Morning Extras: Phils Answer a lot of Questions

Heading into the Division series matchup with the Brewers, you'd be hard pressed to find a reporter, columnist, pundit or even fan who thought the Phillies wouldn't win. The Brewers had a good young lineup but were scuffling down the stretch. The pitching staff was bolstered mid-way through the season by CC Sabathia, but lacked solid depth after the loss of Ben Sheets. It wasn't so much that we knew the Phillies would get to the NLCS, but more so that they could beat the Brewers to get there. (Thanks, Mets).

The Phillies, for all their 92 wins and MVP and Cy Young candidates, had a lot of question marks heading into the playoffs. Perhaps the biggest question was about the starting pitching. Set up with Cole Hamels going in game one and a potential game five and avoiding Sabathia in both contests, two wins seemed all but dog-eared for the Phils. But nothing else in the rotation was certain. Which Brett Myers would show up? Is Jamie Moyer just too damn old to pitch this much in a season? Will Joe Blanton even get a start? And if he does, how long will it last?

After four games with Milwaukee, a lot of those question marks turned into exclamation points.

Cole Hamels was better than we expected him to be, setting the tone for the series and giving the bullpen some extra rest before giving the ball over to Brad Lidge. While Lidge had many Phils fans reaching for the nitroglycerin, he got the save, and was lights out in game two. We had questions about Lidge coming into the playoffs too. Was he tired? Would he be able to continue his save streak with how up-and-down he had been pitching heading into post season? In three games in the series, Lidge pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one run on three hits while walking one and striking out four. And earning two saves.

We'll take that.

Myers was the biggest question mark and his performance in game two may have been the best start of his career if you consider everything that was on the line. Moyer did look old on the mound, but was getting squeezed all night at the plate and only gave up two runs on four hits in a too-brief four innings of work. And he'll surely be rested after his shortest outing since August.

Blanton proved to be a big, and pleasant, surprise. Heading into game four, one had to think that five runs would be a minimum number for the Phils offense to put up to secure the win. So when the Fightins got to the five run threshold on Pat Burrell's three-run homer, the game was far from over. Except it was. Blanton pitched a gem – his best performance as a Phillie – allowing just one run on six-plus innings of work.

The bullpen had a few missteps, but only gave up four runs in 10 innings of work, with none of the runs coming on game-tying or lead-changing plays. And perhaps most importantly, didn't work a lot. In four games, the often-used Chad Durbin and JC Romero combined to pitch one inning.

Heading into the NLCS, the biggest questions seem to be with the offense, which nobody would have thought when this season started. At first glance, the offense seems somewhat unproductive in four games. But the sample size is so small, the numbers will often look skewed. The team is batting .250 in the playoffs. So are the Dodgers. The Phillies also have 60 total bases to the Dodgers 46 and are the only team in the NL with more than one stole base (five). The Dodgers did score five more runs in one fewer game, but the Phillies did score enough runs to win the series with relative ease. And for that, you can thank the outfield.

In four games, the combination of Burrell, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth combined for 10 RBI, seven runs, four of the five home runs and eleven extra-base hits. It's been the infield that has been struggling. That said, Jimmy Rollins is batting .375 with six hits (three extra-base) in four games. In fact, in the four games, the only regulars batting below .200 are Carlos Ruiz (.071), Chase Utley (.133) and Ryan Howard (.182).

Utley and Howard have a combined three RBI and two extra base hits in 26 at-bats. So heading into the NLCS, the biggest question we have is about Utley and Howard? Knowing their penchant for production, if that's the only remaining question we have, this should be a pretty exciting two weeks.

PLAYOFF LINKS:

• Charlie Manuel let the players celebrate after clinching, but he was already thinking about winning more games.

• Beerleaguer says that Pat the Bat answered a lot of questions yesterday, too.

• There were three heroes yesterday, writes Jason Levine. A likely hero, an unlikely hero, and one who is often unliked....well, not today.

• Jim Salisbury recounts the many times the Phils and Dodgers have seen each other in post season. Let's keep this in perspective. Cole Hamels was born two months after the last time the Phils faced the Dodgers in the playoffs.

• The Dodgers lineup has changed many times this year. The constant, writes Bill Plaschke, has been Joe Torre.

• This series is shaping up to be pretty even, especially if you look at the eight times the teams met this season.

• The Angles kept hope alive with a 12-inning win over the Red Sox in Fenway.

• John Danks was good yesterday. Good enough to force a game four.

• Brewers fans can't complain about the first-round exit. They're too full of meat to be upset.

• Cubs fans sure can complain. Turns out there was a flood in the visiting dugout in LA. One of the Cubbies may have taken a bat to the plumbing. Rick Telander asks, why not take the bat to a ball?

• This photo is great, made better by the great reference by 'Duk.

FOOTBALL LINKS:

• Brian Westbrook is pissed. And he should be, no?

• Dan Snyder is excited. And little. I wonder where he keeps his hand during portraits.

• Matt Mosley has the entire game covered, including wondering if anyone can stay with Washington, and questioning why the Eagles got away from their early play calling.

Comments

[Scott B]

very cool to see The Bat smile in his post game interviews. Glad for him.

Also, were there any Phillies chants at the Eagles game yesterday? I would have never thought in a million years that would happen.

[Jonn]

Cy Young candidates? Candidate singular or plural? Who would that be?

[Dan Levy]

Well, it says MVP and Cy Young candidates, so that references Howard and Hamels, but I still contend that Lidge should be in the mix for Cy Young.

He blows four saves this year and they don't make the playoffs.

[DLo34]

Lidge will be in the top 4, if not top 3 in the Cy Young voting this year behind Lincecum, Webb, and maybe Johan. Hamels will be in the top 10. So yes, "candidates" was the correct word.

Howard will win the NL MVP. Utley will most likely be at the bottom of the top 10 list. Lidge could also be someone who gets one or two votes for MVP. So yes, "candidates" was the correct word.

[BadMotherFutley]

The earliest concrete sporting memory I have is going to game 3 of the 1983 NLCS against the Dodgers with my dad. We were in the front row of the 500 level, right over 1st base. Sarge had a monster game.

Little did I know the ensuing World Series would start a string of frustrations that would continue into my 30s.

[MPR529]

not to take away what lidge did this season, a closer doesn't deserve the cy young...ever. one inning of work 3-4x a week at best? c'mon!

besides, Lincecum will get it. that kid had 11 no decisions and still came away with 18 wins on a shitty giants team. 23 ER in those ND game too. The kid is a stud.

[Ahorrow]

While you are correct to say that Lidge did not pitch as many innings, i would argue that Lincecum had a lot less pressure on him.

He just pitched it didn’t matter if he won or lost he was on the giants. Every time Lidge took the mound there was little to no margin for error and he was able to answer the call every time this season. That being said i believe Lidge is a better MVP candidate then CY Young, but he deserves whatever he gets because without him we would not be watching the NLCS this week....

[Argive]

The problem with Lidge this year, I think, is that he was overshadowed by Francisco Rodriguez and his practically meaningless record. I would much rather have Lidge, considering that K-Rod blew 7 saves. If Lidge had done that, the Phillies wouldn't have sniffed the playoffs.

[Carl]

Another reason the Dodgers' outscoring the Phils in the first round is not of any concern: the Cubs made SIX errors in the NLDS, to the Brewers' one.

[Debt Reduction]

The Phillies did an outstanding job, and I feel they will clobber the Dodgers, who I feel are just not up to snuff. The Cubs completely shut down scoring 6 runs in 3 games. That WILL NOT happen with the Phillies