SCORES TWICE AFTER A PUCK TO THE FACE
Brad Lidge almost game everybody a heart attack, but he struck out Corey Hart to end the game and give the Phillies a 3-1 victory.
Lidge left runners on second and third with the go-ahead run at the plate.
He threw 35 pitches.
Wonder if he can pitch tomorrow night if needed?
It's the Phillies' first win in the playoffs since 1993.
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Brad Lidge is warming up in the top of the ninth. Cole Hamels allowed two hits and one walk in nine innings. He also struck out seven. Heck of a performance for Hamels.
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Cole Hamels continues to deal.
We're entering the top of the 8th inning and it's 3-0.
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Yovani Gallardo is finished.
Here's his line: four innings, three hits, three runs (no earned runs), five walks (one intentional) and three strikeouts. He threw 75 pitches, just 37 for strikes.
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It's the top of the fifth inning in Game 1 of the National League division series. Here's what has happened so far:
Cole Hamels has been a stud.
The Brewers made some fielding miscues to hand the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
Hamels allowed a single to Corey Hart with two outs in the fifth to spoil his perfect game. He has struck out six Brewers so far, and has looked very, very sharp. Can't say the same about the Brewers defense. Carlos Ruiz hit a leadoff single in the third inning. Hamels followed with a sacrifice bunt. Brewers third baseman Bill Hall had a play at second, but he bobbled the ball and threw to first instead. Second baseman Rickie Weeks, who was covering first, dropped the ball, to put runners on first and second with no outs.
It was huge.
Yovani Gallardo retired Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth for two outs. Had Hall or Weeks made a play the inning would have been over. Instead Chase Utley hit a line drive to deep center field. It appeared centerfielder Mike Cameron took a bad route on the ball. He reached over his head to make the catch, but the ball fell out of his glove as both runners scored and Utley reached second for a double. Gallardo then intentionally walked Howard. But he also walked Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino to force in another run to make it 3-0.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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