Before tonight the Phils had never before swept a postseason series. They had been swept themselves, by the Yankees in the 1950 world series and by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1976 NLCS, but they had never successfully done the deed to someone else. Now thanks to Cole Hamels' efforts tonight they have, exacting revenge on the same Reds team that did it to them 34 years ago. Hamels was positively brillint in every way. He had little trouble in the first inning, allowing leadoff man Drew Stubbs to reach base, but Shane Victorino's running catch of a fly ball off the bat of Brandon Philips got him out of it. It was pretty much smooth sailing from there in a complete game 5 hit shutout, including 9 strikeouts, and one frustrated Red after another.
The Reds never managed to get more than one runner on base at the same time and got a runner in scoring position just once after the 1st inning, when Ramon Hernandez doubled into the gap in the left with 2 out in the 7th. Aside from Roy Halladay's no hitter in game 1, it just doesn't get more dominating than that. Anyway, while Hamels dominated the Phils lineup simply took care of business. Placido Polanco singled with 1 out in the 1st, moved to the 3rd on a Ryan Howard single and scored on an error by Orlando Cabrera. Later, Chase Utley crushed a solo homer in the 5th for a 2-0 lead and that was about all she wrote. Hamels took it from there as the Phils danced into their 3rd straight NLCS and 3rd in the 4 straight years they've been to the postseason. Let the good times roll!
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2 comments:
Well theres always a first for something and this certainly isnt a bad one. Phillies are looking good and its tough to lose when your pitching only gives up 9 hits in 3 games. Thats pretty amazing and I cant wait for the next series.
-to ph1llysports
good point about the pitching and I can't wait either
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