The Phillies have everything to prove against the defending World Champions. It was the Giants who rained on the Phils parade last year, crushing the Phils' hopes for a 'threepeat' World Series trip. Instead, they got bounced by the Giants in 6 games and went home. The Phils averaged 3.17 runs per game in that series, then swapped Jayson Werth for Cliff Lee (via free agency) during the ensuing winter. Both teams are back in 1st place, where they finished 2010:
Giants: 59-43, 1st in NL West, have won 7-of-10at Phillies 64-37, 1st in NL East, have won 7-of-10
Game 1, Tuesday 7:05 pm (EST)
[Tim Lincecum* (8-8, 2.90 ERA, 146 S.O.)
*This just in: Lincecum has been scratched from his Tuesday start due to the flu.]
Barry Zito (3-2, 4.78 ERA) - *game-day replacement vs. Vance Worley (6-1, 2.02 ERA)
Lincecum recorded 16 S.O. in 14 innings and went 2-1 vs. the Phils during the '10 NLCS.
Game 2, Wednesday 7:00 pm (EST)
| ??? vs. | Cole Hamels (12-5, 2.62 ERA) |
Hamels had a winless '10 postseason vs. the Giants. You better believe he's hungry.
[Photo. below: Hamels in Schmidt-era retro. Phils uniform on 7/22/11.]
Game 3, Thursday 7:05 pm (EST)Matt Cain (8-6, 3.06 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (5-4, 3.45 ERA)
On 10.19.10, 'Big Daddy' Cain shut the Phillies out with a 2-hit postseason gem, 3-0, which dropped the Phils in a 2-games-to-1 hole they never emerged from. The underdog Giants advanced to the World Series 4 days later, then won their 1st Championship in 52 years.
2 'X' factors to the series:
1) The Phils are 34-11 when Rollins scores a run. He must utilize his new-found skill of getting on base (you'd think, after a jillion years at leadoff, he'd have developed a 'good eye' a little sooner). Rollins is hitting .321 with a .512 SLG % in July, but is only 1-for-his-last-16. He needs to snap out of it for Philly to score against the taut Giants' pitching.
2) Giants' closer Brian 'Big Beard' Wilson threw 5 shutout innings over 4 games against the Phils during the '10 NLCS. This season, he has been wildly uneven (6.97 April ERA, 0.66 in May, 3.72 in July). It would be a big deal if the Phils could touch him up this time around. Should he appear and dominate them, again, that could be a ghost that haunts them this postseason. Think Jonathan Broxton in reverse.
Wilson on what's in his beard: "There's garden gnomes cutting down trees and apparently there's an Irish jig lady dancing. I haven't met her yet."
Giants manager Bruce Bochy determined the Phils starting rotation for this series when he was managing the NL in the All-Star game. Whether it was intentional or not is a matter of opinion. Bochy used Halladay and Lee in the 1st 4 innings of the game. Halladay and Lee combined for 3 perfect innings to initiate the NL win, securing NL home-field advantage for the World Series.
However, in using the duo for extended stints (pitchers traditionally appear for 1 All-Star inning, the Phils' starters combined for 4), Bochy also insured his team wouldn't face them in this series. In fact, the Giants aren't scheduled to face Halladay at all this regular season in any of the 7 upcoming games between the 2 teams.
Asked what he thought of the way Halladay and Lee were used by Bochy, Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said, “I’ve got my opinions." Asked what they were, Dubee said, “I’m not going to tell you.”
The Giants currently lead all of baseball in pitching. They are 1st in: ERA (3.08), Quality Starts (67), Batting Average Against (.229) and 2nd in WHIP (1.21).
The Phils are 2nd in: ERA (3.13) and Quality Starts (66), 5th in BAA (.242) and 1st in WHIP (1.18).
Both the Phils and the Giants have feasted on the NL West:
The 2 teams will meet for 4 games in S.F. on August 4th-7th.
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