PHILLIES NEWS

In a pivotal game 3 matchup of aces it was unfortunately Matt Cain who bested Cole Hamels. Cain tossed 7 scoreless innings while Hamels allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in just 6 innings. Like Roy Halladay in game 1, it was just hard luck that got to Hamels in this one. He had 2 outs in the 4th inning when a walk to Pat Burrell, followed by back to back RBI singles by Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff put the Giants up 2-0. Later in the 5th inning he had 2 outs again when Chase Utley was unable to keep a groundball in front of himself, allowing Aaron Rowand to score from 3rd for a 3-0 lead.

Those 3 runs would be all the Giants would need. Cain was just too good for the Phils today. They did have a few opportunities against him but were unable to capitalize. They had 2 on with 2 out in the 3rd inning, but Chase Utley grounded out. They 2 on with 1 out in 4th but Jimmy Rollins flied out and Raul Ibanez. They put 2 on with 2 out in the 7th for Shane Victorino but after a long at bat he grounded sharply to the 2nd to end the inning and Cain's night. From there the Phils. Finally they had 1 on with 1 out in the 9th but Ibanez grounded into a game ending double play and the Giants had a 2-1 series lead.

This is not the first time the Phils have trailed 2-1 in the NLCS with game 4 on the road, in fact they won the series that last 2 times that happened. They trailed 2-1 in the 1980 NLCS and came back to win 3-2, defeating Nolan Ryan at Houston in game 5. They also trailed the 1993 NLCS 2-1 and came back to win 4-2, winning games 4 and 5 at the then 2 time defending NL champion Atlanta Braves. So the series is far from over and they're just going to have to dust themselves off and come back strong in game 4 tomorrow.