0-2 is "What If..." and Looking Forward

The Philadelphia Phillies have made their return to the postseason after a fourteen hiatus, and after two emotional days at Citizens Bank Park the Phillies find themselves in an 0-2 hole. The best-of-five series now shifts, for at least one game, to Colorado. Looking back on the first two games it seems there were plenty of chances for the Phillies to split, if not take both, of their home games. The offense came up small in game one, but Hamels pitched a good game, minus the second inning, in which Hamels allowed three runs and threw forty pitches. Hamels has since attributed his one bad inning to having been over-dressed for the occasion. Hamels started the game wearing a long sleeve t-shirt underneath his jersey and by the second inning was sweating profusely, which resulted in his inability to properly grip his changeup and curveball. Once the 23-year old ace returned to the dugout he took off his long sleeve and went on to surrender no hits and one walk from the third inning until he was taken out with two outs in the seventh inning. Hamels' final line was 6.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks and 7 strikeouts. If Hamels doesn't wear the sleeves he very well could have pitched a 7 or possibly 8 inning shut-out and the Phillies win the game and take the lead in the series. In game two, after Kyle Kendrick surrendered back-to-back homeruns in the top of the first inning, MVP candidate lead off the game the way did nine times in the regular season, with a homerun. The Phills went on to take a 3-2 lead in the third inning, before Kaz Matsui hit a grandslam homerun off Kyle Lohse in the fourth. Lohse came in to relieve Kyle Kendrick, who 3.2 innings and gave up 5 runs (Kendrick was responsible for the 3 scoring baserunners on Matsui's slam). This made the score 10-3 Colorado, but hope was not lost. Rollins notched his fourth RBI of the game on a ground-out to Todd Helton in the seventh, scoring Shane Victorino. 10-5 Colorado. The Rockies were held scoreless in the top of the eighth and the Phills managed to load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth but Carlos Ruiz grounded out to end the inning. If Ruiz is able to get on base it would score at least one, and send Chris Coste to the plate with runners in scoring position. This could have brought the game closer, if not tied the score and pumped up the top of the order to win the game in the ninth inning. Sadly these "IFs" did not come true and the team that gave the city of Philadelphia everything it had to win the NL East and a playoff spot is now on the brink of elimination.
One more loss and the amazing 2007 season will be a memory. Three straight wins. The Phillies must go in to Coors Field and win twice, then come back home to the Bank on Tuesday (10/9) and win again. That is what it is going to take to get to the National League Championship Series. Seven teams have come back from an 0-2 hole. Only one of those teams, the 2001 Yankees, dropped their first two home games and then won three straight. So to quote fictional Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown, from the classic film Major League, "It has been done before." Is it likely? No. But starting a season 4-11 and making the playoffs is not a likely outcome, either. Coming back to win the division from a seven game defecit with seventeen games to play didn't seem very likely to anybody in the city. But this team did it. As they have had to do all season, the Philadelphia Phillies must dig themselves out of a hole in order to keep the 2007 season, and the dream of a champion in Philadelphia, alive. Utley needs to find his stroke. He's 2-for-9 in the series with five strikeouts. Howard homered today and needs to continue to produce after his 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in game one. Burrell continues to impress as does Rollins. Not enough can be said about what Rollins means to this team. Just look at his stats from game two: 2-for-5, 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 3B. He does it all. Holiday means a lot to the Rox, but J-Roll is a run producing machine as well as a Web Gem waiting to happen. The MVP of this league is Jimmy Rollins. He has no peers, not this year. Yet I digress. Back to this series. The bottom of the order, Rowand, Werth, Ruiz and whoever Charlie Manuel plays at third base are the keys to the next three games. If Utley and Howard start producing as they did in the regular season they will be pitched around. It is up to the bottom of the lineup to prove they are a threat, too.
The second key will be starting pitching. The bullpen rollercoastered through the regular season and are now going down a very steep drop. Getting an early lead, and not giving up early runs, are imperative to the Phillies success of the next three games. Kyle Lohse pitched 1.1 innings in relief today, meaning Jamie Moyer will start game three. The veteran lefty has been here before and will need to lead this to a strong start. If the umpiring of the first two games is any indication, Moyer is going to struggle. But the 44-year old is a crafty pitcher and will need to be on top of his game and be able to think himself out of trouble if the Phillies are going to avoid the sweep. Game three is on Saturday. that gives every body on the roster a day to sit back on the plane to Denver and reflect on exactly what it is they need to do to bring this series back to Philly. It also means an extra day of rest for Lohse, Tom Gordon, J.C. Romero and Brett Myers. they are the only releivers who will be touching the ball for the rest of this series and they will now get a day to recuperate from what has been a long season. Chasing and playing from behind takes a lot out of team, but that is no excuse. The Rockies came back from a huge defecit to take the Wild Card and played an extra game, the tie-breaker vs. San Diego on Monday. It has been an exhilerating and downright amazing season, but the ride isn't over yet. This team knows what they have to do, and, personally, I've given up giving up on them.
Does the outcome of this series look bleak right now? Obviously. But this city has seen far too many crazier turn-arounds to doubt the Phillies. The '64 collapse. The Flyers blowing a 3-1 series lead to New Jersey. The Eagles losing three straight NFC Championship games. In a season where the Phillies' fortunes were seemingly reversed, and the Phills overcame every obstacle to finally get back to the playoffs, maybe coming back from an 0-2 defecit doesn't seem too impossible. And to put this in perspective I will finish this article with three final words: WHY NOT US?