Hamels, Phils Set To Bring World Series Title to Philly
Monday, October 27th, 2008 | MLB, Sports
The Philadelphia Phillies are 1 game away from bringing the 2nd World Series title to the city of brotherly love. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in the World Series and will send ace Cole Hamels to the mound to finish off the job and bring home the first World Series Championship to Philadelphia in 28 years. 42 teams have led 3 games to 1 in the World Series, and 36 of those teams have gone on to win the Championship. After losing World Series in 1983 and 1993, however, Phillies fans aren’t taking anything for granted.
Cole Hamels has been as close to perfect as you can expect during the 2008 post-season. Hamels has gone at least 7 innings in each of his 4 post-season starts this year. He has not given up more than 6 hits or 2 earned runs in any of those starts. He beat the Rays 3-2 in World Series Game 1, striking out 5 while only walking 2 Rays’ batters. Hamels will go up against the Game 1 loser Scott Kazmir. Kazmir did not have the best command of his pitches in Game 1, but was able to work out of jams to keep the Rays in the game. Kazmir gave up 6 hits and 4 walks in only 6 innings of work, but yielded only 3 earned runs. His performance made it possible for the Rays to work a comeback, but the Phillies pitching was just too good.
If the Rays have any chance in Game 5, Kazmir will have to be at the top of his game. The Phillies’ bats exploded for 12 hits and 10 runs in World Series Game 4. Ryan Howard blasted his first 2 home runs of the World Series and Jayson Werth and Joe Blanton also hit home runs. The Phillies’ batters were also patient at the plate, drawing a total of 5 walks from 4 Rays’ pitchers. Kazmir will have to keep the Phillies’ batter off-balance and utilize his off-speed pitches to keep Howard and the rest of the wrecking crew in the ballpark.
At this point, it will be hard to imagine this Series going back to the cowbell heaven of Tropicana Field, but anything is possible. All season long, when critics started to write off the young, upstart Rays, that’s when they would go off on one of their long winning streaks. It would take an almost-perfect performance from both the Rays’ batters and pitchers in order to pull off the improbable, but that’s why they play the games. Hamels took home the NLCS MVP honors for his 2 victories against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and I’m thinking adds the World Series MVP trophy to his mantel with his 2nd win over the Rays tonight.
