As with so many highly-touted pitching duels, this one was a fizzle. Clayton Kershaw didn't even make it through the 5th, when the Phillies put five on the board, with the help of a three-run homer by Carlos Ruiz (Senor Octubre) and a two-run double by Ryan Howard. Great to see how well Ruiz plays in postseason and how locked in Howard is. Alas, Cole Hamels had the kind of outing that has typified his season: not as bad as it looked but not Hamelesque. He got the hook in the 6th, having given up four runs. Hours later, he also got the win.
It was then down to the bullpens; 11 relievers in all were used. Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer off George Sherrill in the 8th, the first homer Sherrill had allowed all year to a lefthanded hitter. He also walked two to set up that home run. The Dodgers scored two in the bottom of the 8th but Brad Lidge worked out of trouble in the 9th to preserve the 8-6 lead. It was Chan Ho Park, pitching for the first time in a month who restored order in the 7th, after Andre Ethier led off with a double against Antonio Bastardo.
It was a crazy four-hour game, with 10 walks issued, 22 hits combined, and 15 men left on base. Kershaw threw three wild pitches in the 5th, an NLCS record for wild pitches in an inning. He walked five and struck out three. Joe Torre can certainly be second-guessed for his handling of his starter.
Excuse me, but the Mannylove exhibited by the media is revolting. As Harry Kalas said last year the night the Phillies won the World Series: Manny my fanny!
Today it's Pedro Martinez, who came up with the Dodgers, vs. Vicente Padilla, who played for years with the Phillies. A talented pitcher, Padilla is also moody and erratic, with a penchant for hitting batters.
I couldn't watch even a complete inning on TBS. Chip Caray is terrible. And Ron Darling is not much better. Caray's voice is too creepy. Both guys make grating mistakes. I fled to the radio before the first had finished and eventually fell asleep (I blame this all on TBS and its crappy coverage) only to wake just as the game had finished. Luckily, I found out this morning that 1210 AM, the flagship station of the Phillies, has synched their broadcasts to the TV broadcast. Problem solved.
