Giant Mess: Giants 6, Phillies 5

The Fangraph spot after the Werth double is just mean.

This really stings, could have stolen one…Halladay is the best man for the job tomorrow though! Still have the faith! Go Phillies.

This ain’t over. We’ve got em right where we want em, yo.

Woof…watched the come back and then checked on the train to see the loss. Cripes — tough to take. Still, gotta play them all, or some such cliche.

Who’s trying to get hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh tonight?

i sad

Was at the game with a friend from Philly.

You guys have an incredible team, and this game was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Tomorrow should be amazing, no matter who wins. We are lucky to live in an era when we can see pitchers like Halladay and Lincecum face off, and more than once, in a critical series.

I don’t know when people are going to start to realize this, but Joe Blanton is not a good pitcher. Look, I know it’s hard to look past his couple good starts in the ‘08 playoffs and his awesome HR in the Series. But we gotta face the facts here: His career ERA is 4.30. Since joining the Phillies he’s never had an ERA under 4.00 nor a WHIP under 1.32. He gives up a first-inning run in literally almost all of his starts, so every time out there the team is in a 1-0 hole. You know who sucks worse than Joe Blanton? Joe Blanton who hasn’t pitched in a game in over two weeks and hasn’t started since three weeks ago.

Yes we don’t know whether or not Halladay was going to be good or not, but why would you not go with the guy who has the potential to pitch a good game? You know exactly what you’re going to get from Blanton. A regular-working Blanton will give you 6 innings and 3 runs consistently, which isn’t bad, but isn’t very good, especially with a shaky bullpen. You had to know that rusty Joe Blanton wasn’t going to go more than 5 innings and was definitely going to give up 3 runs. And lo and behold, 4 2/3 and 3 ER. Yeah we had the lead after he left as someone mentioned above, but so what? He didn’t even pitch 5 full innings. Everyone knows the Phils pen other than Madson and Lidge stinks. Maybe Halladay would’ve done worse. Maybe he would’ve given up 100 runs in 0.1 innings? Who knows? There is also the chance that he could’ve done better too. The man pitched a no-hitter and a perfect game this season and if his stuff is good it can be near unhittable. Blanton never has nor never will have that kinda stuff. I don’t understand why they are pitching him at all these playoffs. Yes Halladay on three days rest is a question mark, but rusty Blanton on 3 weeks rest is a guaranteed sucky outing. Regular Blanton is a guaranteed mediocre outing , so out-of-practice Blanton certainly can’t be better. Maybe Halladay doesn’t dominate, but maybe he gives up 3 runs and pitches just 6 innings, so Madson, who had a NASTY change tonight, could come in and pitch the 7th and 8th with his 2.55 ERA and 1.04 WHIP instead of having Chad Durbin and his 3.80 ERA and 1.32 WHIP out there to suck it up. Like I said, maybe Halladay would’ve stunk to high hell, but at least you give yourself a fighting chance. And yes, the offense left a lot of runs on the table, but the postseason is all about pitching and you should win a game if you plate 5 runs.

I feel like I’m reliving the nightmare of the 09 world series. We’re down 2-1 and we throw out Big Joe who has a bad outing and then dig ourselves into an insurmountable hole. Didn’t the Phillies learn anything from the Yankees last year? EARTH TO CHARLIE: It is possible to win a World Series with three pitchers each going on three days rest. Didn’t the Phillies learn anything from the Yankees LAST NIGHT? They were down 2-1 and threw shitty, rusty AJ Burnett out there and look what happened. BOOM. Down 3-1 just like us. I’ll say it again, yes Halladay could’ve pitched like crap, but would you not want arguably the best pitcher in baseball to pitch 3 games in a potential seven game series? The point is I’d take short-rest Halladay over REGULAR Blanton any day, let alone rusty Blanton. I don’t know what Charlie’s deal is, but his stubborn insistence on never starting a guy on three days rest is extremely frustrating and perplexing.

crazy game, while you guys coming back to take the series truly is a longshot now, either way it’s been a hell of a series. Tight games, back-and-forth battles, well played. Tomorrow will be epic, the Timmeh/Roy rematch (in a ballpark where a routine fly isn’t a HR), the duel will come as advertised. I’m not knocking on CBP, but that 2-run Werth HR in Game 1 was a CBP special, we all know that. Anyhow, take it easy, we still got some baseball left!!

Well played, Phillies. What a great game.

I see where a few here aren’t really sure about the positive comments coming from our side. Understandable, but here’s the thing: you guys have not only a great team, but also a great community here at TGP. The McC folks get it, and we respect you and your team for it.

I’ve enjoyed lurking here the past couple of weeks, and however this NLCS winds up, I’ll look forward to a rematch with all of you next year.

This game was so painful. I will not blame managers for losses as it is the players job to execute but I will say that Charlie failed this team last night. He did not put them in the best chance to win. One botched strategic decision after another. I still have no problem with Blanton starting last night. It was the right decision. But his management of the bullpen was atrocious.

Just as bad…after Howard lead off the 8th with a double, Werth should have bunted him over, he didn’t, and got lucky to double himself. But with him standing at 2nd and no outs, J-Roll should have either been told to bunt Howard over, or be smart enough to know to do it on his own. Either way, it wasn’t attempted and that’s inexcusable. That is basic, fundamental baseball. Again, I don’t blame Charlie, the plays have to get the job done but Charlie had a regrettable game as well.

This series isn’t over. It’s on life support. The Phillies have responded for years when their backs are against the wall, this is no different. We have our three best pitchers ready to go. If we can win tonight I am pretty confident that Oswalt can help force a game 7. If that happens, it’s anyones ball game.

2007 Red Sox anyone?

We better start hitting. When we get up there its like we dont know how to hit the ball or ever seen a pitch come our way before.