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Here’s the number of runs allowed by the Phils and Yankees for 2009 and how that compares with the other teams in the leagues they played in and with all 30 MLB teams combined:

Neither the Phillies or the Yankees were exceptionally good at preventing runs. Five of the 14 AL teams allowed fewer runs than the Yankees and five of the 16 teams in the NL allowed fewer runs than the Phillies.

By OPS, both teams fared better against left-handed hitters than right-handed hitters:

By OPS against by opposing batters, the Yankees were better against left-handed batters than every team in the AL and also better than every team in the NL except for the Dodgers and Giants. Left-handed batters didn’t do a lot against lefty CC Sabathia — they hit just 198/250/310 against him for the season. They fared better against his left-handed rotation-mate Andy Pettitte. Lefties hit 282/321/409 against Pettitte. The New York bullpen had a lot of luck against left-handed batters. Righties Mariano Rivera and Alfredo Aceves were both very good against lefties. They hit 182/328/273 against Rivera and 212/255/305 against Aceves. Lefties also didn’t do much against lefty relievers Phil Coke and Damaso Marte. They hit just 195/218/366 against Coke. Marte missed about a hundred games this season and faced just 28 left-handed batters. The 28 he did face, though, went 3-for-25 with two walks (120/214/280).

Coke did give up a bunch of home runs, though, ten for the year in just 60 innings. Lefties can hit under .200 against them all they want, but I refuse to fear Coke and Marte in this series. If you’re new to the Phillies, the middle of the Phillies order goes Utley-Howard-Werth-Ibanez 3-4-5-6, which is three good left-handed hitters split up by Werth, who was among the best hitters in baseball this season against left-handed pitching. Among the 132 players in the leagues combined who got at least 150 plate appearances against lefties, Werth’s 1.080 OPS was third best.

The Phillies pitchers, meanwhile, weren’t good at all against right-handed hitting while A-Rod, Teixeira and Posada all hammered righties.

Pitching in the National League, the starters for the Phillies pitched to a better ERA and ratio than the Yankees starters:

For NL teams for the season, the average ERA was 4.30 and the average ratio was 1.37. So the Phils starters had an ERA that was almost the same as the starting pitchers in their league and a ratio that was a little better.

For AL teams for the season, the average ERA was 4.62 and the average ratio was 1.41. So the ERA for the Yankees starting pitchers was better than the league average while their ratio was about the same.

Neither team has outstanding pitching. Sabathia was clearly the best starter for the Yankees on the season and he went 19-8 with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.15 ratio. Cliff Lee went 14-13 between the Phillies and Indians, throwing to a 3.22 ERA and a 1.24 ratio.

The Yankees’ bullpen was much better than the bullpen for the Phillies:

Yankees’ relievers allowed 7.78 hits per nine innings. Of the 30 teams in MLB, that rate was second-best. They also walked just 3.48 batters per nine, which was third-best of 30. What they did do was give up a whole lot of home runs. They allowed 72 in 515 innings, which is 1.26 homers per nine or 30th of the 30 MLB teams for relief pitchers.

A big part of the problem for the Yankees this year in the bullpen home run department was that Sergio Mitre, Brett Tomko, Jonathan Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Michael Dunn and Anthony Claggett combined to allow 27 homers in 117 innings. You don’t want to be holding your breath waiting to see those guys in this series. Chances are good you could see Phil Coke, Chad Gaudin and Damaso Marte, though — those guys combined to allow 16 home runs in 84 1/3 innings in relief.

Among the guys who look likely to be pitching out of the pen for the Yankees, Aceves (1.00), Coke (1.50), Gaudin (2.45) and Marte (2.03) all allowed at least one home run per nine innings while pitching in relief this season.

The Philadelphia pen, meanwhile, was worse overall but gave up a lot more hits and walks but fewer homers. 8.36 hits per nine innings was eleventh-best among the 30 teams and 4.08 walks per nine was just 22nd-best. They did a better job of keeping the ball in the yard, though, giving up just 46 homers in 492 relief innings for a rate of 0.84 per nine innings that was ninth-best among teams in either league.

Pedro will start game two for the Phillies with Hamels starting game three. The linked article also mentions the possibility that Lee will pitch game four. Hope that works, but I would have liked to have seen the Phillies go with a four-man rotation that went Lee, Blanton, Martinez, Hamels. This way does allow Blanton to pitch out of the pen and the Phils could sure use some help in the pen. If he doesn’t pitch in relief he could start game four. I would much rather they just put their relievers like Condrey or Walker on the roster and let the starters start, though. Happ makes a lot more sense out of the pen to me than Blanton.

This suggests that Bastardo and Myers could be on the roster for the World Series. Myers makes more sense to me than Bastardo to be the third lefty in the pen.

If it seems like you’ve seen the NLCS between the Phils and Dodgers before it’s because you have. A lot has changed over the past year, though, and the most important among them is that the Dodgers have gotten a lot better. After going 84-78 in 2008, the Dodgers posted the best record in the NL in 2009 at 95-67.

The wins aren’t the only thing that improved for LA this year. Here’s a look at the runs scored by the Dodgers and Phils for this year and 2008:

The Phillies hit in both years compared to the other teams in the National League. The Dodgers were third in runs scored this year, but thirteenth in 2008.

LA was fantastic at preventing runs in both ’08 and ’09. The Phillies allowed 29 more runs in ’09 than they did in ’08 and their rank in the NL dropped from third to sixth:

In 2008 the Phillies scored 799 runs and allowed 680. So they scored 119 more runs than they allowed. In ’09 they scored 820 and allowed 709, which is the difference of a pretty similar 111.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, scored 700 and allowed 648 in 2008, for a difference of 52 runs. This year they scored 780 and allowed 611, which is the difference of a pretty dissimilar 169.

I don’t think there’s much of an argument to be made that the Phillies were better than the Dodgers in 2009. They weren’t. The Dodgers were better. What I’m not sure about is how much it matters. A big part of why the Dodgers were better for the year is that they went 35-17 in April and May. That’s pretty awesome, but it’s also a long time ago. The Phillies are World Champs and if you watched game four of the NLDS it’s a little hard to deny that their magic is alive and well.

At the same time, the Dodgers won more games than the Phillies this year. Their offense was a little worse than the Phillies, but still among the best in the league, while their pitching was much better. They come off an impressive sweep of the Cardinals. They went 4-3 against the Phillies this year without a single plate appearance from Manny Ramirez.

I do think the Phillies will win the series, but it is going to be a tight one.

Here’s a look back at the series from last year:

Hamels started game one last year against Derek Lowe. The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, but Victorino led off the bottom of the sixth and hit a ground ball to Furcal and Furcal threw it away. Utley followed with a home run to tie the game at 2-2 and Burrell hit a solo shot two batters later, putting the Phils on top to stay at 3-2.

Brett Myers and Chad Billingsley faced off in game two. Myers threw behind Manny in the first inning and a Loney double in the second helped put LA up 1-0. A Myers single helped the Phillies score four times in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 4-1. Loney had another big hit off of Myers in the third, an RBI-single that made it 4-2. The Phils extended their lead to 8-2 with four more runs in the bottom of the third, which featured Chan Ho Park striking out Rollins for the second out of the inning. That should have been it for the game, but LA got back into it in the top of the fourth. With two outs and nobody on, Furcal struck out for what should have been the third out of the inning. Ruiz didn’t block the ball, though, and Furcal was safe at first. Martin followed with a single before Manny hit a three-run homer to make it 8-5. The lead stood up for the Phils, thanks to Durbin, Romero, Lidge and Madson, who combined to throw four shutout innings.

Game three was the game the Phillies lost, falling 7-2 in LA. Moyer got the start and the Dodgers scored five times against him in the bottom of the first. Five of the first six Dodgers hitters to face Moyer reached base before he struck out Kemp for the second out of the inning with the bases loaded. He looked like he was going to get out of it down 2-0, but Blake DeWitt cleared the bases with a three-run triple that made it 5-0. A leadoff double by Howard helped the Phils cut the lead to 5-1 in the top of the second, but Moyer didn’t make it out of the bottom of the second. Furcal led off the bottom of the second with a homer that made it 6-1. Nomar Garciaparra extended the lead to 7-1 with an RBI-single off of Happ in the bottom of the fourth. Burrell drove in Utley with a single in the seventh for the Phillies other run.

Coming off of Myers throwing behind Ramirez in game one, LA starter Hiroki Kuroda threw a ball near the head of Shane Victorino in game three. It led to a bench-clearing incident after Victorino grounded out to end the inning.

Game four changed the series thanks to a late home run from Matt Stairs. Utley and Howard drove in runs off of Lowe in the top of the first, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. Blake homered off of Blanton in the bottom of the first, cutting the lead to 2-1. Blanton protected the one-run lead until LA hit in the bottom of the fifth. Furcal led off with a walk and moved to second when Ethier followed with a bloop single. Ramirez followed with an RBI-single (2-2) and a ground out by Martin brought in Ethier to make it 3-2. Howard led off the sixth with a walk and came in to score on a wild pitch by Park to tie the game at 3-3. Blake led off the bottom of the sixth with a homer off of Durbin, though, making it 4-3, and a throwing error by Howard on a bunt by Furcal helped the Dodgers score another run to extend the lead to 5-3. That score held till the top of the eighth, when Howard led off with a single. Victorino followed two batters later and lined a ball out to right off of Corey Wade, tying the game at 5-5. Feliz flew out for the second out, but Ruiz delivered a two-out single off of Jonathan Broxton and Stairs followed and connected for a mammoth homer to put the Phils up 7-5. Romero and Lidge kept LA off the board in the eighth and the ninth.

It was hard to imagine LA coming back from Stairs dagger. They didn’t. Hamels outpitched Billingsley in game five with the Phillies winning 5-1. Rollins was the first batter of the game and he put the Phils up 1-0 with a home run to center. Howard and Burrell had RBI-singles in the third, making it 3-0. Furcal had an inning to forget in the fifth, making three errors as the Phils extended the lead to 5-0. Manny Ramirez homered off of Hamels with two outs in the sixth to get LA their only run of the game.

Kendrick and Myers are off the Phillies roster for the NLCS and have been replaced by Chan Ho Park and Eric Bruntlett. Bruntlett and Cairo are a lot of similar guys to have on your roster, especially since it means going with 11 pitchers. I think that’s a bad decision — I would rather have seen them carry 12 pitchers and just one of Bruntlett and Cairo given the bullpen struggles and the fact that I would be pretty worried about Park since he hasn’t pitched for the Phils since September 16.

On the other hand, if they weren’t comfortable with letting Kendrick pitch they shouldn’t have him on the roster. You should try to have 12 pitchers in your organization you feel okay about putting into a game, though. Cairo and Bruntlett both is a lot of Cairos and Bruntletts. Condrey and Walker sure must be wondering what is going on.

My guess is that the thinking here may be to try to put another right-handed bat on the bench out of fear of the lefties in the bullpen for the Dodgers, Kuo and Sherrill. Those guys are scary, but if that’s the reasoning I think the Phils may have overthought this one. If it is about putting another righty on the bench, I wonder if they considered Mayberry instead of Bruntlett. It sure seems like he would provoke a bit more worry in the Dodgers since he can hit the ball out of the yard.

This article suggests Pedro Martinez may start game two. I am hoping for Blanton and Pedro in game four. Blanton was 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.29 ratio in three post-season starts in the post-season in 2008. Manuel’s seeming reluctance to start him is curious to me. It no doubt has a lot to do with fear of his bullpen, but I’d just let him start.

There have been many technical problems with Philliesflow over the past few days. If the site goes down again for a long period of time, I may post at philliesflow.wordpress.com and would let people know where to find the site via the Philliesflow Twitter page.

My favorite Charlie Manuel quote is, and will probably always be, “We need to be more focused or something.” A strong second, though, is “I mean, what the hell?” That one finds its way into print regularly, and with it Manuel usually manages to perfectly capture his combination of anger and frustration with his team, a player or a situation.

Yesterday Charlie Manuel used his game three starter and his game four starter in game two of the five-game series with the Rockies. Only one of them got hurt, but it still wasn’t the way things are traditionally done. The Phillies lost the game, so Manuel owns that one now as the Phils head to Colorado needing to win at least one of two if they want to keep their season alive.

The Phils lost game two the NLDS yesterday, falling 5-4. Carlos Gonzalez and his speed helped create a run for Colorado in the first and Yorvit Torrealba blasted a two-run homer off of Hamels in the fourth to make it 3-0. A single by Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook sparked another rally in the fifth as the lead was extended to 4-0. The Phils came back with three runs in the sixth to get within one, but a leadoff double by Ryan Spilborghs led to another Colorado run to make it 5-3. The Phils got a late solo blast from Werth to cut the lead to 5-4, but that was how it ended.

Yesterday will also be remembered because Phillies starter Cole Hamels’ wife Heidi went into labor during the game. This article suggests that Hamels did not receive that news until he was done pitching for the day.

The Phillies and Rockies are tied at one game apiece in their five-game NLDS. Game three is Saturday night in Colorado.

Cole Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

He faced a Rockies lineup that went (1) Gonzalez (LF/L) (2) Fowler (CF/S) (3) Helton (1B/L) (4) Tulowitzki (SS/R) (5) Atkins (3B/R) (6) Torrealba (C/R) (7) Spilborghs (RF/L) (8) Barmes (2B/R). The righty Atkins stays in the lineup with the lefty Stewart on the bench. Gonzalez and Fowler switch places at the top of the order. The righty Spilborghs starts in right with the lefty Hawpe on the bench. Iannetta was on the bench again despite his 296/406/580 line against lefties on the season. Torrealba hit 220/288/322 against lefties for the year.

The Rockies had lefties Jason Giambi, Ian Stewart, Brad Hawpe and Seth Smith on the bench to start the game, along with righty and Chris Iannetta and switch-hitter Eric Young.

Gonzalez led off the game for the Rockies. Hamels didn’t get the call on a close 1-2 pitch that looked good to me. Gonzalez singled into right on a 3-2 pitch. Fowler was next and Hamels had Gonzalez picked off first as Gonzalez took off for second. Hamels threw to first and Howard had plenty of time, but double-clutched the throw and Gonzalez was safe at second. Fowler bunted an 0-1 pitch back to Hamels for the first out, moving Gonzalez to third. Helton hit a swinging bunt up the first base line on a 2-1 pitch. Hamels fielded and threw home, but Gonzalez was safe and Colorado led 1-0 with Helton safe at first. Hamels probably would have had Helton at first if he had gone there. Tulowitzki got behind 0-2 and then grounded into a double-play to end the inning, third to second to first.

More bad defense from Howard early in the game after he threw a ball away early in game one. Howard was fantastic defensively early in the season, but his fielding tailed off towards the end of the season. In game one he threw a ball away and yesterday the Phillies should have had Gonzalez at second, which would have saved them a run.

Sixteen pitches in the first inning for Hamels.

Atkins lined softly to Howard to start the second inning. Torrealba was next and he hit a ground ball in the hole between short and third. Rollins fielded, but Torrealba beat his throw to first for a single. Hamels struck Spilborghs out swinging 0-2 for the second out, and it brought Barmes to the plate with two outs and a man on first. Barmes struck out swinging 1-2 to end the frame.

Thirteen pitches in the inning for Hamels had him at 29 for the game.

Hamels struck Cook out on three pitches to start the top of the third. Gonzalez was next and he hit a 1-1 pitch past a diving Utley and into right field for his second single of the day. Fowler struck out looking 2-2 for the second out. With Hamels ahead of Helton 0-1, he again picked Gonzalez off as the runner took off for second. This time Howard delivered to second and Gonzalez was tagged out to set the Rockies down.

Thirteen pitches in the inning for Hamels. 42.

Helton was back at the dish to start the fourth and lined a 2-2 pitch into center. Tulowitzki popped a 1-2 pitch to Utley for the first out and Hamels struck out Atkins for the second. Torrealba was next, though, and he lined a 1-1 pitch out to left to put Colorado up 3-0. Spilborghs flew to left on an 0-2 pitch to end the inning.

Long inning for Hamels. Twenty-four pitches had him at 66 for the game.

Barmes flew to center to for the first out of the fifth, but Cook was next and he blooped a 1-2 pitch into right for a single. Gonzalez lined a double to right, sending Cook to third. It brought up Fowler with men on second and third and one down and Fowler hit a ball to the warning track in left. Ibanez took it for the second out, but it was deep enough for the runners to move up. 4-0 with two outs and Gonzalez on third. Helton popped to Rollins to leave Gonzalez stranded.

Seventeen pitches in the inning put Hamels at 83.

Blanton started the sixth after Dobbs hit for Hamels in the bottom of the fifth. He got Tulowitzki on a ground ball to third for the first out. Lefty Ian Stewart hit for the righty Atkins and Blanton struck him out swinging 2-2. Torrealba grounded to short for the third out.

Blanton was back to start the seventh, too, with the Phillies now down 4-3. Spilborghs was the first hitter to face him and he lofted a double to left that fell just in front of the sliding Ibanez. Barmes was next and he put down a bunt. Blanton fielded and tried to get Spilborghs at third, but Spilborghs was safe with Barmes safe at first. Lefty Seth Smith hit for the pitcher Jose Contreras and Happ came in to pitch to him. With the pitcher’s spot due to lead off the bottom of the inning, Cairo took over at third for Feliz as part of a double-switch. Happ wouldn’t be in the game long. Smith smashed a 2-1 pitch off his left leg, just below the knee. Spilborghs held third, but Barmes moved to second and Smith was safe at first with a single. Eyre came in to pitch to Gonzalez with the bases loaded and nobody out. He stuck out Gonzalez for the first out and stayed on to pitch to the switch-hitter Fowler. Fowler hit a fly ball to right deep enough to score Spilborghs and extend the Rockies lead to 5-3. Eyre then got Helton on a pop to shortstop to end the inning and leave two men stranded.

Fowler is much better against lefties, but Manuel leaves Eyre in to face him anyway and Fowler delivers the RBI that proves to be the game-winner. Lots of lefties left to face in the game, though, including Helton right behind Fowler. I think an interesting question is whether Manuel would have brought in a righty to pitch to Fowler if Happ had been able to stay in the game and got Gonzalez like Eyre did. He then could have brought Eyre in to face Helton. I think he probably wouldn’t have and kept Happ in to pitch to Fowler as well, given they still had more than two innings to play.

Second time in the game the Phillies pitcher tries to get an out at a base other than first and it doesn’t work. Hamels tried to get Gonzalez at home on Helton’s dribbler up the first base line and that didn’t work either.

Myers started the eighth with the Phils still down by two. He hit the leadoff man Tulowitzki and walked Stewart behind him. Torrealba bunted the runners to second and third for the first out before Myers walked Spilborghs intentionally to set up the double-play. Barmes hit an 0-1 pitch to third. It might have been a double-play, but Cairo had to come home and did. Tulowitzki was forced for the second out with the bases still loaded. Lefty Jason Giambi hit for the pitcher Matt Belisle. Bastardo came in to pitch to Giambi and struck him out swinging 1-2 to leave the bases loaded.

Huge out by Bastardo. Myers didn’t pitch well.

Madson came in to pitch the ninth with the Phils down 5-4. He got Gonzalez to pop to short and then struck out Fowler and Helton.

Madson looked fantastic, setting down two of the Rockies’ lefties.

The Phillies lineup against righty Aaron Cook went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Victorino (CF/S) (3) Utley (2B/L) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Werth (RF/R) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Feliz (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R).

The Phillies started the game with a five-man bench that included righties Francisco and Cairo and lefties Dobbs, Stairs and Bako.

Rollins led off the bottom of the first with the Phillies down 1-0. He grounded an 0-1 pitch to second for the first out. Victorino was next and he got behind 0-2 before he singled to left. Utley hit a 1-1 pitch to second and Colorado nearly turned two, but Utley just beat Tulowitzki’s relay to keep the inning alive. Howard struck out looking to end the inning.

Werth led off the second and got ahead 3-0 before he flew to left for the first out. Ibanez dumped a 2-2 pitch into center in front of Fowler for a single, putting a man aboard for Feliz. Feliz struck out looking 0-2 for the second out. Cook struck Ruiz out swinging 1-2 to end the inning.

Hamels drew a five-pitch walk to start the third. Rollins hit an 0-1 pitch to first. Helton tagged the bag and threw to second where Hamels was tagged out to complete the double-play. Victorino was next and he reached on a single back up the middle off the glove of Barmes. Utley struck out looking 1-2 to leave Victorino stranded.

Cook had thrown 45 pitches through three innings.

Howard led off the fourth and singled to center on a 3-1 pitch to lead things off. Werth followed and hit into a double-play. Ibanez grounded softly to second for the third out. Down 4-0, Feliz grounded to short to start the fifth. Ruiz followed and drew a five-pitch walk and Dobbs hit for Hamels. Dobbs flew to right on a 1-2 pitch for the second out. Rollins lined to short on the first pitch of his at-bat to end the inning.

Victorino led off the sixth and hit a ground ball back up the middle. Barmes got to it and fielded, but his throw to first was off the glove of Helton and Victorino took second on the throwing error by Barmes. Utley was next and lined a single to right, sending Victorino to third. Howard was next and he lined a 1-1 pitch into the right field corner. The ball rolled to the wall, scoring Victorino to make it 4-1 and moving Utley to third. Righty Jose Contreras came on to pitch to Werth. With the infield back for the Rockies, Werth couldn’t put the ball in play and struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Colorado left the righty Contreras in to pitch to Ibanez and Ibanez smashed the first pitch he saw from Contreras into center for a two-run single. 4-3. Feliz got behind 0-2 and then blooped a ball behind second base that dropped for a hit, moving Ibanez to second. Ruiz again swung at the first pitch and grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Ruiz has had terrible results swinging at the first pitch in the series.

Righty Matt Belisle came in to protect the 5-3 Colorado lead in the seventh and set the Phils down in order. Cairo hit the ball well, but it was taken by Fowler for the first out. Rollins struck out swinging 1-2 and Victorino grounded to second.

Righty Rafael Betancourt started the eighth for Colorado. He got Utley and Howard on a pair of ground balls, but Werth connected on an 0-1 pitch and blasted it out to right-center to get the Phillies within one at 5-4. Lefty Franklin Morales came in to pitch to Ibanez. Ibanez hit his 1-1 pitch hard, but on the ground to Barmes to end the inning.

Betancourt gets through the lefties Utley and Howard and then gets hurt by the righty. Joe Beimel was presumably available after throwing just two pitches in game one, but doesn’t appear in the game for Colorado.

The lefty Morales was still on the mound to start the ninth, so Manuel announced the righty Francisco as his pinch-hitter. The Rockies called on their closer, righty Huston Street to pitch to Francisco. Francisco went down on a ground ball to third for the first out. Stairs hit for Ruiz next and drew a walk. Cliff Lee ran for him at first. Cairo came to the plate as the winning run, but flew to right for the second out. Rollins was next and he laced a 1-2 pitch into right for a single that moved Lee to second. Street got Victorino to line a 2-2 pitch to second to end the game.

Rollins was 1-for-5 in the game with a huge single in the ninth. 2-for-9 with two singles in the series.

Victorino was 3-for-5 in the game and is 4-for-9 with a double in the series.

Utley was 1-for-4 with a single in the game. 2-for-8 in the set.

Howard was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 4-for-8 with two doubles in the first two games.

Werth 1-for-4 with a homer. 3-for-7 with a triple and a homer so far.

Ibanez was 2-for-4 with two RBI. 4-for-8 with a double and four RBI.

Feliz 1-for-3 in the game and 3-for-7 in the series. Cairo was 0-for-2 in the game.

Ruiz was 0-for-2 with a walk. He hit into a critical double-play in the sixth. I implore him to stop swinging at the first pitch. He’s 1-for-5 with two walks in the series.

Stairs had a huge at-bat in the ninth and drew a walk to put the tying run on base.

Dobbs was 0-for-1 in the game.

Carlos Gonzalez is the guy who has done the most for the Rockies offensively. He’s 5-for-9 with a double in the series. Torrealba had a big home run in game two, he’s 3-for-6 with a double and a home run. Tulowitzki is the only other Rockie with more than one hit — he’s 2-for-7 with a double.

No game today. Game three is tomorrow night in Colorado and starts at 9:37. Game four is Sunday night and doesn’t start till 10:07. Fantastic.

One of Happ, Blanton or Martinez will start game three. Blanton threw 19 pitches in game two and Happ four. Happ says his leg will be okay. I think there’s close to no chance it’s Happ in game three.

In the article linked above, Manuel says that he used both Blanton and Happ in the game because he was trying to win. It didn’t happen, though, and it hurt the Phillies chances to win the series. I think it was a bad idea. I know he said he might do it for days before it happened. I didn’t believe him. I also don’t think there’s any chance that not knowing who is pitching game three is going to help Blanton or Martinez.

Happ had X-rays on his leg and says he’s okay. Probably a little less okay than he would have been if Seth Smith hadn’t smashed a line drive off his body, though, but I’m just guessing.

I think the Phillies should start Pedro tomorrow and Blanton in game four. My guess is they will, too, but I’m far from sure.

Martinez says he could throw 90 to 100 pitches in a start if he goes in game three. He threw 130 pitches against the Mets on September 13, really he did, and then threw 56 and 83 in his last two starts of the season.

This article considers the possibility that game three will be postponed due to weather.

Todd Zolecki’s Twitter page says that Heidi Hamels gave birth to a baby boy this morning at 9 AM.

Lot of stuff you can pick to worry about today as the Phils open the post-season against the Rockies. I’m going to go with how many innings Cliff Lee has thrown this year as he makes the first playoff start of his career. Here’s a look at some of the guys on the Phillies and Rockies who are in the top 40 in MLB for innings pitched this year:

On the plus side, thirteenth on the list with 218 innings might not be where you want your 25-year-old stud to be either.

Looking just at the NL now, here’s pitchers in the top forty for either team in innings pitched as a reliever:

And here’s NL appearances as a reliever:

While we’re worrying about stuff, it’s a good time to remember that Madson has thrown a ton over the past two seasons. He was fourth in the NL in both innings pitched as a reliever and appearances as a reliever in ’09 after being fifth in the league in innings pitched in relief and tied for ninth in appearances in 2008.

Lefty Cliff Lee faces righty Ubaldo Jimenez this afternoon in game one of the NLDS.

Jimenez made 33 starts with the Rockies this season, going 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.23 ratio over 218 innings. He was tough on righties, who hit just 206/276/309 against him. He doesn’t give up home runs to much of anyone, he allowed just 13 on the season, but will walk lefties. He faced 482 lefties and 432 righties on the season and walked 56 lefties and 29 righties. He comes into the series with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.15 ratio over his last three starts. In those three outings he struck out 25 in 20 innings.

He started game three of the 2007 NLDS and was brilliant as the Phillies were eliminated. He allowed a run on three hits and four walks over 6 1/3 innings. Shane Victorino homered off of him in the seventh for the Phillies only run of the game. He didn’t face the Phillies this year.

Feliz is 3-for-4 with a double and a home run against Jimenez in the regular season for his career. Victorino 3-for-5. Howard 2-for-5 with a homer.

31-year-old lefty Cliff Lee will be making the first post-season start of his career. He went 14-13 with a 3.22 ERA and a 1.24 ratio in 34 starts for the Indians and Phillies in 2009. Lee doesn’t walk anyone, almost literally when it comes to lefties. He walked six left-handed batters all season. Lefties hit just 241/263/320 against Lee with eleven extra-base hits for the season. Righties had a lot more luck, hitting 283/321/414.

Lee was brilliant in July and August, making 11 starts between the Indians and Phils in which he threw to a 2.06 ERA with an 0.98 ratio. Opponents posted a .590 OPS against him over those 11 starts. Things have been ugly since the end of August. In his last six starts of the season Lee had a 5.45 ERA and a 1.38 ratio. Opponents hit .317 against him.

He made one start against the Rockies this year and pitched well. On August 6 in Philadelphia he allowed one run over seven innings on six hits and a walk while striking out nine. The Phillies won the game 3-1. The Rockies had righties Atkins, Spilborghs, Iannetta and Barmes in their lineup against Lee that day and they combined to go 1-for-15 with a single by Spilborghs.

Jason Giambi is the Rockie who has seen Lee the most over his career from their time in the American League. Giambi is 3-for-10 with a home run against Lee.

Here’s the Phillies NLDS roster. And the Rockies. Just two lefties on the roster for Colorado, so we may be seeing a lot of Joe Beimel and Franklin Morales against Utley, Howard and Ibanez in the short series.

Not a huge fan of the Phillies post-season roster. The relief pitchers on the team who would make me real nervous in a close game include Bastardo, Durbin, Kendrick, Lidge and Myers. That’s a lot. Madson in the ninth, too. I’d feel great about Madson in the eighth, but I don’t think that’s when we’re going to be seeing him pitch. I hope the Phils don’t wind up missing Condrey and Walker too much.

Still, overall I think there’s a lot of reasons to like the Phillies in the series. They won more games in the regular season. They scored more runs than the Rockies. They allowed fewer. They have home field advantage. They won four of the six games the teams played in the regular season. The Rockies weren’t very good on the road this season, especially offensively. The Phils have Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels starting games one and two.

Not much of that is going to matter much if they don’t come out and play well in a few hours, though.

Here’s today’s guess at the post-season roster for the Phillies:

These 12 hitters seem sure things: Ruiz, Bako, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Feliz, Ibanez, Victorino, Werth, Francisco, Stairs, Dobbs.

Either or both of Bruntlett and Cairo seem possible. My guess is both, which puts them at 14 hitters.

That leaves 11 slots for pitchers.

These seven are the guys I feel sure about it terms of pitchers on the roster: Lee, Hamels, Blanton, Happ, Madson, Eyre, Lidge.

That leaves four slots for Condrey, Durbin, Kendrick, Walker, Escalona, Myers and Pedro.

Walker, Pedro, Kendrick and Condrey are my guesses from that group.

So here’s my final guess:

Hitters (14): Ruiz, Bako, Howard, Utley, Rollins, Feliz, Ibanez, Victorino, Werth, Francisco, Stairs, Dobbs, Bruntlett, Cairo

Pitchers (11): Lee, Hamels, Blanton, Happ, Madson, Eyre, Lidge, Walker, Pedro, Kendrick and Condrey.

The Phillies end the regular season at 93-69 after dropping two of three to the Marlins. They won yesterday’s game on a walkoff single by Paul Hoover.

They will have home field advantage against the Rockies in the five-game NLDS. Games one and two are Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

The Phils went 4-2 against Colorado this season. They took two of three against them in Colorado April 10, 11 and 12. Harry Kalas died on April 13. The Phils also played the Rockies in early August in Philadelphia and again took two of three.

The Phillies also played the Rockies in the NLDS in 2007. The Phillies also had home field advantage in that series, but were swept in three games.

In game one the Phillies couldn’t touch Rockies starter Jeff Francis and the Rocks won 4-2. The Rockies scored three off of Hamels in the second inning. Rowand and Burrell hit solo homers off of Francis in the fifth to make it 3-2. Matt Holliday hit a solo shot off of Flash in the eighth to extend the Colorado lead to 4-2, which was how it ended.

Kendrick started game two and got hit hard as the Phillies lost 10-5. The Phils took a 3-2 lead into the fourth inning, but Kendrick wouldn’t make it through the frame. Kaz Mastui blasted two-out grand slam off of Lohse. Miserable work from Mesa and Condrey late helped the Rockies score four runs in the eighth inning.

Moyer pitched great in game three in Colorado, but Ubaldo Jimenez was a little better. A Matsui line drive to left that Burrell misplayed into a triple helped the Rockies go up 1-0 in the fifth. Victorino hit an 0-2 pitch from Jimenez out in the seventh to tie the game at 1-1. With two outs and nobody on in the eighth, Atkins singled off of Romero. Hawpe was next and he singled off the glove of a diving Utley, moving Atkins to third. Romero stayed in to pitch to the right-handed pinch-hitter Baker and Baker singled to right, scoring Atkins to make it 2-1. Myers got the last out of the inning, but Manny Corpas set the Phillies down in order in the ninth.

After winning three in a row from the Phils, the Rockies had won 17 of their last 18 games.

Do you know there’s a start log for the Phillies for 2007and 2008? There is.

The Phillies are heading to the playoffs as division champs once again. A grand slam from Pedro Feliz in game two helped get things going in the right direction and the Phils clinched the NL East with a decisive 10-3 win in game three of a four-game set with the Astros.

A few guys clearly need some rest for the Phils, but the team is plugging along offensively. The pitching, on the other hand, is a mess. The bullpen pitched well in the series, but the ninth inning has been an adventure and seems guaranteed to be for some time to come. The starting pitching is suddenly awful. The Phillies don’t have a quality start in their last nine games. Over those games their starters have combined to throw to a 6.26 ERA and a 1.61 ratio. In five of their last six and six of their last eight games their starting pitcher has thrown less than six innings.

The Phillies are 92-67 on the season after splitting a four-game series with the Houston Astros. The Phils have won the division and currently are second among the four NL playoff teams with 92 wins. All four of the Phils, Cards, Dodgers and Rockies have three games to play. LA has 93 wins and the Rockies and Cards each have 91. The Phils will play the Dodgers or the Rockies in the first round of the playoffs. The Dodgers lead the Rockies by two games with the teams set to play a three-game series this weekend.

The Phillies lost the first game of the series 8-2. Rollins put the Phils up 1-0 in the bottom of the first as he singled, stole second and came in to score on a sac fly by Utley. Hamels kept Houston off the board until the fourth, when the Astros tied the game at 1-1 on three singles and walk. Three of the first four Houston batters reached in the sixth and the Astros scored two more to extend their lead to 3-1. Victorino doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, moving to third on a ground out and came in to score on a balk to make it 3-2. Houston blew it open in the seventh. Hamels got the first two batters in the frame before allowing two singles, a stolen base and walking the next hitter intentionally. Walker took over for Hamels and was awful again, allowing a two-run double, a walk and a single before Condrey took over. Condrey allowed a two-run single before striking out JR Towles to end the five-run inning with the Phillies down 8-2. With two outs and nobody on, seven straight Astros reached in the frame.

The Phils got a huge win in game two, topping Houston 7-4. With the help of a loss by the Braves the win helped reduce their magic number to one. Lance Berkman homered off of Happ with two outs in the third to put the Astros up 1-0. Bako led off the bottom of the third with a walk and came in to score on a double by Rollins, tying the game at 1-1. Howard, Ibanez and Werth got on board to start the fourth before Feliz delivered an enormous blow, hitting the first pitch of his at-bat from Wilton Lopez out to left for a grand slam that put the Phils up 5-1. Houston got another run off of Happ in the top of the fifth on two singles and a catcher’s interference to make it 5-2. Werth hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth and it was 7-2. Kaz Matsui got Happ for a two-run shot as well in the top of the sixth. 7-4. Moyer came on in relief of Happ in the top of the sixth. He got the last out and returned for the seventh, injuring his groin as Jeff Keppinger flew to center for the third out. Madson worked the final two innings to earn the save.

The Phils clinched the NL East with a 10-3 win in game three. The Astros loaded the bases in the first on three singles before Pedro walked Pence with two outs to force in a run an put Houston up 1-0. Rollins started the bottom of the first with a double and came in to score on a ground out by Utley to tie the game at 1-1. JR Towles hit a solo shot off of Martinez in the top of the second, putting Houston on top again at 2-1. Towles did it again in the top of the fourth to make it 3-1. Martinez left after four innings, but Kendrick came on next and was fantastic in relief. He struck out four in three scoreless innings while the Phillies broke the game open. Two singles, a walk, a double by Feliz and a costly throwing error by Astros starter Brian Moehler helped the Phils score four runs in the bottom of the fourth, putting them on top at 5-3. Back-to-back triples by Rollins and Victorino to start the fifth helped the Phillies score two more. 7-3. An RBI-double by Ruiz in the sixth brought in Feliz and made it 8-3. Ibanez hit a two-run shot in the seventh and it was 10-3. Eyre got the first two outs in the ninth before Brad Lidge came in and got Berkman to ground to first to end the game.

The Phillies lost last night’s game 5-3. Berkman put the Astros up 2-0 with a two-run double off of Lee in the top of the first. Francisco doubled in the fifth and came in to score on a single by Rollins to cut the lead to 2-1. The Phils couldn’t get any more in the inning, though, as Werth grounded to short with the bases loaded to leave all three runners stranded. Tejada hit a two-run shot off of Lee in the top of the sixth to make it 4-1 and Houston added a run on three singles off of Myers in the seventh. Down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies got a two-out double from Feliz. 5-3. Tracy followed with a single that moved Feliz to third and put the tying run on base, but Cairo flew to center to end the game.

The Phillies threw 36 innings in the series with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.47 ratio.

The starting pitching was bad. 6.14 ERA and a 1.68 ratio over 22 innings. Five home runs allowed — two against Happ, two off of Martinez and one off of Lee.

Hamels got the start in game one. He was strong early but ended up with an ugly line, allowing six runs over 6 2/3 innings on nine hits and three walks while striking out five. Six starts in September for Hamels — three were good and three were bad. Two bad ones in a row have him allowing ten runs on 17 hits and three walks over 13 2/3 innings in his last two starts (6.59 ERA and a 1.46 ratio). His line would have look a whole lot better if he had gotten Bourn with two outs and nobody on in the top of the seventh. He’s keeping people in the yard these days, which is a good sign. In six of his last seven starts he hasn’t allowed a home run.

Happ went 5 2/3 innings in game two, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk. Only three of the runs were earned and he struck out six. He has a 3.77 ERA over his last three starts, but hasn’t pitched nearly that well. He’s allowed 20 hits and three walks over 14 1/3 innings (1.60 ratio). After walking lots of hitters for most of the season, he hasn’t walked two or more in a start any of his last six times out. He’s allowed too many hits in those six starts, though, 35 in 28 1/3 innings. Seven of the hits have been home runs. That’s too many, too. Seven home runs over 28 1/3 innings would have him on a pace to give up about 49 homers over 200 innings.

Pedro started game three and went four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk. He gave up a pair of home runs to Towles. He’s allowed more than three runs in a start just once as a Phillie, he allowed four against the Mets on August 23, but has gone five innings or less in five of his nine starts.

Lee went 5 2/3 in game four, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk. One of the runs was unearned. He’s allowed 11 runs in 11 2/3 innings over his last two starts. He’s also given up three home runs — he’s allowed just 17 home runs in 231 2/3 innings on the year. The 231 2/3 innings he’s thrown on the year is fourth in all of baseball. That’s not good.

The pen pitched well. They threw 14 innings with a 1.93 ERA and a 1.14 ratio. Walker was awful in game one, but came back to throw a 1-2-3 inning last night. Madson had a nifty two inning save in game two. Kendrick sparkled in relief of Martinez in game three. Myers had a worrisome outing last night.

Eyre started the ninth inning of game three with the Phillies up 10-3. Making his first appearance since September 7, he faced two batters and retired them both. He has been charged with two runs in 32 appearances since the end of April.

Romero pitched the eighth inning of game one with the Phils down 8-2. He allowed back-to-back singles with one out before getting the next two hitters to leave the runners stranded.

Escalona pitched the ninth inning last night with the Phils down 5-1 and set the Astros down in order. He’s been charged with runs in two of his 12 appearances on the season, but appears to have little chance to be on the post-season roster.

Moyer took over for Happ in the sixth inning of game two with two outs, nobody on and the Phillies up 7-4. He got Miguel Tejada on a fly ball to center to end the frame. He came back for the seventh, too. He walked Hunter Pence with two outs before getting Jeff Keppinger on a fly ball to deep center field. Moyer fell to the ground after delivering the pitch to Keppinger and left the game with a strained groin.

Kendrick was awesome in game three. Pitching in relief of Pedro, he went three scoreless innings in which he allowed two hits and struck out four. He has a 2.66 ERA and a 1.27 ratio in 23 2/3 innings for the Phillies this season. He allowed three runs in two innings to the Red Sox in his first appearance of the year — since then he’s thrown to a 1.66 ERA.

Walker took over for Hamels in the seventh inning of game one with two outs, men on first and second and the Phils down 4-2. He gave up a two-run double to Carlos Lee and then walked Hunter Pence. It put men on first and second with two down for Jeff Keppinger and Keppinger reached on an infield single to load the bases. Condrey took over for Walker to pitch to Kaz Matsui.

Second straight terrible outing in a row for Walker — over his last two appearances he had allowed four runs on four hits and a walk without getting an out. It’s raised his ERA on the year from 2.23 to 3.34. His ratio went from 1.05 to 1.21.

He got another chance in game four and pitched better. He started the eighth with the Phillies down 5-1 and set the Astros down in order.

Durbin pitched the eighth inning of game three with the Phillies up 10-3. He walked Matsui with one out but got the next two. He has a 1.98 ERA in nine appearances in September, but hasn’t pitched nearly that well. In 13 2/3 innings he has walked eleven.

Condrey entered game one in the top of the seventh with two outs, the bases loaded, the Phils down 6-2 and Matsui at the plate. Matsui delivered a two-run single before Condrey struck out JR Towles to end the frame.

Condrey also pitched last night, entering the game in the sixth inning with two outs, men on second and third and the Phillies down 4-1. He hit Humberto Quintero with a pitch before pinch-hitter Aaron Boone flew to center to end the frame.

Condrey hasn’t been charged with an earned run in any of his last ten appearances. In seven innings he’s allowed five hits without walking a batter.

Myers started the seventh inning of game four with the Phillies down 4-1. Bourn led off with a bunt single, went to second on a passed ball and was bunted to third. Tejada followed with a single that scored Bourn and made it 5-1. Berkman was next and he singled as well, putting me on first and second with one out. Pence hit into a double-play to end set Houston down.

It was the first appearance for Myers since September 12.

Lidge pitched the ninth inning of game one with the Phils down 8-2. He got the first two before he hit a batter and allowed a single. He got Jason Michaels to ground to third to leave both men stranded.

Lidge also pitched in game three, entering in the ninth inning with two outs, nobody on and the Phillies up 10-3. He got Berkman to ground to first to end the game and clinch the division for the Phillies.

Madson entered game two in the top of the eighth with the Phillies up 7-4. He threw a 1-2-3 eighth and came back for the ninth. Matsui led off the ninth with a single before Tejada flew to right for the first out. Berkman reached on a single just out of reach of Rollins, moving Matsui to second and bringing Lee to the plate as the tying run. Lee struck out swinging and Madson got Pence swinging to end the game.

The Phillies scored 22 runs in the four-game series.

Rollins had a fantastic series. He was 6-for-15 in the series with two doubles and a triple and is hitting 250/297/424 on the year.

Victorino was 4-for-12 with a double and two triples. He’s hitting 293/360/448 for the year. Hopefully a lot of rest is the answer for Victorino. He’s hitting 243/309/395 over his last 232 plate appearances. He was hitting 319/386/476 after going 3-for-5 on July 28.

Utley was 0-for-9 in the series and got last night off. He’s hitting 285/401/513 on the season. He hit an ugly 204/304/343 in September.

Howard was 3-for-12 with five walks in the series. 276/358/563 on the season.

Werth 5-for-13 with a home run and four walks. 268/374/506.

Ibanez 3-for-14 with two walks, a home run and four RBI. 274/348/556.

Feliz hit a huge grand slam in game two. 5-for-17 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI in the series. 268/311/390 for the year. Feliz has been awful since the end of July, hitting 230/260/376 over 224 plate appearances. He’s shown a lot of life lately, though, hitting 327/327/489 over his last 49 plate appearances. No walks in his last 53 at-bats.

Bako started games one, two and four of the series. 2-for-8 with two walks. He’s up to 230/315/345 on the season. 333/405/455 over 37 plate appearances in his last ten games.

Ruiz started game three of the series and went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 253/351/424 on the year.

Hoover appeared in game one without an at-bat.

Francisco started in center field last night in game four. 3-for-5 with two doubles in the series. 281/316/551 in 89 at-bats with the Phillies.

Cairo was 1-for-3 in the series and is hitting 235/257/294 for the year.

Bruntlett started at second base last night and went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. He’s hitting 158/214/228 for the year. He did not have a bat in all of September before starting October with a tough game. Hasn’t been such a good year for him.

Dobbs was 0-for-3 in the series to drop his line on the year to 255/306/400. He’s 5-for-22 with five singles since the end of July.

Tracy went 1-for-2 in the series and is 3-for-6 with the Phillies.

Victorino and Utley are the guys the Phillies really need to snap out. Rollins was a monster in the series and so was Feliz despite recent struggles.

This article breaks down tie scenarios for the best record in the NL.

Chan Ho Park left a simulated game yesterday after facing five batters due to a problem with his hamstring. It also suggests that whether Happ or Martinez is fourth starter behind Lee, Hamels and Blanton will depend on the health of Eyre and Romero.