Halladay, Lincecum armed for dramatic duel in Game 1 of NLCS

FOR THE 16 position players who will take the field on Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, the only thing more daunting than the at-bats they will take might be the questions they face in the week leading up to one of the best pitching matchups in postseason history.

"I'm not even going to bring a bat with me," Shane Victorino said with patronizing horror as a gaggle of media descended upon him after the Phillies' workout yesterday at Citizens Bank Park.

Mock all you want, but it's hard to imagine baseball and television executives joining in the eye-rolling. As insufferable as the hype is bound to be, the showdown between righthanders Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum on Saturday night has all the makings of the top sports story in the nation (outside of SEC country, that is).

Not since 2000, when Mike Hampton and Roger Clemens squared off in Game 2 of the World Series, have two pitchers faced each other in the postseason after throwing shutouts in the previous round. Hampton, however, never won a Cy Young. Lincecum has won the last two awards in the National League, and Halladay, who won the AL award in 2003, is the frontrunner to supplant him this season.

Together, they combined to allow four baserunners and strike out 22 in Game 1 victories over the Braves and Reds in the National League Division Series. Halladay pitched the second no-hitter in postseason history, limiting Cincinnati to one walk in a 4-0 victory in Game 1 on Oct. 6. The next night, Lincecum allowed a leadoff double to Omar Infante and then proceeded to retire 27 of the final 29 batters in a 1-0 victory over Atlanta.

"It doesn't get much better than that," Phillies catcher Brian Schneider said.

Schneider's words resonate because he has faced both pitchers, going 0-for-5 with one strikeout against Lincecum and 3-for-16 with three strikeouts against Halladay. He is also a catcher, which gives him a unique perspective on just how nasty both men can be.

"The thing about them is they both have strikeout pitches, a couple different ones," Schneider said. "Some guys have good stuff but have trouble putting you away. These guys can put you away with three pitches. That's the biggest thing about them. They have so many different pitches to put you away with. It's not like you can look for one or two pitches."

As is the case with most great pitchers, Halladay's and Lincecum's success starts with their fastballs. Halladay attacks hitters with his sinker and cutter, relying heavily on his curveball while mixing in a much-improved changeup. Lincecum, meanwhile, features a nasty split-fingered changeup and mixes in a curveball.

"They're different sizes, different pitchers, really," manager Charlie Manuel said. "They call [Lincecum] a freak. I don't know if he's a freak or not, but his style is different. I hear people talk about his mechanics, but he does everything the pitcher is supposed to do. He's special. He's got a tremendous changeup, fastball, breaking ball. And when he's real good his command is good. Halladay, on the other hand, is bigger, stronger. He's got more pitches, and I would say Halladay definitely has more command of the strike zone than Lincecum has. But on a given day he can be powerful, too."

Since 2008, Linceum has held the Phillies to six earned runs in 37 1/3 innings, striking out 43 and walking six. In April, he held them to two runs on three hits with 11 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings before the Giants' bullpen blew the game in the ninth.

Halladay, who is in his first year in the National League after an offseason trade with the Blue Jays, has less experience against the Giants. His only recent start came in a 5-1 loss on April 26 at AT & T Park, when he allowed five runs on 10 hits in seven innings with five strikeouts. His only other starts against San Francisco came in 2004 (5 1/3 innings, five hits, five runs, four strikeouts in an 8-5 loss) and 2002 (6 1/3 innings, 10 hits, five runs, five strikeouts in a 6-3 loss).

"For the fans, I think it's going to be a great matchup," said Ryan Howard, whose three home runs against Lincecum are more than any other player in the majors. "Both guys are going to be well-prepared. It might be a quick game. Who knows? You want Halladay to just go out there and do his stuff and for us to go out there and try to get a couple runs. It's going to be one of those games where both teams are going to be scratching and clawing to get a run across." *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese. Follow him on Twitter at

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