This Wound Runs Deep

The Phils are no stranger to losing. Yet, this one, a drop in the bucket among the more than 10,000-deep well in the Phillies vast repertoire of dismal defeat, ranks pretty high. That's because it's a fresh wound among fans, who are left to commiserate in misery about what could have and should have been after a demoralizing 1-0 defeat ended the Phils' season. It's also because of the expectations this team built over 162 games that yielded the promising fruit of the most winning season (102-60) in franchise history.

"Very disappointing. This is the most disappointed I've been with the Phils since I suffered through the '64 collapse as a 9 year-old. But I always was and always will be a Phillies fan," said one reader, 2 days ago.

The Phillies are now a team people (outside of Philadelphia) love to hate. Unlike the Yankees, who have years of accumulated international fan base, the Phils are looked at as an upstart powerhouse 'moneyball' team, whose 'new money' visibility is resented and loathed by the general public.

This is unfair, as the Phillies grew organically, capitalizing on a successful nucleus that had been homegrown from the farm up.

In '06, the front office started dumping their high priced players, like OF Bobby Abreu, in acknowledgement that they couldn't compete and must re-build. Instead, that team went on to post the best record in the NL during the season's 2nd half. Ryan Howard was named NL MVP and the future was suddenly, startlingly bright.

The next year, '07, they staged a remarkable late-season comeback against a collapsing Mets team to win the division, their 1st NL East title since '93. They got swept out by the Rockies in the NLDS. My wife told me, "Don't worry, they'll come back next year and be even better." I said, "You don't understand, this is the Phillies. They're good once every 15 or 50 years. Besides, you don't comeback so easily in baseball, unless you're the Yankees." Well, of course, she was right, as they won the World Series the very next year.

That '08 championship team was steered by Baseball genius GM Pat Gillick, who rode predecessor Ed Wade's nucleus to unpredictable glory by adding key pieces that fell together in just the right way.

After that, Amaro took over. He felt an enormous pressure to win, because of the shoes he was filling (Gillick's), the town he was in (Philly, where winning was now an expectation) and the nucleus of talent that was here now, but not forever (a fact he always cites when interviewed).

"I'm an aggressive personality. I like to make things happen. I also have a pretty good understanding what this fan base is about. Success kind of breeds success. Expectations continue to rise and don't stop rising. " Amaro Jr., 10.3.11

Amaro's desire to please and succeed and his aggressive tactics are admirable and well-documented. His plundering of the recently plentiful farm system is not. His stripping of the minor league teams, from A to AAA, have cast a far-reaching cloud over a future whose past is 129-years of mainly agony.

Furthermore, Amaro's depletion of much of the team's future talent has been ignored by fans who, in tune with today's sports climate, want to win now at all cost. Many of the key youth crop was spent in 2 separate deals to acquire the same player, Cliff Lee. Had they merely kept him the 1st time (which was his own desire all along), they could have saved themselves over a dozen solid prospects.

When they traded Lee and a plethora of top prospects, I wrote, in my post on 12.15.09,

"What they gave up was their future-- and we're not talking distant future."

They got Lee back and all was forgotten, but that's in large part because the cost of the talent they surrendered getting him twice remains yet unknown.

Ruben Amaro Jr. won't be around when the Phillies are no longer relevant. He'll have moved on after his day in the sun. It is fans who will have to brace for the potential steep downside to the last few years of winning.

It is fans who must watch former-Phils' minor-leaguers ascend the ranks and blossom in coming years as young teams with talent become the next '07 Phillies.

A quick glimpse at the Phils' trend indicates this team peaked in '08 and has since sloped downward:

Postseason Round Reached by Year & Result

'07 - NLDS - Lost
'08 - World Series - Won
'09 - World Series - Lost
'10 - NLCS - Lost
'11 - NLDS - Lost

It is pertinent to observe that it was the Phillies own minor league products that were stars this postseason:

Utley, Rollins, Madson, and Hamels, as well as superlative Amaro acquisition Halladay, all shined on baseball's brightest stage in '11.

Meanwhile, Lee and Howard, Amaro's high priced future for years to come are goats in this year's early exit. They are presently postseason busts the team is married to.

Lee is likely to return, a Phoenix from the flames, but he must shake this playoff monkey, which began in '10 vs. S.F. and which will last until at least next October. He is a fierce competitor and likely will regain the postseason dominance he began as a Phillie in '09.

Howard's tale is far more troubling. On 9.22.11, I wrote, "Howard, for example, is solved by following the Yankees' blueprint circa '09, which the Giants, in '10, did so effectively: throw him off-speed stuff out of the Zone and watch him flail."

St. Louis did just that to its hometown foe, bringing Howard to his literal knees: 0-for-his-last-8 with 5 strike outs.

It has become painfully obvious that Amaro overpaid for Howard, whose Achilles injury on the final play of the postseason may be the end of his effectiveness in MLB. The Phillies are saying that Howard could miss up to 9 months after surgery, and the 5-year, $125 million contract extension Amaro handed him looks like handcuffs for team management, who will be unable to trade Howard or use that money to invest in players who could actually contribute in the postseason or hit over .253 in coming years.

This is only one of the moves Amaro has made which has not worked out, moves often overlooked amidst a winning climate. That will change if the team's downward trend continues.

For example, Oswalt and Ibanez have been ineffective more than effective Phillies, while Polanco has been injured throughout his return tour here. I warned about Polanco in my 12.6.09 post, when the Phils re-signed him: "Polanco is slowing at 34, coming off the least productive complete season of his career (.285 Ave.)."

I pondered why they didn't sign 3B Adrian Beltre, who was also available for comparable money. Beltre went on to hit .321 with 28 HR and 102 RBI that year. Five days ago, Beltre launched his Texas team into the ALCS with 3 HR in a single game, matching the total the entire Phillies team hit this postseason and tying the all-time MLB record. Meanwhile, Polanco, Amaro's pick, now 36 years-old, followed the worst season of his career with a 2-for-19 (.105 Ave. and 0 BB) postseason and awaits surgery this off-season for the 2nd-straight year.

Equally troubling has been Charlie Manuel's reliance on the past and inability to see the present. He is 'Charlie faithful' when it comes to his players, and that is why they love him.

However, in '09, Lidge and Hamels combined for 20 innings pitched, 19 Earned Runs allowed and a 1-3 record against the Yankees to lose the World Series. Their season and postseason leading up to that moment was a consistent warning sign that read, "These guys won't help you, now." Manuel ignored that, and we lost.

Likewise, there were 2 tell-tale signs that he barreled past en route to this year's early exit:

1) Raul Ibanez over John Mayberry Jr.
2) Roy Oswalt over Vance Worley

1) Mayberry was that 'X' factor for the Phils, hitting .300 in July, .296 in August w/ 6 HR, .305 in September with numbers that projected to 30 HR & 100 RBI, but Manuel decided that he'd rather have former star Ibanez than the hot new spark-plug opposing pitchers had yet to decipher.

2) Oswalt had gone 9-10 for the Phils in '11, while plagued by back problems. Meanwhile, the team enjoyed a 14-game win streak in games Worley started, setting a new rookie record. Ignoring that winning trend, Chuck chose the past over the present.

The reliance on the past doesn't bode well for Amaro and Manuel, who will need to start trusting in youth to invest in the future and build these Phillies going forward.

Before the playoffs, I predicted, but hoped against a World Series of Texas vs. Milwaukee. Many friends asked me, when Tampa Bay jumped out in front of the Rangers with a game one 9-0 drubbing, if I wanted to revise my AL pick. I stood by the Rangers, and they won.

Texas may be a better team, right now, without the baggage of Lee's mental struggle to hold them back.

Every national newspaper talked about the amazing job pitcher Chris Carpenter did in shutting out the Phillies phenomenal lineup in game 5 to advance his Cardinals to the '11 NLCS. Yes, he was outstanding, but this perception that the Phillies lineup is star-studded is also living in the past, and the nation should get over it, as must the Phils. The Phillies offense has declined each year since '07, and they must re-think, learn to play small-ball and turn to Mayberry Jr. and Pence for full-season contributions to stage a '12 comeback.

Phillies Postseason team HRs by year

2008: 19 HRs
2009: 25 HRs
2010: 4 HRs
2011: 3 HRs

Phillies Postseason team batting average by year

2008: .260
2009: .247
2010: .210
2011: .226

There was so much assertion entering 2011 that this was the best Phillies team ever assembled. Obviously, that is now a hard claim to swallow.

At the end of the '10 season, Mike Schmidt said the Phils were "a unique group" that has already "surpassed our accomplishments." If they win the NLCS and return to the World Series, he felt the team would "officially be the best team in Phillies history, bar none."

Well, the '10 team didn't win the NLCS and the '11 team didn't even win the NLDS. So, what does that say about history's take on the best Phillies team ever?

'11, meanwhile, may have been the most closely contested 1st round of playoffs in baseball's modern era, wherein 3 of the 4 series was decided in the 5th of 5 games by 1 run.

In the AL, the Tigers beat the Yankees 3-2 in game 5. In the NL, Milwaukee nipped Arizona 3-2 in the 10th inning of a game 5 classic, while the Cards edged the Phils 1-0 in their game 5.

It was well-matched, as the 162 game season melted away into evenly played sets all around.

If Rollins is not brought back in a Phils' uniform for '12 (his contract is up), he went out a hero. After a mediocre year at the plate, Rollins potential swansong was an electrifying 5 playoff games, wherein he batted .450 with 4 doubles.

It is impossible, after 12 faithful major league seasons played only with the Phils, to think of our infield without Rollins' trusty glove (career .984 fielding %) at SS.

Meanwhile, Utley was something of a superhero. He couldn't walk in April, due to knee injury and completed his worst-ever regular season, which featured a concussion from a ball thrown off his head in September. Yet, somehow, he resurrected previous seasons' playoff magic by hitting .438 and leading the team with a .571 OBP this postseason.

"I think all of us were concerned, but with Chase I think you kind of stay cautiously optimistic that he's going to be fine because it's Chase," the Phillies general manager said of his favorite player in August. "He's kind of wired differently than others."

Rollins and Utley will be remembered as heroes of this team, whether they return to the postseason with it or not.

Roy Halladay managed to stay positive after his 8-inning 126-pitch, 1 run effort was completely wasted by his punchless team, who managed not to score at all with their season depending on it:

“I don’t care where you go, there’s no team that you’re guaranteed to win anything,” Halladay said. “We have an unbelievable team here. Winning the World Series is always going to be the goal. When I came over here, I didn’t think it was going to be easy. I knew it would be hard. I knew it’s not something you do every year.

"I really enjoy the process of going after it and playing these games and getting to this point in the season," he added. "Hopefully we get to a point where things go our way. We’ll get back here and do it again."

Phils Season Hinges on 1 Game

It was evident to anyone who has followed the Phils since mid-'10 that Roy Oswalt (9-11 this season) wasn't going to come out and close out the Cards in Game 4 of the best-of-five series-- not without a little help from his friends.

The pitching matchup between Oswalt and Edwin Jackson in St. Louis Wednesday night promised to be an offensive battle, the perfect counterpart to Tuesday's Hamels vs. Garcia pitchers duel.

The Phils scored 1st, beginning the game on a scoring frenzy that yielded 2 runs, but should have plated more. Rollins, who has been scary good (9-for-14 with 4 doubles), hit a ground-rule double to the deepest part of the park. Chase Utley followed with a triple, then Pence singled and-- just like that-- the Phils were up 2-0 with nobody out. The next batter was Ryan Howard, a chance for more damage.

Howard struck out and Pence was thrown out in an unlikely double play that killed the inning and what turned out to be the only run-producing Phils rally of the game. It was the 1st of a hat trick of strike outs for Howard in the game and each one seemed, like the 1st, to lead to a series of unfortunate events.

Howard fell to 2-for-15 in the series with 6 S.O., hitting .133 with a .176 OBP (1 BB). At #4 in this lineup, he has the ability to drive in runs like almost no Phillie, ever. He also has the capacity to kill rallies and end dreams quicker than Mitch Williams.

Wednesday was that kind of night for Ryan Howard, the kind where dreams become nightmares.

After Howard's strikeout in the 1st, the Phillies would score only 1 more time in the game, and it wasn't off their bats, it was due to a wild pitch in the 8th. In that inning, Howard came up with 2-out, Utley on 2nd (again) and the run in cutting the deficit to 5-3 Cards. One swing of the bat could tie it.

On 9.22.11, I wrote, "Howard, for example, is solved by following the Yankees' blueprint circa '09, which the Giants, in '10, did so effectively: throw him offspeed stuff out of the Zone and watch him flail." La Russa did just that, bringing in lefty Marc Rzepczynski, who struck out Howard on 3 pitches. The Phillies never scored again and lost 5-3. Ouch.

Saturday, 4 short days ago, may as well have been another planet. The Ryan Howard who had a HR and 4 RBI in game 1 of this NLDS series vs. St. Louis a martian who had returned to his home planet. The Ryan Howard who remained? A fallen soldier, rescued from the front lines, palms sweating, hands shaking, terrified. The gun removed from his clutching hands for fear he would hurt himself.

Howard hit zero HRs throughout the '10 playoffs. It was that impudent aura that enveloped him again as his team put all the pieces together for him to be the hero, something they have done so effectively these past few years. Rollins was on fire, Utley was hustling, the 2 core Phillies, whose double-play combinations are regarded as the league's best and whose hearts have led them to awesome heights in this series (Utley .462 Ave., Rollins .563 Ave.), were relaying the ball to 1st and getting into scoring position for Howard to finish the play...

Only Howard was lost inside his head, driving it into the back-end of the bat in the dugout, instead of driving balls out of the park.

"I think I've been a little bit anxious trying to go up and trying to make things happen instead of letting things happen," Howard said. "Right now I'm just kind of jumping."

Meanwhile, St. Louis native Howard's counterpart, the slugger on the other team, baseball's best player, Albert Pujols was busy doing his regular superman act. Pujols hit .299 with 99 RBI this year, career lows by far. Yet, in game 3, Pujols went 4-for-5 at the plate. Wednesday, he had an off-day at the plate, 0-for-4. He appeared human. Looks can be deceiving.

Utley walked to lead off the 6th with the Phils trailing 3-to-2. Pence was the next batter, and he grounded into a fileder's choice to SS Furcal, who gunned to 1st for the standard out. However, Utley made a smart baseball move, very aggressive, very Utley. He wanted to be the tying run and would make it happen. Utley slowed at 2nd base, as if to stop there, faking Furcal, then began a sprint toward 3rd when Furcal began his throw to 1st to get Pence.

The thing is, someone forgot to tell Utley that Pujols isn't like normal mortals. His eyes rotate around his head, free standing, like Elmer Fudd after he has been hit by Bugs Bunny. Upon receiving the ball at 1st, Pujols ignored Pence and instead immediately gunned a perfect strike to 3rd to get Utley, easy.

"This is obviously the playoffs, but that's a play I can make in the regular season, too," Pujols said. "If I would have stayed on the bag, it was going to be tough to get the runner at third. Obviously, that killed the rally right there."

Every time Pujols stepped up to the plate, cameras flashed, capturing what many thought would be the last game he ever played for the Cardinals before sailing off into the free agency sunset to sign a 100-year, 200-zillion dollar deal with N.Y., Boston or L.A. en route to retirement.

They might be right. It may be the end of an era. However, the era ending might not be Pujols and the Cardinals. Winners of 16 of their final 21 regular season games and now toe-to-toe with the 102 game winning Phillies, the Cardinals are playing for house money Friday with very little on the line. It's the home team that has to sweat.

If the Phillies fall short of their 4th-straight NLCS and if Ryan Howard continues to free-fall to make it possible, their season will undoubtedly be a disappointment-- for the players, the franchise and the fans. It's hard to believe things are so good that we can honestly say that, but it is truer than the bluest sky. Losing the World Series title this season would be a disappointment. Losing round 1 of the playoffs would be a colossal disaster.

After all the money and expectations built in to this moment, walking away short of a playoff series win just wouldn't cut it. This isn't 2007. It's not 'one to grow on.' This is the culmination of 102 wins, which may as well be 90, which is what the Cardinals won, since the 2 teams are locked in an NFL-esque playoff showdown, where 1 game will decide their respective fate.

Lucky for the Phils, they will have the pitching equivalent of Pujols on the mound. Halladay is no Cliff Lee. The 2 men are very different. In both June and August, Lee was 5-0 with an ERA below 0.50. In July, he was 1-2 with an ERA of 4.91. Lee led baseball with 6 shutouts this season, because he can dominate a game from start to finish more often than Halladay.

'Doc' has those no-hitters on his dossier, but typically he will turn in a superlative performance, allowing 2 runs in 7 innings. The thing that makes him so special, though, is the number of times he will get smacked around and allow 6 or 8 runs-- practically never. It happened twice this year, in 33 starts. He allowed 6 earned runs to Boston in May and the Yankees in June. His ERA never went over 3.00, not for a single month, all season.

I saw Halladay with sub-par stuff at Dodger Stadium in '10. He won the Cy Young that year, but his location that night was all wrong. He allowed 11 hits in 7 innings, not great by any measure. He also allowed too many runs-- for him. He gave up 3. The Phils didn't win that night, but they could have. That's the point.

On 10/16/10 vs. S.F. in game 1 of the NLCS, Halladay pitched through a groin-pull injury, in a physical condition where normal people can't walk. He held the World Series Champion Giants to 4 runs in 7 innings, despite his pain. He S.O. 7 and walked nobody. At worst, he puts his team in a position to win; at best, he wins the game for them with impenetrable dominance.

Friday, 2-time Cy Young Halladay (1-0 in this series) will oppose his former Toronto teammate of 5 years and good friend, former Cy Young Chris Carpenter (0-1).

"They're good friends and old teammates, and Carp was really chomping at the bit for this opportunity to pitch against Roy on full rest in a huge Game 5," Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday said. "It should be quite a battle and then it'll be fun to watch two great competitors go head to head and two great teams get after it."

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel agreed."Might be fitting that it goes down to the fifth game," he said. "It's up to us to go get it. It's sitting right there for us. We've got our ace going, and we're at home, and so everything is sitting right there."

Friday, the Phils will try to become the 3rd franchise in baseball history to win a postseason series in 4 straight years. The Phillies can and should win game 5. Their ace will be on the mound, they will be at home, they are the better team. Anything short of victory will tarnish the armor-- Amaro's, Howard's, Lee's... this team in franchise and baseball history. Win and advance, shed themselves of the pesky, capable, adrenaline-driven Cardinals and the sky might just be the limit.

Hamels Plays Cards Perfectly

Since '02 in MLB, every team that won game 3 in a 5-game playoff series went on to win that series. So, in order for the Phils to advance to their 4th-consecutive NLCS, it was likely Cole Hamels was going to have to take command-- and keep it.

He did just that. Looking like the Hamels of '08, not the Hamels of '09, the southpaw dug deep, showing inner strength and outer mastery, silencing all base-runners and echoing his dominance of the team's title-run 3 years ago.

Like Lee's '11 postseason debut, Hamels picked up right where his '10 left off. Only Hamels' was a trail of triumph. In the '10 postseason, Hamels posted a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings, allowing just 2 earned runs, S.O. 17, while walking 1.

Tuesday in St. Louis was vintage Hamels, and it couldn't have come at a better time. It was the Cards 1st home game of this postseason. The St. Louis crowd welcomed its beloved team that had stunned Cliff Lee by stealing a 5-4 comeback win in Philly in game 2 to even their playoff series at a game apiece. Resilience was nothing new for the NL Wild Card team that was 8 1/2 games back a month before securing the final playoff spot on the season's last day.

Hamels, however, showed a calm resilience of his own. He allowed no runs through 6 innings. He painted himself into corners, but time and again pitched out of them with careful placement of his fastball and curveball:

"I was just trying to make good pitches and keep them down, and if I missed I knew I'd get another opportunity," he said. "That's where I was. If you make mistakes up in the zone, you're usually going to pay for it pretty badly. If you keep it down you have a better chance to get out of the inning."

Hamels allowed 5 hits and walked 3, but struck out 8 and never lost his trademark cool.

"He keeps his cool whether some people realize it or not," manager Charlie Manuel said. "And he's gutty, and he's been gutty ever since I've known him. I've always liked him because of his mental toughness, even when I saw him at Lakewood. I like him out there in any situation."

Hamels faced runners in scoring position 5 separate times throughout the contest and never let the ball leave the infield during those showdowns.

In some of the most stressful moments of the game, Hamels showed a veteran's poise by stepping off the mound, taking a deep breath and gathering his thoughts.

"It was a tight game," Hamels said. "I knew every pitch mattered. Every inning mattered. They had a great pitcher on the opposing team and I knew I couldn't let it get out of hand, especially because we were 1-1 in the series. We're not in our home park any more. You definitely focus and try to dig deep a little bit more. So I think that was me just kind of psyching myself up again. You can be your worst enemy, I guess. I understand how to pitch. I know how to go out and succeed, but at the same time this game can really get after you and you have to really dig deep and put things in a different perspective because if you get out of your element you're going to really get hurt."

Ryan Howard looked remarkably 'out of his element.'

In the 6th inning, with Chase Utley on 2nd base, 2 out and the game knotted at zero, the Cardinals disrespected St. Louis native Howard. Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, who shut the Phillies out for 6 innings, intentionally walked Hunter Pence in order to bring Howard to the plate. Howard had looked bad, striking out in his previous 2 at-bats, and he promptly grounded out to end the inning, making Cards' manager Tony La Russa look good.

The move that made La Russa look bad, however, the one that will keep him up at night, was also an intentional walk. It was to Carlos Ruiz with 2-out in the 7th, and it set up a pinch-hit 3-run HR by Ben Fransisco, which accounted for all of the Phillies runs in the game they won 3-2.

“Well, it didn’t work, so that’s bad managing,” La Russa said. “I’m watching him pitch and was really pleased. I thought he was the guy to continue pitching and I knew the match-ups were in our favor. It didn’t work.”

“That wasn’t my idea,” Garcia said. “That’s what [La Russa] wanted to do, and that’s what we did.”

Fransisco, who hadn't hit a HR since May 25th, had a disappointing year after a torrid spring training promised more than it became. However, with one swing of the bat, Fransisco joined the ranks of Philly sports folk heroes like Matt Stairs.

“All that matters is we’re here today and whatever you do today is going to pretty much define you,” Francisco said. “Charlie put me up there, and I got a big hit.”

Fransisco was 1-for-18 in the postseason and batted .244 for the year, but Manuel gave him the chance, and he made it memorable.

“I didn’t know it was a homer, I knew I hit it good,” Francisco said. “I saw it bounce over the fence and just... pure excitement, pure joy.”

Wednesday in St. Louis, the Phils will try to close out the best-of-five series with a win. Roy Oswalt will take the mound. If they can't win Wednesday, the series will return to Philadelphia on Friday, where they'd have another chance to win 1 and advance.

“We have 2 Roys going for us, if we need to get to that 2nd one, and you have to feel pretty good about your chances when that’s the case,” reliever Brad Lidge said, referring to Oswalt and 2-time Cy Young Halladay, who is 20-6 (including the playoffs) this year and is scheduled to start Friday, if necessary.

Note:

Jimmy Rollins had another 2 hits Tuesday and is now 7-for-12 with 3 doubles in the series.

Next up:

6:07 PM ET, Wednesday, October 5th at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

PHI: Roy Oswalt (9-10, 3.69 ERA) @ STL: Edwin Jackson (12-9, 3.79 ERA)

Oswalt is 5-0 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 career postseason starts, including 2-0 with a 3.15 ERA in 3 of those vs. the Cardinals.

Albert Pujols, possibly entering his last game in a St. Louis uniform with free agency lurking, has hit .316 (30 for 95) with 7 HR in his career vs. Oswalt.

Cards Comeback, Clock Cliff, Tie Series 1-1

The prized Phils rotation was supposed to be invincible. There was no way for the Cardinals to penetrate it. Instead, the National League Division Series would hinge on whether the Phils on-again, off-again offense would show up for the postseason.

Instead, Roy Halladay faltered to start game 1 and Cliff Lee followed suit in game 2, leaving the offense to attempt to bail out both star starters to salvage wins for the lauded pitching team.

Lee was everything he was this regular season wrapped up into 1 game. He struck out an improbable number of hitters (9) and had stretches of perfect location, yet he surrendered 12 hits and 5 runs in his 6 innings of work.

To start the 2nd inning, St. Louis's Molina and Theriot were caught looking, as Cliff Lee did a terrific job of mixing in 2-strike fastballs in the strike zone, when he would typically bounce a curveball in front and out of the zone.

However, devastatingly, he squandered the 4-0 lead his team staked him to, which was a disappointment by any measure.

"I wasn't able to make my pitches, so I take full responsibility," Lee said.

Unfortunately, Lee had picked up in the '11 postseason where he left off in the '10 World Series, where he went 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA vs. the World Series Champion Giants. Lee is now 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA in his last 3 playoff starts.

Brad Lidge relieved Lee in the 7th, with 2 on, no outs and a run already in. Lidge coolly threw 2 pitches to get 3 outs, like it was 2008.

The Cardinals' Chris Carpenter, a 13-year veteran who led the NL in '11 with 238 innings pitched, started on 3 days rest for the 1st time in his life. Carpenter, a former Cy Young Award winner ('05), finished the season very strong (3-0, 2.15 September), but clearly was not himself on short rest.

41 year-old former Phillie Arthur Rhodes, 19 years in the majors, came in to pitch to 1 batter, Ryan Howard. Rhodes promptly struck Howard out on 3 pitches, making 66 year-old manager Tony La Russa look 1) not so old, in comparison and 2) like a strategical genius (except that the premature use of Carpenter nearly cost him the game).

The Cardinal bullpen was the untouchable pitching star that out-shined the Phils' rotation in game 2. The Cards' bullpen mesmerized the Phils, as 6 relievers combined to allow just a single hit in 6 immaculate innings of work.

Pujlos had been 0-11 vs. Madson, but in the 9th got a broken bat single off him to lead it off. However, Madson, who posted 17 shutout appearances to end the regular season, S.O. 2 of the next 3 to set-up the Phils' final chance in the bottom of the 9th.

However, Jason Motte (4.73 September ERA) pitched a 1-2-3 9th to shut the door on the Phils' offense, which was too little, too early to get the win.

"We've been doing this all year. We don't give up," Motte said. "People counted us out, (but) we kind of went out there and just kept playing hard."

The 46,575 person Citizens Bank crowd was the venue's largest, ever.

Next up:

Tuesday, October 4th, 5:07 PM EST:

Philadelphia: Hamels (14-9, 2.79 ERA) Hamels is 2-3 with a 3.27 ERA in 9 starts vs. St. Louis.
@
St. Louis: Garcia (13-7, 3.56 ERA) Garcia is 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA in 6 games (4 starts) vs. the Phils. The lefty has held Philadelphia to a .178 batting average.

Phils Hold All the Cards

St. Louis enjoyed a 16-5 run to end the regular season and incredibly sneak into the playoffs on the final day. Saturday, the Phils brought the NL Wild Card Cards back to earth, reminding the baseball world with their 5th-straight win and 103rd of the season that the road to the World Series travels through Philadelphia.

Surprisingly and importantly, it was the offense that keyed the win. The Phils offense was missing for much of the year and was the team's biggest question mark entering the postseason.

It was one game, but there was a lot to build on, as the #1-6 hitters Rollins, Utley, Pence, Howard, Victorino and Ibanez, each came up huge.

Unexpectedly, Roy Halladay allowed a 3-run HR in the 1st to Lance Berkman, putting his team in a hole, something he has rarely done since joining the Phils before the '10 season.

"I couldn't think of a worse start and putting your team in a hole like that," Halladay said. "But you get to this point, you're not going to pack it in."

He proceeded to retire 21 batters in a row and never yielded another run in the contest.

"That's why he's the best in the game," the Cardinals' Albert Pujols said. "We wanted to keep adding on it, but we just never put that inning together again."

"You have to beat those guys 3-to-whatever," Berkman said. "He's not going to give up much more than that. He's a great pitcher."

"He was kind of like a 'Rocky' movie," manager Charlie Manuel said of Halladay. "He got mad after he gave up that homer. That ticked him off, and he hung in there and he got going. But he's special. He's everything people talk about."

The Phillies were down 3-1 in the 6th when Ryan Howard hit a 423 foot 3-run HR to right to put the Phils up, 4-3, a lead they would keep. Ibanez also homered in the inning, a 2-run shot that put the Phils up 6-4 and chased former Phil Kyle Lohse from the game.

Lohse had retired the 1st 10 until Utley doubled off him in the 4th. Utley was 3-5 overall and scored 3 times, seemingly regaining his postseason stride after a year rife with injury and career-low production.

Howard, who had been the goat in the last 2 playoff series losses since the '08 title, in '09 vs. the Yankees and in '10 against S.F., sent a message of his own with the go-ahead 6th inning HR.

"I left last year in the past," Howard said. "You can't let what happened last year affect this year. It's a fresh start."

It was a feel-good night all-around for the Phils' offense, who compiled 14 hits and 11 runs, 10 of them earned.

The 46,480 raucous and adoring fans felt pretty good, too. It was the 218th-straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park.

notes:

Pence was 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs in his first postseason game.

The Cardinals didn't have five-time All-Star, LF Matt Holliday because of a hand injury.

Next up, game 2:

Sunday, 8:37 pm EST

St. Louis - Chris Carpenter (11-9, 3.45 ERA)
@
Phils - Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40 ERA)