The Ticket Chest

5-4 Walk-Off Wins in Each League Championship Game on Monday

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Alex Rodriguez, Alfredo Aceves, Andy Pettitte, Carlos Ruiz, Casey Blake, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Derek Jeter, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Girardi, Johnny Damon, Jonathan Braxton, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, Macier Izturis, Matt Stairs, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Sports, Vladimir Geurrero | No Comments

MLB has gotta be loving this – two walk-off wins for the home team; two 5-4 scores; one series just about done and the other heating up.  I live for October baseball!

I am most excited about the Angels rallying to beat the Yankees 5-4 in 11 innings on Monday afternoon.  The Angels had struggled all game against Andy Pettitte as the Yankees built a 3-0 lead on solo homers from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon.  Despite blowing some chances early, the Angels hung in there.  They cut the Yankees lead to 3-1 on Howie Kendrick’s HR in the 5th inning (that was the 1st home run given up by a Yankees pitcher in the playoffs this year) and then tied it up on Vladimir Guerrero’s 2-run bomb to left in the 6th inning.  And after Manager Joe Girardi pulled Pettitte with 1 out in the 7th inning, the Angels immediately capitalized with a triple by Kendrick and a run-scoring sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Macier Izturis off Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain.  Just like that the Angels had a 4-3 lead and needed only 6 outs to get the series back in their favor.  Jorge Posada’s solo home run to center field put a slight damper on the Angels’ celebration, but the Angels gutted it out in the bottom of the 11th inning.  Girardi’s “over-managing” could be called into question with his decision to pull David Robertson (who had recorded the 1st 2 outs of the inning) for Alfredo Aceves.  Kendrick came through in the clutch with a single to center field and Jeff Mathis ended the game with a walk-off, 2-out RBI double to deep left field that plated Kendrick with the winning-run.  Props go to Kendrick for winning the game for the Angels on Monday.  On his triple in the 7th inning, Kendrick hustled right out of the box to get all the way to 3rd base with only 1 out.  And in the 11th, even though there was 2 out, Kendrick’s speed enabled him to score all the way from 1st on Mathis’ double.

The win breathes new life into the Angels, and Girardi’s decision to go with a 3-man rotation in the ALCS will be in the spotlight tonight as CC Sabathia gets the nod in Game 4 on only 3 days rest.  Sabathia pitched well on 3 days rest for the Brewers in 2008 (2-1, 0.83 ERA), but if he has an off-night, look for the critics to hand Girardi out to dry post-game.  Scott Kazmir has had a lot of success against the Yankees (6-5 record and 2.66 ERA in 14 career starts), so it should be a great game to watch on Tuesday night.

The NLCS game was also a back and forth game – a 1st inning Ryan Howard home run gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.  But then the Dodgers answered with 4 runs during the 4th through 6th innings on RBI singles by James Loney, Russell Martin and Casey Blake and a solo home run by Matt Kemp.  After a Chase Utley RBI single cut the Dodgers lead to 4-3 in the 6th inning, it looked like the Dodgers would even the series as closer Jonathan Broxton entered the game in the 9th inning.  Broxton (who had converted 36 of 42 save chances with a 2.61 ERA and 0.96 WHIP, but struggled on the road with an 5.81 ERA) even got lead-off hitter Raul Ibanez out, but laid an egg by pitching around Matt Stairs (Stairs had homered off of Broxton in the NLCS in 2008) and allowing him to reach on a walk.  Broxton made matters worse by plunking Carlos Ruiz to give the Phillies 1st and 2nd with only 2 outs.  Broxton got Gregg Dobbs to line out to 3rd base, but Jimmy Rollins crushed a 99-MPh fastball to deep center field that plated both Eric Bruntlett (pinch-runner for Stairs) and Ruiz with the winning runs.  Just like that, the Phillies had a walk-off win to take a 3-1 series lead.  The Dodgers have a huge obstacle to overcome.  They face Cole Hamels on Wednesday in Game 5 and if they are luck enough to win that one, they will have to beat Cliff Lee in Game 6 in Los Angeles just to get to a Game 7.  It’s not looking good for the Dodgers…

Enjoy MLB playoffs action tonight!

Cliff Lee, Bats Propel Phillies to Easy 11-0 Laugher over Dodgers

Monday, October 19th, 2009 | Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Hiroki Kuroda, Joe Torre, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Sports | No Comments

Ugly – I think that’s the best word to describe it.  The Phillies crushed the Dodgers 11-0 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in the 2009 NLCS.

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre didn’t have Hiroki Kuroda available for the NLDS against the Cardinals because of an injury and he made a bold move by adding Kuroda to the NLCS roster against the Phillies.  Kuroda had had a solid year – 20 starts, 8 wins, 3.76 ERA and 1.14 WHIP – and had even stymied the Phillies back on June – 2 hits and 3 walks in 6 scoreless innings of a 3-2 Dodgers win in L.A.  But Torre calculated wrong big time in this situation.  Kuroda barely got out of the 1st inning, and didn’t last much longer in the 2nd inning, as he gave up 6 runs – all earned – on 6 hits, the big one being a 2-run HR by Jayson Werth to cap-off a 4-run 1st inning.

And with Cliff Lee on the mound for the Phillies, the game was pretty much over after Ryan Howard’s triple plated 2 runs ahead of Werth’s HR to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  Lee was as dominant as ever – 8 innings pitched, 3 hits, no walks and 10 K’s.  114 effective and efficient pitches, and just like that Lee kept his spectacular regular season going with another solid post-season start.  In 3 October playoff starts, Lee has given up just 2 ER (4 total) in 24 1/3 innings pitched.  Throw in just 14 hits and 3 walks against 20 K’s and you are looking at the hottest playoff pitcher in baseball right now.

The Phillies bats stepped up to the plate as well.  After the 4-run 1st inning, the Phillies continued to pund away at Kuroda with 2 more runs in the 2nd inning on a Jimmy Rollins double and a Ryan Howard RBI groundout.  The Phillies tacked on 2 more insurance runs in the 5th inning on a Pedro Feliz run-scoring triple and a Carlos Ruiz RBI single.  And the Phillies capped off their scoring in the bottom of the 8th inning on Shane Victorino’s 3-run bomb to deep right field.  All in all, the Phillies scored 11 runs on 11 hits and 7 walks against 5 Dodgers pitchers.  Victorino, Chase Utley and Ruiz each had 2 hits, while Victorino and Howard each had 3 RBI’s.

Game 3 starts tonite at 8:07PM EST on TBs.  Randy Wolf will toe the rubber for the Dodgers while Joe Blanton will look to give the Phillies a commanding 3-1 series lead and a chance to close out the series at home in Game 5 on Wednesday night…

Phillies Deliver Knock Out Punch – Take Game 1 over Dodgers 8-6

Friday, October 16th, 2009 | Brad Lidge, Carlos Ruiz, Clayton Kershaw, Cole Hamels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Sports | No Comments

The Phillies defeated the Dodgers 8-6 in Game 1 of the NLCS to take a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series – home field advantage right back to Philly.  For the 1st 4 innings, it looked like we were going to have a pitcher’s duel between Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw.  Up until that point, the Dodgers led the Phillies 1-0 with the lone run scoring on a solo home run by James Loney in the 2nd inning.

But with the 5th inning came an explosion of offense – - Carlos Ruiz’s 3-run bomb to deep left gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead and Ryan Howard’s 2-run double increased that lead to 5-1.

But the Dodgers answered right back in the bottom of the inning with 3 runs of their own – 1 run on Andre Ethier’s RBI groundout and 2 runs on Manny Ramirez’s 2-run bomb to deep left center. 5-4 Phillies on top.

It looked like the Phillies had put the game away for good in the top of the 8th inning when Raul Ibanez’s 3-run HR gave the Phillies an 8-4 lead.  But the Dodgers answered in the bottom of the inning with 2 runs on a Russell Martin RBI single and a Rafael Furcal sacrifice fly.

Give some props to Brad Lidge for closing out the game in the 9th inning.  We only know about Lidge’s struggles in 2009 – 0-8 record, 7.21 ERA, 31 saves but 11 blown saves.  But after a lead-off single by Matt Kemp, Lidge induced a Casey Blake double play to pick up 2 quick outs.  And even after a James Loney walk, Lidge buckled down and got Ronnie Belliard to pop out to end the game.  Despite shaken confidence during the regular season, Lidge has earned the save in 3 of the 4 Phillies wins in the 2009 post-season, and he has yet to give up a run in 2 1/3 innings pitched.

Hamels notched the win, despite giving up 4 ER on 8 hits and 1 walk in 5 1/3 innings.  Kershaw struggled with his control too much on Thursday night – walking 5 and giving up 5 ER on 4 hits without even making it out of the 5th inning.

The 2 teams won’t have much time to dwell on Game 1, as they square off in Game 2 at 4:07PM EST today on TBS.  Pedro Martinez will take the bump for the Phillies against Vincent Padilla of the Dodgers.  It will mark Martinez’s 1st post-season start since he won a World Series game for the Boston Red Sox back in 2004.  It becomes a must-win for the Dodgers who do not want to go down 2-0 to the Phillies having to face ace Cliff Lee in Game 3 back in Philadelphia on Sunday…