Lidge celebrates at the 6-5 win over the Rockies. ( Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer )
Paul Hagen: It took a while, but Rollins gets the engine started
DENVER — Jimmy Rollins hadn’t attracted a lot of attention for most of the first three games of the playoffs. Going into the ninth inning last night, he had two singles in 13 at-bats and hadn’t scored a run.
That should have been good news for the Rockies. The abridged scouting report on beating the Phillies could be boiled down to “Keep them in the park.” The three-time National League East champions hit a lot of home runs. When they don’t, they often have trouble scoring because they frequently seem to struggle playing small ball.
Well, guess what? The Phillies have hit only two homers in the first three games. But they lead their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies two games to one because they’ve been able to manufacture runs.
The game-winner last night against Rockies closer Huston Street was a perfect example. Rollins started the inning by working a walk. Shane Victorino dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt. Victorino went to third on an infield single by Chase Utley and scored on Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly.
“Jimmy’s the guy that starts our engine,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He sets our offense in motion. We know how to play. People like to talk about our offense because we hit (224 homers during the regular season). But when we’re playing good, we can manufacture runs with our speed and everything. Here lately we’ve been moving runners better and getting hits at the right time.”
Four of the Phillies runs were scored by players who walked. Only one came on a homer.
“Collectively, this was one of the better games I’ve been around,” Victorino said. “It was a well-played game. We did a lot of things right.”
But everybody recognizes the importance of Rollins. The Phillies were 58-19 (.783) when shortstop and leadoff hitter scored at least one run during the regular season.
“After the game, I told him, ‘It’s about time you did something,” Victorino said with a grin.
Jimmy Rollins hadn’t attracted a lot of attention for most of the first three games of the playoffs. Going into the ninth inning last night, he had two singles in 13 at bats and hadn’t scored a run.
That should have been good news for the Rockies. The abridged scouting report on beating the Phillies could be boiled down to “Keep them in the park.” The three-time National League East champions hit a lot of home runs. When they don’t, they often have trouble scoring because they frequently seem to struggle playing small ball.
Well, guess what? The Phillies have hit only two homers in the first three games. But they lead their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies two games to one because they’ve been able to manufacture runs.
The game-winner last night against Rockies closer Huston Street was a perfect example. Rollins started the inning by working a walk. Shane Victorino dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt. Victorino went to third on an infield single by Chase Utley and scored on Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly.
“Jimmy’s the guy that starts our engine,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He sets our offense in motion. We know how to play. People like to talk about our offense because we hit (224 homers during the regular season). But when we’re playing good, we can manufacture runs with our speed and everything. Here lately we’ve been moving runners better and getting hits at the right time.”
Four of the Phillies runs were scored by players who walked. Only one came on a homer.
“Collectively, this was one of the better games I’ve been around,” Victorino said. “It was a well-played game. We did a lot of things right.”
But everybody recognizes the importance of Rollins. The Phillies were 58-19 (.783) when shortstop and leadoff hitter scored at least one run during the regular season.
“After the game, I told him, ‘It’s about time you did something,” Victorino said with a grin.
Luck happens
If the Phillies don’t beat the Rockies to advance to the NLCS, it won’t be because they didn’t get a couple significant breaks along the way.
First, Franklin Morales pulled his left groin in his last regular-season start and was ruled physically unable to pitch in the first round. He is Colorado’s only lefthanded starter and might have been able to help neutralize the Phillies’ lefthanded bats like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.
Then Saturday night’s postponement due to rain and cold allowed manager Charlie Manuel to bring lefty J.A. Happ back to start Game 3 last night, even though he warmed up in Game 1 and pitched in Game 2, when a sharp comebacker to the mound hit him just below the knee and knocked him out of the game.
It also allowed Manuel to start Cliff Lee, who has allowed two runs in 16 innings against the Rockies this year, on normal rest in Game 4.
It further means that the Phillies can start Lee, Happ or Cole Hamels in every game. The Rockies were 27-26 against lefthanded starters during the regular season.
The Phillies appeared to get another break in the process of scoring the winning run in the top of the ninth. With Jimmy Rollins on second and one out, Chase Utley drove a ball into the ground. It then rolled up the first base line.
Utley beat the throw from catcher Yorvit Torrealba and Ryan Howard followed with the sacrifice fly that gave the Phillies a 6-5 win.
Jet lag alert
Losing today’s scheduled travel date could mean that the Phillies will spend a lot of time in the air in the next couple days.
If the series against the Rockies is extended to five games, they’ll fly from Denver to Philadelphia tonight. If they win to advance they will face the Dodgers in the NLCS beginning Thursday and would have to turn right around and fly back to Los Angeles tomorrow night or Wednesday morning.
Did you notice
--That catcher Carlos Ruiz drove in the Phillies’ fourth and fifth runs with two-out singles? And that, in each case, Raul Ibanez helped set it up by working a walk, including a nine-pitch base on balls in the fourth.
-- That a pair of Rockies runners, Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, went first-to-third on routine singles to left in the first inning? The deep fences at Coors Field make it possible for aggressive runners to take an extra base because outfielders tend to play a little deeper than normal.
-- That Phillies starter J.A. Happ gave up four hits in the first inning last night ... after giving up a total of four or fewer hits in seven of his 23 regular-season starts.
-- That Colorado’s slogan for this postseason is Rocktober? That’s clever. But what if they make it to the World Series? Game 7 is scheduled for Nov.5.
Numerology
76: Pitches thrown by Phillies starter J.A. Happ in his three innings last night. That’s a lot.
255: Rockies’ team batting average.
313: Phillies’ team batting average.
3.67: Phillies’ team earned run average.
5.19: Rockies’ team earned run average.
Miscellany
-- With Joe Blanton pitching 2 2/3 innings last night, that could make Pedro Martinez the first pitcher in if Cliff Lee doesn’t pitch deep into the game tonight.
-- leftfielder Jayson Werth’s 11-game postseason hitting streak ended last night. He did walk and score a run in the fourth, however.
-- Rightfielder Brad Hawpe was an All-Star this year. But he was .240-9-27 with 82 whiffs and an .813 OPS after the break and also hit significantly higher against righthanded pitching (.303) than lefthanders (.243). So he’s been out of the starting lineup each of the last two games.
-- If the Phillies and Rockies play tomorrow, it would be the first time an NLDS has gone the distance since 2005, when the Astros beat the Braves in five.
