NLCS Game 3 - Tuesday Afternoon, October 19th in San Francisco
Crap, Part II.
Today's NLCS Game 3 was far more frustrating than enjoyable. The Phils mustered just three singles (Carlos Ruiz in the third, Ryan Howard in the fourth, Jimmy Rollins in the ninth) on the way to being shut out by Matt Cain, Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson. They had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, but left all of them stranded. The offense looked awful.
Cole Hamels threw a decent ballgame as the Giants really didn't hit many balls hard off him all afternoon. He was perfect through three innings, but surrendered RBI singles to Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff in the fourth. The Giants scored an unearned* run in the fifth when Chase Utley botched a Freddy Sanchez liner, allowing their third and final run to cross the plate. (*This was later changed to a hit, which seems like a blatant case of home-team scoring.) Hamels threw six innings while allowing just four hits (five, officially) while striking out eight.
This was the first time the Phillies had been shut out in a Postseason game since Game 5 of the 1983 World Series when the Orioles' Scott McGregor pitched a five-hit shutout. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Game 4 can't come soon enough.
2 comments:
Hello Jim:
I'm a Giants fan in SF and have a bit of a different point of view on the series so far. It's true that the Phils SEEM to have a lack of offense, but when one considers that the Giants pitching staff over the last several months has been the best in baseball since the '65 Dodgers, it kind of makes sense that the Phils haven't scored much. This September they put together a modern-day ML record 18 consecutive games giving up 3 runs or less, and 22 of 23, including a 3 game series in Coors. Every single team we've faced the last two months has had the same problem as the Phils with scoring runs. That the Phils "only" got three hits today against somebody like Cain is pretty much business as usual for us.
We've also played every single one-run game in the entire post-season so far, including every game in the Braves series, plus game 1 here. Our style of play has resulted in a team motto of "Torture." And believe me, almost every game has been complete torture to watch or listen. Every batter we face is the potential tying or go-ahead run for nine innings it seems.
But, in all honesty, we also have an anemic offense, so I don't know if we'll win this series. Game 2 was not out of line, as we only scored a run. But one thing is certain, we're not the Cincinnati Reds. I can really see this series going either way. I wish you the best, but hope we win. Good luck!
I hear you, and there's no denying the Giants' pitching staff is incredibly impressive. But on any given day, especially in the Postseason, the Phillies' pitching staff can be just as good. What's frustrating for me is that I know the Phillies' offense is better than this. They just haven't clicked all season. Be it injuries, or prolonged slumps, or whatever, we've suffered all season long with great pitching and so-so offense. (Hamels should have much more than just 12 wins.)
Pitching, defense and the little things are going to win this series, and so far the Giants have been better than the Phillies on all three of those counts.
I'm cautiously optimistic with Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels in the next three games, but the Phillies offense has to score early (and preferably first) in order to set the tone. Hopefully, last night's production is a sign of things to come. Hopefully.
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