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Maybe what they’ve been trying to say about Burrell is he’s good for 30 good swings a post-season
By egrissom | October 10, 2008
That would make a little more sense.
Pat Burrell may have a one-path swing, but the path apparently goes right through the playoffs. Burrell blasted his third home run in two games last night, a game-winner for the Phils. Over the last two games the Phillies have scored nine runs and Burrell has driven in five of them. After ending the regular season in a long slump, Burrell sure chose a splendid time to pick things up again. He’s 5-for-his-last-7 with a walk.
The Phillies won game one of the NLCS last night, a game that was similar to the first game of the Division Series against the Brewers. Again Cole Hamels pitched very well, again the Phils scored three runs with all of the runs coming in one inning and again the inning they scored in was aided by a defensive miscue by their opponent.
Derek Lowe and his sinker kept the Phils in check through five innings and Lowe started the sixth up 2-0. Victorino led off the sixth with a ground ball to short and his speed made Rafael Furcal hurry a little too much. Furcal’s throw to first was wild and Victorino wound up on second on the error. That opened the door for the Phils. Utley popped one out to right to tie the game. Two batters later Burrell homered to left to put them up to stay.
Hamels was fantastic for his second straight start of the playoffs, holding the Dodgers to a pair of runs over seven innings. One of the runs scored with the help of a check-swing double down the right-field line to start the fourth. Madson and Lidge again were both fantastic, protecting a one-run lead in the eighth and the ninth.
The Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, winning game one of the best-of-seven NLCS 3-2. Game two is this afternoon.
Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, all doubles. He struck out eight.
The Dodger lineup against Hamels went (1) Furcal (SS/S) (2) Ethier (RF/L) (3) Ramirez (LF/R) (4) Martin (C/R) (5) Loney (1B/L) (6) Kemp (CF/R) (7) Blake (3B/R) (8) DeWitt (2B/L). Lefties Loney and DeWitt in the lineup with Garciaparra and Kent on the bench for the Dodgers. Ethier, hitting second, is likely to drop against righties.
The Dodgers started the game with six hitters on their bench: Kent (R), Berroa (R), Ardoin (R), Ozuna (R), Garciaparra (R) and Pierre (L).
Hamels got Furcal to ground a 1-1 pitch to short for the first out in the first. Ethier was next and he lined a 1-1 pitch into left-center. Burrell cut it off before it got to the track, but Ethier had a double. Manny tried to check his swing on a high fastball to start his at-bat, but couldn’t hold up. He hammered the next pitch to center. It hit high off the wall in center and missed going out by about a foot. Ramirez had a double with Ethier scoring easily to put LA up 1-0. Martin went down swinging at a high fastball for the second out before Hamels walked Loney on a 3-2 pitch low and away. The first pitch to Kemp was up and away and off of Ruiz’s glove for a passed ball that moved the runners to second and third with two down. Kemp flew to right on a 2-1 pitch to set the Dodgers down.
First chance for the Phils not to pitch to Manny with one out and a man on second. They pitch to him and it costs them. I would have pitched to him, too.
Twenty-three pitches in the first inning for Hamels.
He came back with a quick 1-2-3 second. He struck Blake out on three pitches, got DeWitt to fly to left on a 2-1 pitch and got Lowe looking at a 2-2 breaking ball. Twelve more pitches put Hamels at 35.
Furcal grounded to short to start the third. Ethier was next and hit a 1-1 pitch hard to first where Howard tried to backhand the ball but misplayed it. The ball went off of Howard’s body and Ethier had a single, his second hit of the game. Hamels got Ramirez to pop to short for the second out, but walked Martin on five pitches to put men on first and second with two down. Loney was next and got ahead 2-0, but Hamels came back with three straight strikes to get him swinging to leave both runners stranded. Twenty pitches in the inning for Hamels. 55.
Kemp led off the fourth and swung at the first pitch. He got jammed badly, popping a ball down the right field line. It landed just inside the line and bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double. Blake grounded a 2-2 pitch to short for the first out with Kemp taking third. Kemp taking third on the ground out proved to be critical in the inning for LA, because DeWitt was next and flew to center deep enough to score him and put LA up 2-0. Lowe grounded to first to end the frame. Twelve more pitches for Hamels had him at 67 through four innings.
Great base-running by Kemp to go to third on the ground ball to short and it got the Dodgers a run. Unfortunate way to give up a run with the silly double by Kemp to start the inning.
Furcal tried to bunt early in the count to start the fifth before he grounded to short for the third time in the game for the first out. Hamels got Ethier for the first time next, striking him out swinging at a pretty 2-2 changeup. Manny followed with a single into center, but Hamels left him stranded by getting Martin looking 1-2 for the third out. Seventeen pitches for Hamel in the inning and 84 for the game.
Loney led off the sixth and lined a 2-1 pitch into left for a single. Kemp was next and grounded an 0-1 pitch to short, where Rollins started a double-play to clear the bases. Blake grounded an 0-1 pitch to short for the third out. Just eight pitches in the sixth for Hamels. He was at 92 for the game.
Hamels started the seventh with a 3-2 lead. He got behind DeWitt 3-1, but came back to strike him out swinging. Jeff Kent hit for the pitcher Chan Ho Park and swung out swinging at a 1-2 fastball for the second out. Furcal was next and hit a ground ball back up the middle that went off of Hamels but right to Rollins. Rollins threw Furcal out for the third out. Thirteen pitches for Hamels in the inning had Hamels at 105.
Madson started the eighth with a one-run lead. Ethier led off and Madson struck him out swinging at a 1-2 changeup that was low and away. Manny lined the first pitch of his at-bat to third for the second out. Martin smashed a 1-0 pitch down the third base line, under the glove of Feliz and off his toe. Burrell, who was probably only in the game because he was due to hit fourth in the bottom of the inning, got to it quickly, holding Martin to a single. It brought up the lefty Loney and Madson stayed in to pitch to him with lefties Eyre and Romero in the pen. Loney chopped a grounder to second to set the Dodgers down.
Worked out great for the Phillies, but I think you need to bring a lefty in to pitch to Loney as the go-ahead run there. After being a critical component of the pen all season, Romero has thrown one pitch in the post-season and Eyre was the Phillie lefty warming late in the game.
Huge inning for Madson against the heart of the order with a one-run lead.
Lidge started the ninth for the Phils. Kemp drove a ball into right-center, but Victorino took it in front of the warning track for the first out. Lidge bounced a 2-2 pitch to Blake in front of the plate. Blake fouled off a 3-2 pitch before he flew to Victorino in center at the track for the second out. The lefty DeWitt was next and took ball one before he flailed at two sliders. The 1-2 pitch was in the dirt. DeWitt swung and missed and the ball got away from Ruiz, but Ruiz pounced on it and threw DeWitt out at first to end the game.
Lidge has looked fantastic since game one of the NLDS and looked to be in complete control again last night.
Two scoreless innings for the Phillies pen. They allowed one hit, the single by Martin off of Madson, and struck out two. Lidge threw 13 pitches and Madson threw ten.
The LA pen went 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, the infield single by Ruiz off of Maddux. They didn’t strike anyone out or walk anyone. None of Kuo, Maddux or Park threw more than ten pitches.
The Phillies lineup against righty Derek Lowe went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Werth (4) Howard (5) Burrell (6) Werth (7) Feliz (8) Ruiz. Feliz at third with the lefty Dobbs on the bench — Dobbs would help a Phillies offense struggling to put up runs. Ruiz behind the plate — the Phillies have now played eight playoff games in the past two years and Ruiz has started all eight of them. Ruiz caught Hamels most of the time during the regular season, he was behind the plate for about 79% of the batters he faced.
The Phils started the game with six players on their bench: Coste (R), Taguchi (R), Bruntlett (R), Dobbs (L), Stairs (L) and Jenkins (L).
Rollins led off the first and took strike one before he popped to first. Victorino took strike one before he grounded a 1-1 pitch to second. Utley took strike one before he singled into center. It brought up Howard with a man on first and the Phils down 1-0. Howard got ahead 2-0 and then hit a 3-2 pitch hard on the ground towards right field, but DeWitt made a nice sliding play to field the ball and threw Howard out to end the inning.
Burrell led off the second and fouled off two 3-2 pitches before he singled into left. Ramirez made a nice play to cut the ball off before it got to the wall, but he would have had to fall down to allow Burrell to go to second. Werth got ahead 3-0, but took strike one and then grounded a double-play ball to second that cleared the bases. Feliz walked looking at a 3-2 pitch low and away to put a man on for Ruiz with two outs, but Ruiz grounded to short for the third out.
Tough result for Werth after getting ahead 3-0. The double-play killed the inning.
Lowe got three ground balls in a 1-2-3 third. Hamels grounded to first, Rollins grounded to second for the first two outs. Victorino hit a ground ball to first and Loney tossed to Lowe covering the ball — Victorino and Lowe both went down in a mini-collision, but both got up looking okay.
Utley went down swinging 2-2 for the first out in the fourth with the Phils down 2-0. Howard was next and he hit a 2-2 pitch slowly to second. DeWitt was playing deep on the shift and had to come way in, barehand the ball and throw to first to get Howard for the second out. Second time DeWitt had made a nice play at second to keep Howard off base. Burrell struck out swinging 2-2 to end the inning.
Werth hit a ball down the third base line to start the fifth, but Blake fielded and made the long throw across the infield for the first out. Feliz grounded an 0-1 pitch to short for the second out. Ruiz got behind 0-2, but hit a 1-2 pitch into right for a single. Hamels was next with two outs and a man on first, and he lined a single into right-center. Ruiz went to second and it brought up Rollins with two outs and two men on. Lowe seemed bothered by Ruiz on second and worried about Ruiz relaying signals to the batter. Rollins got ahead 2-1, but hit a 3-2 pitch into left that Manny took in front of the warning track to leave both runners stranded.
Lowe had thrown 75 pitches through five innings.
Victorino led off the sixth with a ground ball to short. Furcal hurried his throw to try and beat the speedy Victorino, but his throw was high and off the glove of Loney for an error. Victorino took second. Utley hit the first pitch of his at-bat just out to right, tying the game at 2-2. Howard grounded to first for the first out. Burrell took three straight balls before Lowe got one over. The 3-1 pitch had way too much of the plate and Burrell hammered it out to left, putting the Phillies up 3-2. For Burrell it was his third home run (and fifth hit) in his last seven at-bats. That was the end of the night for Lowe and the righty Chan Ho Park came in to pitch to Werth. Park got Werth to pop a 1-2 pitch into center for the second out. Feliz was next and chopped a 2-1 pitch to third. Blake made a fantastic play, bare-handing the ball and throwing him out to set the Phils down.
After the runner on second was clearly a factor for Lowe in the fifth, you have you wonder if Victorino on second was in Lowe’s head when he served up the home run to Utley.
Greg Maddux started the seventh for LA. Ruiz led off and hit a 2-2 pitch in the hole between short and third. Furcal fielded and threw to first, but Ruiz hustled down the line and beat it out for a single. Dobbs was in the on-deck circle, but after Ruiz got on Taguchi hit for Hamels. He bunted at the first pitch and popped it up to Loney for the first out. Rollins was next and hit a ball back up the middle and under the glove of Maddux. DeWitt made another nice play at second, fielding the ball with his momentum taking him to the shortstop side of second, then tagging the base and throwing to first to double-up Rollins and end the inning. Rollins was safe, but it’s was a nice play by DeWitt anyway.
Terrible decision by Manuel to play for one run and hit Taguchi for Hamels with nobody out and a man on first if it worked. It didn’t. Three good left-handed hitters on the bench for the Phils in Dobbs, Stairs and Jenkins. Yuck.
Lefty Hong-Chih Kuo started the eighth for the Dodgers. Victorino led off and looped a soft liner to DeWitt at second for the first out. Utley grounded a 2-0 pitch to first for the second out. Howard flew to center on a 2-1 pitch for the third out.
Kuo gets the job done in round one of the LA pen against Utley and Howard. Interesting that he was the first choice for the duty ahead of Beimel.
Rollins was 0-for-4, hit into a double-play and left three men on base.
Victorino was 0-for-4, but his ground ball to short in the sixth and the Furcal error sparked a Phillies rally.
Utley was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.
Howard 0-for-4, a victim of some nice defense by DeWitt.
Burrell was 2-for-3 with a home run.
Werth 0-for-3.
Feliz 0-for-2 with a walk.
Ruiz 2-for-3.
Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55) faces righty Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14) this afternoon. Billingsley was seventh in the NL in ERA this season and fifth in strikeouts. He allowed just 14 home runs in 200 2/3 innings on the season. The 24-year-old was much better against righties than lefties, though. Righties hit 225/283/338 against him while lefties hit 274/369/391. He gave up 80 walks this season, which was eighth in the NL. Fifty of the walks were issued to left-handed hitters, only Ubaldo Jimenez and Ian Snell walked more lefties in the NL this season.
He started game two of the NLDS against the Cubs in Chicago and pitched very well, allowing a run on five hits over 6 2/3 while striking out seven. The Dodgers have won six of the last seven games that he has started.
Billingsley faced the Phils once this season, on August 25, and allowed three runs over six innings. Rollins was 3-for-3 with a double and a triple against him in that game as the Phils rolled to a 5-0 win behind Myers. Billingsley walked five in the game, which tied his season-high.
Burrell has ten at-bats against him for his career, he’s 3-for-10 (.300) with two doubles. Feliz is 4-for-12 (.333). Rollins had been 0-for-6 against him before three hits in the game in August.
Myers came of miserable starts back-to-back to throw a gem in game two of the NLDS against the Brewers. After a rocky first inning in which he walked in a run, Myers was awesome. He ended the game having allowed two runs on a pair of hits and three walks over seven innings.
He faced the Dodgers in the August 25 game, getting the start against Billingsley and earning the win by throwing seven shutout innings in which he struck out eight. He also faced LA on August 14, allowing three runs over seven but striking out eight as the Phillies fell 3-1. Matt Kemp homered off of him in that game.
Furcal, Kent and Pierre have all seen Myers a lot over their careers. Furcal is 6-for-28 (.214) with a double. Pierre 13-for-40 with a double (.325). Kent has hit him the hardest, 7-for-19 (.368) with a double, a triple and a home run. Manny is 3-for-19 (.158) with two doubles and a home run — Ramirez hit a grand slam off of Myers on June 26, 2005.
Update: No matter what the Phillies do this afternoon, the worst news of the day is that Chalie Manuel’s mother died this morning.
Topics: Game recap, Playoffs |
October 10th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Terrible decision by Charlie not to hit Dobbs for Hamels. I don’t even know why Taguchi is on the roster.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I agree. That one was pretty bad, especially with all the big left-handed bats on the bench that Manuel wound up not using. Nobody out and Rollins/Victorino/Utley etc coming to bat.
October 10th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I was at the game. Dobbs was on deck until Ruiz got on base and then Manuel brought out Taguchi to bunt. Obviously that didn’t work out. Actually, I think for bunting purposes, Manuel might have used Moyer or even let Hamels bat, even though he was obviously not going to pitch the eighth.
I have another point I’d like to mention. Even though Lowe was cruising, when he gave up hits in the fifth to Ruiz and Hamels (both on two strikes) and then Rollins hit that fly almost to the warning track, even though the ball was caught, I was greatly encouraged, since that was the very first fly ball Lowe had given up. I said to my wife next to me, “The Phillies will be able to get to Lowe next inning with the meat of the order coming up.” I think Torre or Honeycutt probably agreed with me, because people started stretching in the Dodger bullpen, even though Lowe had given up only four singles and no runs at that point.
October 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Yeah, I don’t think that I would be calling on Taguchi much unless it was the 13th inning or someone got hurt. I dislike bunting more than who he picked to bunt — I think you have to hit Dobbs there and go for a big inning.
I think it’s a good point about the fifth setting up the sixth for the Phils too. I think the runners on second in both innings were a factor for Lowe.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
First of all I would like to pass along my sympathies to Charlie Manual and his Family…
Now on to Baseball…
This could either fire up your team or make them depressed…I was expecting a split in Philly and this could ruin my plans
Good game last night…Game could have gone either way…looking for a different outcome tonight…Go Dodgers
October 11th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Yes, sympathies to Charlie and his family as well as the Victorino family.
Went to both games…and I am sticking with ‘in Charlie I trust’ re the comments above.
But I will not debate you on your comments, probably some things he could have done better.
Hey Grissom, don’t I get props for noticing the ‘twinkle’ in Utley’s eye prior to game 1?? haha…just kidding.
Great outing by Myers…not till I was using the bathroom in McFadden’s that I noticed how well his ball we working.
Up 2-0 I can’t believe it.
Ok…too tired from traveling to Philly and back the past two days (and back to NYC for work in between) to go into too much detail…
Go Phils!
Let’s go Moyer!!!
October 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Horray for Leighton! Way to notice the twinkle in Utley’s eye before game one!
I agree that Manuel has been great this year. Some of decisions don’t quite make sense to me, but overall he’s been fantastic.
October 11th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
re 1st comment, you crack me up…haha…
ok…back to business boys!
October 11th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
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