NLDS Game One Thread, Brewers at Phillies
by WholeCamels on Oct 1, 2008 1:00 PM EDT
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PrintMilwaukee Brewers at Philadelphia Phillies, Oct 1, 2008 3:07 PM EDT
The Brewers return to the site of their September Shaming looking to exorcise the demons of 26 years of consistent mediocrity, and the Phillies look to overcome the disappointment of last year's blink-and-you-missed-it NLDS sweep-o-rama at the hands of the Colorado Rockies.
Of course most of the pressure in this game -- and the series as a whole -- is on the Phillies. Pretty much every "expert" has picked the Phillies to win this series, and winning Game One today is of extreme importance. Imagine going into Game Two against CC Sabathia, facing the very real possibility of going down 0-2 and heading out to Milwaukee needing to sweep. Yeah, I don't like that either.
Cole Hamels goes for the Phillies today. Hopefully he's wearing an appropriate undershirt, unlike last year. The real X-Factor in this game is Yovani Gallardo, making just his second start since coming back from knee surgery this spring. He dominated a weak Pirates lineup last week in a four inning tune-up start. Hopefully the Phillies can knock him around a bit, get him out of the game early, and feast on the Brewers messy bullpen.
Let's go!
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a few notes
—>J.A. Happ made the playoff roster, as had been widely reported. Rudy Seanez did not. Seanez and Lou Marson will be with the team through at least the NLDS.
—>Pat Burrell took batting practice with the team earlier today and reportedly looked okay. Charlie Manuel said this morning that he has made out two lineups, one with Pat and one without. If Burrell can’t go, Matt Stairs will start in right and Jayson Werth shifts to left.
—>It’s obvious that a ton is riding on Cole Hamels today. He’s come up slightly small in probably the two biggest starts of his career to date: NLDS ‘07 Game One (the undershirt game), and the start against Santana at Shea last month. But he’s also dominated a lot of good lineups. The Brewers are a vastly more dangerous team against lefties, which is unfortunate; Prince Fielder is the only lefty bat in their lineup. Hamels will have to be at his best.
—>It sounds like Yovani Gallardo has an upper limit of around 100 pitches, but this is more implied than explicitly stated by Dale Sveum.
I got some of this from Rich Hoffman’s chat earlier today, which is worth a look.
Ironically, Fielder has had more success off Hamels than any other Brewer. Of course, no one’s really faced him a whole lot.
Cameron: 0 for 2, 1 BB, 1 K
Hall: 1 for 6, 2 K
Braun: 1 for 7, 1 2B, 2 K
Fielder: 3 for 6, 2 HR, 1 BB
Hardy: 2 for 5, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Hart: 1 for 6, 2 K
Weeks: 2 for 5, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
Kendall: 2 for 6, 1 2B, 1 K
Burrell
I missed it – what happened to Burrell yesterday?
by David S. Cohen on Oct 1, 2008 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Weather is looking kinda threatening right now. Hopefully this game can be delayed 30 minutes so I have time to get home from work to watch it in its entirety.
It’s not really possible for Utley or Howard to have a worse series than they did last year, so I am optimistic.
3 up, 3 down - 2ks
cole looks uber sharp, the crowd seems into it, and the brewers dugout is already moping. i like it.
Yahoo has pitching matchups up for Games 3-5 (Moyer vs. Suppan, Hamels vs. Bush, Myers vs. Sabathia). Have those been announced already or are they just guessing?
Is anyone watching on TV? On radio, Larry Andersen is just all over Dana DeMuth’s ball/strike calls, even more than he usually does.
Much as I hate the guy, Smoltz is a pretty good TV analyst—nice explanation for the lay person of why Hamels is tough.
Strikeout of the leadoff guy in the 3rd.
The weather is gonna mess this up for Hamels. In West Philly it’s raining so hard that on the walk home I was completely drenched.
and wow, gallardo almost untied the game there.
thankfully, it was windy and the ball stayed in the park
Gallardo almost homered… deep flyout to left. The TBS guys said it would have been gone 20 minutes ago.
WOW
almost a terrible sac bunt by cole, billy hall hesitates and decides not to throw to second, throws to first (where weeks was covering), weeks drops it. 2 on
Werth looks like SHIT. He really shouldn’t be batting 2nd based on his performance in the last few weeks of the season.
Damn, looks like we are about to squander a huge chance.
timing
It sounds like most of you are either listening on radio or following online. So should I not react to things immediately—given that it’s usually me in your situation, following online while others are watching TV?
I must agree with LA, strike zone has been really inconsistent for both sides.
Hamels REALLY shuts em down this inning. Great stuff.
The game live online for free
That last link started to get a little flaky. This one appears to be working well
I hate the way announcers and commentators fawn over him.
by David S. Cohen on Oct 1, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Does he do sexual favors for the announcers before games?
by David S. Cohen on Oct 1, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions
On radio, Chris Wheeler just said Dana DeMuth is doing a really good job behind the plate today, a couple of innings after Larry Andersen was just ripping DeMuth left and right. I don’t know what to believe anymore.
BP
Anyone see how Baseball Prospectus has the Phillies the lowest for likelihood of winning the World Series – 5% for both the Phils and Dodgers.
I hate it when they say somebody is a #1 pick
when they we’re just picked in the first round. I understand that it was the phillies #1 pick, but cant you just say that? or can’t you just say that he was the 15th overall pick? comonnnnn
Hopefully “Hamels vs. Lidge” is nothing more than an academic debate. That being said, I think I’d send Cole back out there unless he says he’s spent.
two justifications
1. You’ve got a guy who was the best closer in the league this year, coming in fresh, to nail down a huge win.
2. If Hamels has to come back for Game 4, maybe the difference is his not getting taxed here.
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