Staff Blog
About Last Night, October 10th
The headlines are all going to be about Chase, Pat, Cole, and Manny, but the difference in this one-run game might have been the
shortstops. Both Rollins and Furcal went
0-4 and neither were particularly good 0fers either – they didn’t take pitches,
move runners over or even hit the ball particually hard – but in the field Jimmy, as he has time and time
again, took runs away with his glove while Furcal had the error that put Shane
on base and got the rally going. From
where I was in left field I had the chance to see Jimmy’s throws from pretty
much directly behind him, and when he lets loose it’s awesome. The ball stays at shoulder level from the time
it leaves his hand to the time it reaches Ryan’s glove. I know the term “frozen rope” is meant for
line drives, but it applies almost perfect here too. Jimmy’s entire body twist and bends as he leaps forward for the throw, but when he releases the ball is straight as can be. In a game of home runs and strikeouts these
throws are often lost, and the players who make them routinely rarely heralded.
Furcal’s throw shows they shouldn’t be.
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The Game: The
Phillies won the same way they have been winning all year – with solid pitching
and the long ball. Cole Hamels continued
his ascent to “big game pitcher” and Chase Utley played the game we all wanted
him too. In a seven game series the
first one is always big – the Phils got that first one.
Zolecki’s recap HERE, Murphy’s HERE, Miller’s HERE, Mandel’s
HERE, and the AP’s is HERE, with video.
The Hero: Cole Hamels gave the Phillies seven innings of two
run ball, Chase Utley tied the game and Pat Burrell gave the Phils the win.
The Race: In the race to the World Series the Phillies have
a win and the Dodgers do not
Other Notes …
- Most of my notes were live-blogged HERE, so feel free to go back
and catch to observations.
- The Phillies improved to 26-39 in their postseason history
- Cole Hamels has never struck out less than 7 batters in a
postseason start - The Phillies, as a team, drew only one walk. Equally shocking was who drew it – the free swinging Pedro Feliz
- The Dodgers had only two
- Derek Lowe had a 12-2 ground ball/fly ball out ratio. He did, of course, give up two fly balls that no one caught.
