So nice I had to post this twice. It again says it all.As he did in the clinching game of the NLDS, Jimmy Rollins set the tone with a lead-off solo homer. That was enough for Cole Hamels, who was in control through seven, allowing just 5 hits and 1 run, a solo homer by Manny Ramirez. By that time the Phillies had again chased Chad Billingsley in the 3rd, scoring 3 off him. Thanks in part to three errors by shortstop Rafael Furcal (all in the 5th) and some heady baserunning by Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, they put another two on the board. Final score: 5-1. Rollins, Utley, and Howard provided the timely hits. The defense by Rollins, Utley, and Victorino was stellar. So was the bullpen. Brad Lidge got Garciaparra to pop up to Carlos Ruiz to end the game. Fitting. Their tandem has been excellent.
Everyone chipped in, with a different cast of heroes almost every night. In the end (and the beginning), the Phillies were the better team top to bottom. They outplayed the Dodgers in all phases of the game. They deserved to win and they did. Cole Hamels, who went 2-0 in the series, was the MVP. In three postseason games, his ERA is .123.
After the dramatic win in game 4, Jimmy Rollins was quoted as saying, with no bravado at all, about the Dodgers, "They have to win four games, and I don't think there's anyone in this locker room who will allow that to happen."
Clinching in front of the stinky Dodger fans means, too, that Charlie Manuel will be able to head home today to his mother's funeral in Virginia and maybe Shane Victorino will have time to go back for his grandmother's funeral in Hawaii. I'm sure that was part of the team's motivation to finish it off last night.
I also loved how Pat Gillick, being interviewed after the game, immediately gave kudos to former GM Ed Wade for his role in assembling the core of homegrown talent for the team. Very classy. Gillick's part in putting the finishing touches to this team, however, are inestimable.
To top everything off, Geoff Jenkins' wife, who had driven from their home in Arizona for the series, unexpectedly went into labor yesterday afternoon and had a baby boy---three and a half weeks early. Congratulations to all!
The Phillies win the pennant, the Phillies win the pennant, the Phillies win the pennant!
