If this past sereis between the Giants and Phillies was a NLCS preview, then I can't wait for October. A benches clearing brawl, 2 complete games, and a whole bunch of offense all added up to a very entertaining Phillies 4 game sweep.
Thursday was the Cliff Lee show. Cliff was absolutely dominant, as he pitched his 5th complete game of the year as the Phillies went on to win by a final of 3-0. Hunter Pence and John Mayberry Jr. both homered in the 2nd, and Pence had another RBI in the 9th to score Victorino. After the game Lee said he was locating his pitches really well and it was his command that enabled him to completely dominate the Giants.
After Thursday night's victory things got pretty heated on Friday at AT&T Park. The Phillies had a decisive 8-2 lead in the 6th when Ramon Ramirez plunked Shane Victorino. Victorino tossed his bat in anger and started walking to the mound. Both benches cleared and chaos broke loose. No suspensions have yet to be announced but Victorino, Ramon Ramirz, and our favorite gray haired catcher Eli Whiteside will definitely receive some type of fine or suspension. Aside from the extra curricular activities, the Phillies won 9-2.
Yesterday the Phils got things started early. In the first, Hunter Pence hit an RBI single to score Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley scored on a past ball. With a 2 run lead, Cole Hamels provided yet another outstanding performance by a Phillies starter. Hamels was brilliant as he pitched his second complete game of the year. The lone run Hamels gave up came in the 9th thanks to a 2 out Pablo Sandoval homerun. Hamels said afterwards that he definitely wanted the shutout to keep up with Cliff Lee who pitched a complete game shutout on Thursday.
Oswalt made his return today and he looked great on the mound and at the plate. Oswalt scored a run in the third, and on the mound he gave up 3 earned runs in 6 innings of work. The Giants certainly didn't rough up Oswalt but in the end it would be enough to beat the Phillies 3-1. In just his first game back I definitely liked what I saw from Oswalt. He was locating his fastball as well as pitching his slider and breaking pitches for strikes.
Overall you have to love what the Phillies were able to do this weekend. They went into San Francisco and took care of business by taking 3 out of 4 games from the defending World Champs. Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Vance Worley, and Roy Oswalt all pitched great and the offense certainly did it's job as well. Now the Phillies are sitting pretty at 74-40 and have a 8.5 game lead over the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies will now travel to Los Angeles where they will take on the Dodgers in a 3 game series beginning tomorrow night.
No comments:
Post a Comment