Phils Place Phils!
The Phillies kicked off a weekend party on the block last night by kicking dirt on John Smoltz and the Braves’ season. Smoltz helped dig a hole with a throwing error at first that allowed Jimmy Rollins to drive off first base to score. He passed Shane Victorino’s tag down the third base line, spun and threw a wild pitch down the first base line. By the end, Victorino was on third, Utley was at bat, and the crowd was going wild. Utley then hit a groundout that was kicked by Mark Texeira to right center, allowing Victorino to score. With Utley on base, Ryan Howard hit his 44th home run of the year and it was the Phils 4-0. What a start to the most anticipated weekend in recent memory for Phil. In the third, Pat Burrell hit a fly ball to left center that went into the front rows of the stands to make it 6-0. That turned out to be the winner of the game. Kyle Kendrick had 6. In the 6th he allowed back-to-back homers to Chipper Jones and Texeira to make the game 6-3. He was replaced in the 7th by Tom “Flash” Gordon, who then passed JC Romero in the 8th and finally Brett Meyers in the 9th. Meyers allowed a home run to make it 6-4, but then recovered to close out the score. . The victory, along with the Mets’ loss in New York to the St. Louis Cardinals, equaled the teams atop the division. The long season is reduced to one weekend at the end of September.
“That’s crazy,” shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “You wish it was easier, but it wouldn’t be as much fun if it was. Hopefully, we’re starting into new territory. A lot of us haven’t made it to the top. We’re at zero, and no one wins at zero. We still have work.” to do. We’ll see.”
Kyle Kendrick should be considered for the National League Rookie of the Year. The Phillies would be dead and buried without his contributions. Consider his stats. He is 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 121 innings pitched. The best move Pat Gillick has ever made as Phils GM was bringing him in from AA Reading in June, and that was only due to dire pitching circumstances following a series of injuries to Phil’s staff.
Tonight’s headline vs. the Nationals is Cole Hamels. The rotation has been set up this way to allow Cole to start in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, should the team make it that far. Phils fans, take a moment to savor the sound of that.
Hamels, who is making his third start after returning from a pitching arm elbow injury, commented on being on a pitch count tonight.
“I guess they don’t want me to focus on my limitations,” Hamels said. “It’s frustrating when you’re counting every pitch. You throw six pitches and it’s like, ‘OK, that’s one less hitter I can face, or one less inning.'”
In his last outing, he pitched 5 innings and looked great doing it, wiping out the last 8 batters he faced.
Let’s hope rotation planning isn’t a wasted strategic effort, because, after all, Adam Eaton and his 6.33 ERA is the starter on Saturday night. I’m sure he’s not set up that way so he can start game 2 in the NLDS. The fact that the Phils are now in a position to control their own destiny is simply amazing. The fact that Adam Eatin It is handed the ball on the final weekend of the season, in a series of games they must win to decide the division, is insane. That puts my feet firmly on the ground. Finally, it is good news that on Sunday the game is in the hands of Jamie Moyer. He didn’t throw a good game last time, which means he must have a good performance.
The possible tiebreaker situations are many, but imagine this scenario: a 5-all tie between the Mets, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies. It’s possible. It would lead to a playoff game to determine the winner of the National League East, in Philadelphia. What game would that be?
In the West, all 3 teams would have to fight for the NL West. By virtue of their head-to-head advantage, the Rockies could choose between potentially playing 2 games at home or one on the road.
