Phillies Baseball

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ARE THE 2008 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

It doesn’t seem real yet does it?

What an amazing run deep into the 2008 playoffs and now a berth in the World Series. Their opponent has yet to be determined but the Rays are up 3 games to 1 on the Red Sox in their ALCS and lead Game 5 7-0 in the 7th inning as I write this.

The Phillies used a combination of power, hitting for average, stealing bases, defense and superb pitching to bring the Dodgers and their fans back to earth after they swept the Cubs in the division series.

Cole Hamels pitched another dominating seven innings against the Dodgers to pick up his second win of the series and his third of the postseason. He also picked up the NLCS MVP Award.

Ryan Howard contributed three hits and an RBI while Jimmy Rollins contributed with a leadoff homerun off of losing pitcher Chad Billingsley. It was the second leadoff homerun for Rollins in a potential clinching game that eventually did turn into a clincher.

This is the franchise’s first visit to the World Series since 1993 and only their sixth Series appearance. The Phillies are looking for their second title in their 126 year history and first since 1980.

Brad Lidge pitched another scoreless ninth inning in relief of Ryan Madson, who has come into his own as the eighth inning setup man.

Congratulations to the Phillies for being the 2008 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!!

The Phillies are win more win from history.

Leading their best of seven National League Championship Series against the Dodgers 3 games to 1, the Phillies need one more win to reach the World Series for the first time since 1993 and only the fourth time since 1980.

The Phillies have won one championship in the history and have gone through major collapses (1964) and 10,000 regular season losses.

Cole Hamels, the team’s ace, will pitch tonight and he will be opposed by Chad Billingsley. Billingsley was rocked by the Phillies in his game two start of the series in Philadelphia.

If the Dodgers can force a game six it will be held in Philadelphia and would feature Brett Myers and Hiroki Kuroda.

If there is a game seven we would see Jamie Moyer and Derek Lowe.

The Phillies don’t want this series to go to a game six or game seven. It would be best for them to take the series on the road in Los Angeles. This Dodgers team has players that were on one or both of those Red Sox teams that made combacks in the playoffs.

Manny Ramirez was on both and Derek Lowe was on the 2004 teammate.

Game five begins at 8:22pm tonight.

Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series became an instant classic with two swings of the bat.

With the Phillies trailing the Dodgers 5-3 in the eighth inning, in risk of falling into a 2-2 series tie, the unsung heroes of this team stepped up to the challenge and delivered.

Shane Victorino, the center of a bench clearing fracas on Sunday, hit a game tying two run homerun off of Cory Wade to knot the game at 5.

Then, veteran slugger Matt Stairs hit a two run go ahead and eventual game winning pinch hit homerun to make it a 7-5 game in favor of the Phillies.

It was Stairs’ first postseason homerun and the most important in Phillies franchise history.

Joe Blanton lasted five innings, allowing only 3 runs, and left the game trailing 3-2.

The Phillies put 2 runs on the board in the first inning off of Derek Lowe, who was pitching on three days’ rest.

Ryan Madson got the Phillies out of a jam in the bottom of the seventh and J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge combined to shut down the Dodgers for their final two at-bats.

The Phillies now lead the series 3 games to 1 and can punch their ticket to the World Series on Wednesday night when Cole Hamels takes on Chad Billingsley.

The game is at 8:22pm and will be held in Los Angeles.

Jamie Moyer didn’t have it, didn’t have it at all last night.

Moyer lasted only 1.1 innings on Sunday in Los Angeles, his shortest outing since 1998, in a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers put up a five spot on Moyer in the first inning, capped off by a Blake DeWitt three run triple, his first hit of the series.

Rafael Furcal capped the scoring off of Moyer in the second with a solo homerun.

The Phillies struggled offensively against Hiroki Kuroda yet again in 2008. Coming into the game the Phillies were 4 for 41 off of him and could manage only two runs on five hits. They were the first two runs he had given up in the playoffs this year.

The Dodgers bullpen has not allowed a run yet in this series while the Phillies bullpen has allowed only one.

Extracurriculars:

Both teams got into some extracurricular activity during the game. Brett Myers threw up and in to Manny Ramirez in game two and then threw a pitch behind his head. The Dodgers did not retaliate.

In game three, Moyer hit Russell Martin in the knee and then Martin was thrown at but not hit again.

Kuroda then threw a pitch over the head of Shane Victorino. Victorino told Kuroda to hit him in the side not the head and then grounded out. Both players jawed at each other and the benches and bullpens cleared but no punches were thrown and no one was ejected.

Cooler heads prevailed throughout the remainder of the game.

Game 4 is tonight at 8:22pm in Los Angeles.

Game 3 of the National League Championship Series awaits Phillies and Dodgers fans worldwide.

First pitch is slated for roughly 8:22pm and should bring a lot of excitement in Philadelphia.

The Phillies lead the best of seven series 2 games to 0 and send the ‘Ageless Wonder,’ Jamie Moyer to the mound for what fans hope to be a third straight win in the series.

The Dodgers will send rookie Hiroki Kuroda to the mound who has not allowed an earned run in the playoffs. This is only his second start though.

Joe Torre announced on Sunday that Derek Lowe will start game four of the series, which takes place on Monday, and he will be pitching on three days’ rest.

Lowe lost the series opener 3-2 in Philadelphia. He allowed a game tying two run homerun to Chase Utley and then a go ahead and eventual game winning homerun to Pat Burrell.