The Phillies will live to fight another day after another tough battle with the Giants in San Francisco. They didn’t get a stellar performance from Roy Halladay and they didn’t get as many runs as they would have liked from their bats. But the team still managed to hang on and send the series back to Philadelphia.
Finding a way to win when you’re not playing you best is an important ingredient for a championship team.
The Phillies did most of their damage in one shot, scoring three runs off of Tim Lincecum in the third inning. However, the offense got help from the Giants making mistakes in the field. Two of the Phillies three runs in the inning came from a fielding error of Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff.
Huff had a Shane Victorino ground ball bounce off of him and roll into the outfield allowing two runs to score. Later in the inning, the Phillies had runners on first and third with one out, but Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth failed to drive them in. Howard still has not contributed an RBI in the NLCS.
Even with the season on the line, the Phillies offense still looked lost. They managed only four hits in the potential elimination game (before the 9th inning). Instead of relying on their own hitting, the offense had another game where they needed help from the opposing team’s defensive gaffs to score runs.
Werth was able to give them an insurance run in the ninth inning with a home run.
The Giants only managed two runs in this game, but they were able to threaten the Phillies throughout the game. This has been the difference in the series to this point. The Phillies threatening innings are few and far between, while the Giants are putting pressure on the Phillies pitching staff at a much more consistent rate. Even a team like the Giants with a supposedly weak offense will score runs if they are given enough opportunities.
The Phillies were fortunate that the pitching staff was up to the challenge, and held the Giants off after the Phillies got the lead. It will surely help the Phillies that the series is going back to Philadelphia, but if the offense can’t find some way to pick up their play, its hard to believe the Phillies can win two more games in this fashion.
You’re right
a Win is a Win is a Win..
Runs are at premium for both Clubs since the Pitching has been very good from both sides which most knew about going into the Series. Jumping out first to get the lead will be huge in Game 6 as it has all Series long. The Team who makes the smart fundamental plays (bunts,sac flies,moving the base runners over,smart baserunning, and no fiielding errors ) will determine the outcome of the Series
Phils are toast they don’t seem to have that swagger that carried them in 08 & 09….The Giants look to be the hungrier team and are getting hits seems like every inning …Sorry but I don’t see them winning 2 straight
Good job Howard, 0-4 3 strikeouts
I heard R Howard says this Playoff Season is cutting into his Sports Reporter/TV Job opportunities and that he would like to be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates or Knsas City Royals so could start his off-season sooner
i disagree with u gotta luv it i think its the opposite we have to much swagger
they seemed overconfident until last night so maybe being down is good will humble them and we can play phillees baseball