jimmy Rollins’ second career postseason leadoff homer — the Phillies took control by the third, providing a nice cushion for Joe Blanton, who was making his first playoff start.

Pitching for the first time since Sept. 26, the right-hander dismantled the Brewers easily and efficiently. He retired 11 of the first 12 batters and didn’t allow a runner beyond first base until Prince Fielder erased his shutout with a leadoff homer in the seventh. He left after throwing 107 pitches.

The starting pitcher delivered a huge performance, the bats found their home run groove, and the Brewers and their fans were promptly taken out of the equation by the reigning NL MVP’s opening first swing.

AP National Writer Nancy Armour adds to the recap of the game for Yahoo sports;

The Brewers had their own offensive worries, though Blanton can take credit for most of those. The burly right-hander, acquired in July from Oakland, hadn’t pitched since Sept. 26 and was making only his second career postseason appearance. But he was in a groove from the minute he took the mound, thanks partly to Rollins’ leadoff homer.

“From the first batter, it really set the tone. It allowed me to get comfortable,” Blanton said.

After a first-inning single by [Ryan] Braun, Blanton retired his next 10 hitters, with only four balls leaving the infield. He finally wore out in the seventh, giving up a leadoff homer to Prince Fielder, who had been 0-for-12 in his first postseason. After J.J. Hardy followed with a single, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel replaced Blanton with Ryan Madson.

Hardy advanced to third on two groundouts, but Madson retired Jason Kendall on a popout to end the threat.

The Brewers added another run in the eighth on Braun’s two-out RBI single, and the Milwaukee fans—including the blue-collar truck driver in Miller ads who’s made it his mission to “take back the High Life”—stood and began clapping their Thunder Stix, sensing a change in momentum.

But Utley made a gorgeous, leaping catch of Fielder’s liner to second to end the inning.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Sunday’s games, click here.

The Phillies, who will now have 3 days of rest and will open the NLCS with the L.A. Dodgers on Thursday at Citizen’s Bank Park, seemingly have their starting rotation right where they want it.  Pitchers have not been announced yet, but I strongly suspect that a well-rested lefthander4 Cole Hamels will get the nod in the opener and Brett Myers will go in game 2.

The Phils and Dodgers have met 3 times in NLCS play with the Dodgers winning in 1977 and 1978 while the Phils turned the tables on the Dodgers and winning the 1983 NLCS.

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The Brewers put 2 quick first inning runs on the board Saturday when veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer walked the 1st 2 hitters, threw a wild pitch and saw a run score on a sacrifice and another on a single.  The Brewers scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings and the Phillies scored their only run off of Dave Bush in the sixth.  They attempted a ninth inning rally loading the bases with none out.  But closer Salomon Torres and the Brewers benefited by interference on centerfielder Shane Victorino on a doubleplay to top the Phils by a 4-1 score and to live to play game 4 on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, the L.A. Dodgers got by the Chicago Cubs by a 3-1 score to sweep their Division championship round and will play the winners of the Phillies/Brewers series later this week when the NLCS begins.  It was the 2d straight season that the ubs were swept in the first round of playoffs.

The Phillies mounted easily their most potent threat of the game in the ninth inning 1st baseman Ryan Howard, pinch hitter Greg Dobbs and Victorino all singled to center, center and left respectively with none out against closer Salomon Torres.  3rd baseman Pedro Feliz came oup with the chance to do some real damage.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo describes what happened next; 

Charging toward second base when Pedro Feliz hit a routine double-play ball toward third, Shane Victorino never slid. Instead, he ducked his head and rammed directly into Brewers second baseman Craig Counsell, knocking him backward as he received Bill Hall’s throw — but not disrupting Counsell’s relay to first.

Hovering over the second-base bag, umpire Jim Joyce immediately called out Victorino for interference to complete the first half of the double play, and Counsell’s relay easily beat Feliz to the first-base bag to complete the trick.

Ryan Howard scored on the play and Greg Dobbs moved to third, before all six Division Series umpires gathered to discuss everything that had just transpired. After a brief conversation, the crew sent Howard back to third base and Dobbs to second, clearing a run off the board. Both outs stood.

With runners back on 2nd and 3rd with 2 out, Torres got catcher Carlos Ruiz to ground out to the pitcher to kill the threat and nail down the Brewers’ win.

Other than the ninth inning, the Phillies never got more than 1 runner on in any inning and scored their only run in the sixth as rightfielder Jayson Werth led off with a triple after which starter Bush was pulled in favor of  Mitch Stetter.  After 2nd baseman Chase Utley popped out to shortstop, Werth scored on Ryan Howard’s ground out and Carlos Villanueva took over and retired leftfielder Pat Burrell to end the inning on a grounder to 3rd base.

From then on, Villanueva and Eric Gagne held the Phils to a single base runner until closer Torres entered in the ninth.

Bush threw 70 pitches through 5 1/3 innings to earn the win.  Moyer lasted 4 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks to take the loss.  Moyer, who was charged with the loss, was pulled in the fifth inning for pinch hitter  Matt Stairs who flied out to centerfield.

Relievers Clay Condrey and Scott Eyre gave up the Brewers single runs in the fifth and seventh inning.

Mainly, this game was about the symtoms of sleepy offense which the Phils have exhibited throughout this series, even though they managed to win the first 2 games with clutch hits in key situations.  When the offense finally appeared to crank up in the ninth, the interference call on Victorino was a critical miscue.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s  and Saturday’s games click here and here.

On Sunday, the Phils will start Joe Blanton against Jeff Suppan.   If a 5th game is necessary on Tuesday back in Philadelphia, it will be a battle of lefties as ace Cole Hamels will oppose C.C. Sabathia.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Sunday’s games, click here.

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Brett Myers got up off of the floor during an ugly first inning to retire 16 of the next 17 Brewers he faced.  Centerfielder Shane Victorino made the second inning ugly for lefthander C.C. Sabathia by pounding a 2 out grand slam homer on a 1-2 pitch to stake Myers to a 5-1 lead which held up as the Phils beat the Brewers by a 5-2 score to take a 2-0 lead in their NL Division series.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Dodgers pummelled Carlos Zambrano and 3 Chicago Cub relievers as Chad Billingsley held the Cubs in check for a 10-3 win and a 2-0 lead in the other NL Division series.

Myers looked primed for another fiasco following a near disastrous first inning.  Phillies Nation’s Tim Malcolm sums up Myers’ turn-around;

Myers, who settled in after a tough first inning… was dominant against Milwaukee. He kept the ball low, he mixed his pitches, he wasn’t afraid to throw balls. In all, he induced 10 ground ball outs and four strikeouts in seven solid innings of two-hit ball.

AP sports writer Rob Maaddi recaps the game this way for Yahoo sports;

Brett Myers rankled Sabathia with a pesky at-bat and dominated the rest of the Brewers from the mound…

The Brewers missed an opportunity to break it open in the first after Myers walked J.J. Hardy to force in a run with one out. But Myers escaped further trouble by getting Corey Hart to hit into a home-to-first double play on a bouncer to the mound.

“That was the turning point,” Brewers manager Dale Sveum said.

Sabathia had all his pitches working in the first. Victorino doubled with one out and stole third, but Sabathia struck out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to end the threat. Utley couldn’t touch Sabathia’s off-speed stuff and Howard had no chance against a 96 mph fastball.

Sabathia was uncharacteristically erratic in the second and the Phillies took advantage.  Jayson Werth lined a one-out double to left-center and Pedro Feliz followed with an RBI double down the left-field line to tie it at 1.

After Carlos Ruiz grounded out, Myers kept the inning going by working a walk. Digging in, choking up and crouching, Myers drew cheers for fouling off a 1-2 pitch after wildly missing the first two pitches.

He fouled off two more during the at-bat and earned a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd that understood the importance of making Sabathia throw more pitches.

“I know I’m a terrible hitter,” Myers said. “It was one of those freakish things where I was able to lay off his good pitches.”

Sabathia then walked Jimmy Rollins on four pitches to load the bases. That brought up Victorino, who had a career-high 14 homers this season. Victorino fell behind 1-2 before driving a hanging cutter into the seats in left to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead. The Flyin’ Hawaiian raised his arm in the air as he circled the bases with his father watching in the stands.

“I started running, looked up and saw (Ryan) Braun stopped and thought, ‘Did that really happen?”’ Victorino said.

The sellout crowd of 46,208—the largest in the five-year history of Citizens Bank Park—went wild, waving their “Fightin’ Phils” rally towels and bringing Victorino out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Hardy doubled and scored on Craig Counsell’s RBI groundout to cut it to 5-2 in the seventh.

Myers allowed two runs and two hits in seven innings, pulling the Phillies within one win of the NL championship series.  Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero worked the eighth, and Brad Lidge had a suspense-free ninth for a change.

[Prince] Fielder was the tying run when he came up against Romero in the eighth, but he shattered his bat on a weak grounder to second base. [Brad] Lidge tossed a perfect ninth for his second save in the series.

The Phillies had a chance for more runs in the fourth.  After Sabathia retired both Ruiz and Myers, shortstop Jimmy Rollins slammed a double to leftfield.  Victorino, who had Slammed the inning before, was intentionally walked and worked a double-steal with Rollins.  Utley was then walked to load the sacks chasing Sabathia.  Reliever Mitch Stetter came on to fan Howard on 4 pitches to end the threat.

Victorino’s Grand Slam was the first post-season slam in Phillies history and Myers added a 2 out fifth inning single as the Phils loaded the bases threatening yet again.  But Rollins lined out to 1st base to retire the side.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

Pitching assignments appear to line up like this so far for the coming 3rd game, and 4th game (if needed) of the series; Saturday’s game 3 pits 45 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer, who now has clinched NL East division titles in the last 2 seasons for the Phillies, against Dave Bush.  The Phils have yet to name their Sunday starter, although Yahoo sports indicates that they may start ace lefty Cole Hamels, on 3 days rest if need be, against Jeff Suppan.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here, and here.

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Ace lefthander Cole Hamels pitched a gem as the Phillies offense capitalized on a 3rd inning fielding error by 2nd baseman Rickie Weeks to score 3 runs and Hamels made the lead stand up holding the Brewers scoreless through eight innings.  Things got a bit dicey for closer Brad Lidge in ninth as the Brewers score a run on 2 hits, a walk, an error and wild pitch but the Phils held on for a 3-1 win.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Dodgers shocked the Chicago Cubs by winning their Division series opener by a 7-2 score as 17 game winner Ryan Dempster was pounded for a 1 out grand slam homer by 1st baseman James Loney after walking the bases loaded in the fifth inning. The Cubs had taken an early 2-0 lead on 2nd baseman Mike DeRosa’s 2nd inning 1 out 2 run homer off of winning pitcher Derek Lowe.  Dempster was very wild throughout walking 7 in 4 2/3 innings while giving up 4 hits.   3 other Cub relievers were smacked for 3 runs, including 2 solo homers, one run each in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

The story in Wednesday’s opener was almost all Cole Hamels.  In eight innings, he totally shut down the Brewers on but 2 hits while walking only 1 and striking out 9.  He retired the 1st 14 Brewers he faced before rightfielder Corey Hart singled to rightfield with 2 outs in the fifth.  After replacement 2nd baseman Craig Counsell singled and centerfielder Mike Cameron walked with 1 out in the sixth, Hamels retired the final 8 Brewers he faced.

Meanwhile, the Phils scored their 3 runs in the third inning as a miscue on Hamels’ grounder brought the Phillies offense to life against youngster  Yovani Gallardo.  AP sports writer Rob Maaddi describes the inning for Yahoo sport;

The 22-year-old righty allowed three unearned runs and three hits in four innings, walking five. Gallardo became the second pitcher in major league history to start a postseason game without recording a win that year. He pitched in three games before he injured his right knee on May 1 and had a 1.88 ERA to go with four no-decisions.

“Things like that are going to happen,” Gallardo said about the defensive lapses. “There’s no excuse for you to come in and let your guard down. You still have to go out there and make pitches and get out of situations like that.”

Carlos Ruiz started Philadelphia’s third inning with a single. Hamels then bunted hard to third baseman Bill Hall, who bobbled the ball, costing him a chance to get Ruiz at second. Second baseman Rickie Weeks dropped Hall’s throw to first for an error.

Gallardo almost worked out of the jam, though. He retired  Jimmy Rollins on a shallow fly and struck out Jayson Werth. But [Chase] Utley ripped a liner through a swirling wind to center. Cameron took a poor route, raced back and reached up for a backhanded catch only to have the ball bounce out of his glove.

Both runners scored on Utley’s double for a 2-0 lead. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Cameron usually makes that play look routine.

“If he doesn’t make that catch, nobody can,” Sveum said.

Gallardo intentionally walked Ryan Howard and then walked  Pat Burrell to load the bases. Gallardo walked Shane Victorino to force in another run, before retiring Pedro Feliz on a fly to center.

AP’s Rob Maaddi adds this comment and quote from the Brewer’s manager regarding Hamels;

Cole Hamels was so dominant the Milwaukee Brewers were glad to see Brad Lidge come in.

“Not too many times you can say you’re happy to see Lidge, but we didn’t hit the ball hard off Hamels all day,” Brewers manager Dale Sveum said.

Hamels baffled the fastball-hitting Brewers with his dazzling changeup, helping the Phillies earn their first postseason win since the 1993 World Series…   Philadelphia’s previous postseason win was a 2-0 victory over Toronto on Curt Schilling’s five-hitter Oct. 21, 1993. The Blue Jays clinched the series on Joe Carter’s homer off of Mitch Williams in  Game 6.

The Phils, through the regular season, were perfect when holding a lead after eight innings and extended that perfection into the playoffs.  Lidge was a perfect 41 saves for 41 chances and extended his perfection into the Division series game 1 as well, but it wasn’t easy.

AP’s Maaddi recaps the ninth inning;

Manager Charlie Manuel considered sending Hamels out to start the ninth, but decided to go with Lidge. The Brewers got the tying run to the plate, but Prince Fielder fanned for the second out. After J.J. Hardy walked to put two runners on, they advanced on a wild pitch. Then Hart struck out swinging to end it.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

Pitching assignments appear to line up like this so far for the 2nd and 3rd game of the series;  C.C. Sabathia goes on Thursday against Brett Myers and in Saturday’s game 3 at Milwaukee, 45 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer, who now has clinched NL East division titles in the last 2 seasons for the Phillies, is opposed by Jeff Suppan.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Thursday’s, Friday’s  and Saturday’s games, click here, here and here.

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The Phillies showed their depth by resting their starting lineup in a meaningless final game of the season as leftfielder So Taguchi went 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs, 22 year old catching prospect Lou Marson went 2 for 4 including a 2 run homer and pinch hitter Matt Stairs followed Marson with a solo shot in a 3 run eighth.  31 year old reliever Les Walrond notched his 1st MLB win in relief of Kyle Kendrick as the Phillies tacked on win 92 vs 70 losses with an 8-3 win over Washington.

The National League division playoff scheduling finally took form as the  Milwaukee Brewers nailed down the Wild Card spot by edging the Cubs by  3-1 on C.C. Sabathia’s complete game 4 hitter on 3 days rest.  Meanwhile, the Mets bullpen failed them yet again completing their 2nd straight season-end collapse as the Florida Marlins rallied for 2 eighth inning runs to nip them by a 4-2 score.  

As a result, the Cubs will play the Dodgers while the Phils play the Brewers as the NL division series games begin on Wednesday.

Both starters, Odalis Perez and Kyle Kendrick were touched up over 3 2/3 and 4 innings respectively.  Walrond and 3 other Phillies pitchers held Washington scoreless over the final 5 innings, despite 5 hits and 2 walks.

The Phillies nicked lefthander Odalis Perez at the start as shortstop Eric Bruntlett and 2nd baseman Tad Iguchi singled and doubled repectively putting runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.  Bruntlett then scored on Perez’s wild pitch.

The Nationals tied the score at 1-1 in the third inning on young catcher  Luke Montz’s leadoff homer off of Kyle Kendrick who had retired the first 6 Nationals he faced on 23 pitches.  Kendrick was assigned the start as the Phils opted to rest ace lefthander Cole Hamels in order that he start the first playoff game against the Brewers having had plenty of rest.  Kendrick then retired the next 3 Nationals on 8 pitches to end the inning before running into 2 run, 3 hit trouble in the fourth inning, his last, as the Nationals took a 3-1 lead.

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston recaps the rest of the game for Yahoo sports;

Taguchi and Eric Bruntlett drove in runs for the Phillies in the fourth to put them up 4-3. Odalis Perez (7-12) gave up eight hits and four runs in 3 2-3 innings, leaving with nausea and some lightheadedness.

[Ryan] Howard received a standing ovation and heard chants of “MVP! MVP!” when he pinch-hit in the sixth. He poked a single to left and became the only Phillie to play in all 162 games this season. Howard scored on Taguchi’s triple to right for a 5-3 lead—the slugging first baseman wisely deciding not slide on a close play at the plate.

Marson, who made his major league debut, and Stairs connected in the eighth inning.

Lefthanded reliever Les Walrond replaced Kendrick a pitched socreless fifth and sixth innings giving up only 2 hits while walking none and striking out 4 and was credited with his 1st MLB win.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, the Brewers started C.C. Sabathia on 3 days rest for the 3rd straight time and Sabathia came through with a dominant four-hit complete game stiking out 7 while walking only 1. 

AP’s Gelston surmised;

Pitching Sabathia was fine with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Sunday’s games, click here.

The Phillies now have 2 days off to savor their 2nd straight NL East division championship before the Milwaukee Brewers arrive in town to begin the NL division playoffs on Wednesday.  A well rested lefthander Cole Hamels will open for the Phils.  The Brewers have yet to announce their starter for game 1.

Pitching assignments appear to line up like this so far for the 2nd game of the series.  C.C. Sabathia goes on Thursday against Brett Myers.

In the Cubs/Dodgers series, Derek Lowe opposes Ryan Dempster in Wednesday’s opener and Chad Billingsley faces Carlos Zambrano in game 2.

Meanwhile, in the American League, Boston opens on the West Coast against the L.A. Angels on Wednesday as lefthander Jon Lester is opposed by John Lackey.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s games, click here and here.

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Shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ sudden, dramatic, sliding stop of Ryan Zimmerman’s 1 out, bases loaded grounder in the hole was not the kind of clinching finish which I envisioned, but, man, we’ll take it anyway.  Heaven knows how many bad bounces and fielding miscues have sunk the  Phillies in crucial situations through the years.  And who can forget their 1964 collapse?

The Mets had shut out Florida in their Saturday game by a 2-0 score, thanks an awesome complete game effort by their ace Johan Santana.  The Phils magic number stood at 1 after their 8-4 Friday win over the Nationals.

After seeing the Phils go ut to an early 2-0 lead and take a 3-1 on rightfielder Jayson Werth’s fifth inning lead-off homer, centerfielder  Lastings Milledge’s eighth inning sacrifice fly to shallow centerfield was caught on a running catch by Rollins as he collided with centerfielder  Shane Victorino with shortstop Cristian Guzman scoring from 3rd base on the play.  Victorino singled with 2 out in the Phillies’ eighth and scored on 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s double to give the Phils a 4-2 lead.

In came dominant closer Brad Lidge to sew up the game and I expected a replay of  Brett Myers’ closing ninth inning last season against the Nationals — 15 pitches, 11 strikes; 2 strikeouts with a fly out to leftfield sandwiched in-between.

Instead, we saw Lidge strike out pinch hitter Emilio Bonaficio on 5 pitches after falling behind in the count 2-0.  Leftfielder Roger Bernadina laced Lidge’s 0-1 pitch to rightfield for a single.  Pinch hitter Ryan Langerhans then worked a full count before Lidge walked him.  Recent call-up 2nd baseman Anderson Hernandez then stroked Lidge’s 1-1 pitch to right centerfield scoring Bernadina with Washington’s 3rd run.  Guzman followed with a single to centerfield on a 2-2 pitch to load bases.

It appeared that Lidge was about to blow a save, and perhaps the game in what was the most crucial situation of the season.  But with the count 1-1, Rollins made a super play to stop Zimmerman’s grounder in the hole for the game-ending, title-clinching doubleplay on Lidge’s 24th pitch of the inning.

              Moyer Repeats Clutch Performance Parallels Last Season

Last season, Moyer went 5 1/3 innings in the title-clinching game on the last day of the season giving 1 run on 5 hits while walking none and striking out 5 on 97 pitches.   This season’s clincher saw Moyer go 6 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1 on 86 pitches.  As I’ve written the most recent previous posts, Jamie Moyer, with his 16-7 record and 3.78 ERA, deserves serious consideration for the Cy Young Award.

And so, now we wait to see how Sunday’s games between the Mets and Marlins, and Cubs and Brewers play out to see who gets the Wild Card spot and who plays who in the NL divisional playoffs with the Phils, the Cubs and the Dodgers having clinched.

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