Phils need a new plan
What is the roadmap to four wins now?
Phils need a new plan
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Everybody did the same thing in their own way, playing out the World Series in their head before it started. If you were from Philadelphia, you spent your time trying to map out a way for the Phillies to win four games.
This was my personal map: Cliff Lee wins Game 1 and Game 5; the Phillies’ hitters get to CC Sabathia in a raucous, all-hands-on-deck Game 7 at Yankee Stadium; and, in between, they clobber Andy Pettitte one time, ideally in Game 3.
Well, scratch that.
My map-to-four really did not mention the name Cole Hamels. The reason is that I did not see the possibility of Hamels pitching a gem -- not at this point, not after all of these months. I just didn’t see how it could happen against this potent a lineup. That it did not happen in Game 3 should shock no one. That Hamels circled the drain early, again, was always the likely outcome.
His pitching line: 4 1/3 innings and 5 runs allowed. A lot of it was just Hamels being Hamels in the 2009 version. He was very good for three innings and then, well: adversity, lost concentration, you know. “Things kind of started snowballing on him,” said Phils manager Charlie Manuel, who also went out of his way to say that he did not question Hamels’ mental toughness.
The result of this was that they were going to need to hit Pettitte and they were going to need to hit him hard. And it looked like it was going to happen, too. The Phillies had his pitch count into the 50s after only the second inning, and they had a 3-0 lead. But then Pettitte settled down. The adversity did not get to him, unlike Hamels. The difficult parts of the game did not submerge him. But for an error by third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Pettitte would have retired nine straight Phillies before Jayson Werth’s home run in the sixth inning. Dire trouble, a really difficult night, cruised instead toward a comfortable conclusion for Pettitte: six innings, four runs. He had seven strikeouts, all of them on sliders.
For the Phillies, it just wasn’t enough. “He shut us down,” Manuel said. “The biggest thing for Pettitte was, he closed down our lefthanded hitters.”
The Phils are now hitting .216 in the series as a team. Chase Utley and Shane Victorino are both 2-for-11 (Utley’s were both huge Game 1 homers). Pedro Feliz is 1-for-11. Ryan Howard is 2-for-13.
After Hamels, they did the serial bullpen dance, with J.A. Happ, Chad Durbin and Brett Myers each allowing single runs along the way. It was 8-4 as the Phillies got to the back end of the Yankees’ bullpen. But the energy had been sucked out of the ballpark and out of the lineup by then. You could see the red tail lights headed in the direction of the Walt Whitman Bridge as the Yankees batted in the top of the ninth inning. Carlos Ruiz hit a ninth-inning homer but it didn’t matter. The only good thing for the Phillies was that it caused Yankees manager Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen for closer Mariano Rivera to get the final two outs on a night that they would have preferred to give Rivera a rest.
And now, Sabathia vs. Joe Blanton in Game 4. Sabathia vs. Blanton in the game that will either even the series or push the Phillies to the precipice. There are people who wanted to see Lee in Game 4 on short rest but it really would have been a panic move. There are people who would have rather seen Happ in this starting spot in the playoffs instead of Blanton, and that will be the great off-season debate if this all goes badly. There are arguments both ways -- because Happ was so good for so long on the one hand, but also because Happ hasn’t seen the seventh inning since August, before he suffered that oblique injury. The answer there is unknown and unknowable.
This is what they are left with, Sabathia vs. Blanton. And I have to tell you, I don’t know a lot of people who had them winning this one as they drew up their own personal roadmaps to a repeat championship. And, well, as Manuel said, “If we’re going to get going, it’s time for us to do it.”
Meanwhile, a single voice loudly shouted as the fans filed past the press box toward the exits: “Seven-game series, folks. Seven-game series.”
HOW DO I EXPLAIN CLEARLY ENOUGH THAT I HATE THE VIDEOS ON THE NEW SPORTS PAGES? Yes, I know I am shouting.
Comment removed.
GOEX: I AM WITH YOU. LOSE THE COMMERCIAL. Oh. And win 4 and 5. Go to NY and split.- Hamels is done. CC vs Fatman tomorrow? not good, Blanton has been another Hamels lately. Woulda liked Happ instead.— Nezhy
- yeah, everyone hates the videos, please get rid of them! and, there's not gonna be a game 7 here...i mean, Blanton v. CC = game over down 3-1, then Lee gets us to 3-2 just in time for the yanks to win it at home. we need another starter for next year.— BJG83
- Easy way to get rid of the commericals is to get firexfox and use the adblock addon— The Blueprint
- CC is the real "fatman." These 3-day rest outings are going to catch up with him. Eagles fans needs to give the NY Giants hell in the early afternoon and then Phillies fans needs to rock the house Sunday night at the Bank. Failure is not an option.— TripleOption
- I'm with everyone else. The commercials need to go. I think the Yanks take the Series in 5. Phillies have that same look as they did in '78 v. the Dodgers. Howard picked a terrible time to tank. Hamels is a one season wonder. Yanks are not winning this series, the Phillies are giving it away. They are playing dead.— Manor2009
- Blanton just needs to keep it to 4 or less and I think the Phillies will put up at least that much against CC and get him out of the game.— jtj06
- The number one team in Philly will beat New York again in a big spot tomorrow! E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!— jeffmacnow1234
- “He shut us down,” Manuel said. “The biggest thing for Pettitte was, he closed down our lefthanded hitters.” Your lefthanded hitters closed themselves down, Charlie. All they had to do was wait him out and make him throw strikes. The guy threw nothing but junk. They should have been into the Yankees bullpen by the 3rd or 4th inning. I don't even want to mention the Phils starting pitcher by name because I'm so disgusted by him. I could tolerate him being a prima donna before because he could pitch. Now he just needs to go away. But the performance of the lefties and Victorino at the plate was equally as wretched.— pariah
Wow, give up much? Oh wait, I forgot I was on PHILLY.com. My bad. It aint over. Go Phils!!!- They all look like they're in a trance or thoroughly confused. This is not the same team that compete's so well. The top four ought to be ashamed. They're the key to success and they're all failing. Dig down boys and be who you can be!!!! NOW.....time is of the essence!!!!!!— stoneman
- Thumbs down on the video. We need to get to the Yankees bullpen, which is not special save Rivera. I hope Sabathia gets knocked out in the fifth or sixth innings. We really need Game 4 or this thing is over and we will have been beaten like we beat the Dodgers.— PhillyScott
Howard, Utley, and Ibanez are protecting a strike zone bigger than CC't gut. They basically have to swing if it looks remotely like a strike, so they're chasing all these absurd pitches. The home plate umps have been worse than the terrible video ads on this awful new site.— Pelti
