Friday, October 22, 2010

Still Alive

What a strange series this has been! Hardly a classic. Sloppiness punctuated by luck punctuated by a wandering strike zone punctuated by lousy hitting punctuated by good pitching masquerading as better pitching.

Throughout the first five games the Phillies offense has been, well, the Phillies offense, that is to say, erratic at best. Last night was typical. They didn't get many hits but with the help of a few and a timely error by Aubrey Huff, the Phils took a 3-1 lead and held on to beat the Giants 4-2.

Roy Halladay wasn't sharp. Tim Lincecum looked more hittable than the Phillies let him be. Jayson Werth threw out Cody Ross trying to tag from second to third and then hit an insurance home run.

Foul balls were called fair. Pat Burrell showed us just what sort of jerk he always has been. Ryan Madson, indeed the entire pen, pitched superbly. And, voila!, game six is in Philadelphia tomorrow night on what should be a balmy late October evening.

The Phils still have life and the Giants, overachieving if one can call their modest offense overachivers, still hold the lead in the series. The Phillies are perfectly capable of catching fire and running off three straight wins. They might start tomorrow night by taking fewer pitches. Putting the bat on the ball still matters.

1 comment:

Matty said...

From the get-go, when Halladay walked the leadoff batter who eventually scored, I was hoping they didn't lose by a run.

But strange is right. A few things went their way, so maybe the tide is turning in their favor. To say I was on the edge of my seat the entire game would be an understatement.