LiveBlog: Brewers v. Phillies

I'll be watching the games today, though I don't know how often I'll do it for the rest of the playoffs, so I thought I'd do a live blog. I'll probably do one every half inning or so. Keep checking back. For my series preview check here.

Gallardo (MIL) vs. Hamels (PHI)

You've got to give the edge to Hamels here even though Gallardo had a 1.88 ERA in his other starts. I like Hamels' 3.09 ERA over 33 starts over Gallardo's four. I guess we'll see. Here we go.

Top 1 (MIL 0 - PHI 0)
It's gonna be a long day for the Brewers. Mike Cameron goes down swinging on two consecutive change-ups. Bill Hall pops out to short. Ryan Braun finishes the inning by striking out. This is the Brewers offense for you, almost 3TO. But, with the horrid way they swung at Hamels' changeup, they may not have a chance. The only True Outcome may be a shutout.

Bottom 1 (MIL 0 - PHI 0)
Good start for Gallardo, but there's a little cause for concern as Rollins and Utley hit lasers. However, Weeks made a great play on Rollins' rod. Gallardo then struck out Werth. Utley roped one at Fielder, but following his name, he fielded it well by snatching it out of the air. A thought, Smoltz (I love the fact he's a broadcaster for these) mentions that Braun made 0 errors this season. While better than the Michael Myers job he did at third, defensive ability does not = 0 errors.

Top 2 (MIL 0 - PHI 0)
Another easy inning for Hamels. He strikes out Fielder to begin the inning. Then, Hardy hits a lazy (not hearty) fly ball to center. Hart hits one up the middle, but Utely makes a nice play to throw him out. As good as Utley is as a hitter, he's really underrated defensively. At this rate, this game's going to be over by 5. Good, that'll give me time to make some french toast.

Bottom 2 (MIL 0 - PHI 0)
Leadoff walks will kill you. Luckily for Gallardo, so does swinging at the first pitch right after the opposing pitcher walks the leadoff guy right in front of you. Ryan Howard takes a walk to start things off, but Burell swings at the next pitch and hits an easy grounder up the middle. Hardy steps on second and throws to first for an easy double play. Victorino then draws a walk, but Feliz ends the inning on a well-hit grounder right at the shortstop. Gallardo gets out of the inning, but there are definite signs of rust. Too many balls up. Too many out of the zone.

T 3 (MIL 0 - PHI 0)
Things get a little more troublesome for Hamels as Gallardo gets close to taking him yard. Regardless, Weeks strikes out to start the inning. Kendall follows by being Kendall and hitting a dinky flyball to center. Gallardo finished the inning by smashing a hanging changeup to deep left. Doesn't matter as the wind is blowing in. By the way, it is raining (not that hard), and when the grounds crew chief said, "She could start dumping", I immediately thought of the "Your roses really smell like poo-ooo-oo" song. Does that make me a bad person?

B 3 (MIL 0 - PHI 3) --> Phils score 3
Don't let the eighth guy in the order on, especially when your defense sucks. Ruiz hits one right back up the middle. Hamels, orthodoxically (?), bunts him over, but Hall bobbles the grounder (which could have gotten him the out at second) and throws to first where Weeks drops the ball. There is only one error on the play officially, but this was just ugly. Luckily for the Brewers, the Phillies continue to screw themselves over. Rollins swings at the first pitch and flies out to shallow left, and Werth follows up by striking out (the second time ... on another high fastball ... hello scouting report). Then, Utley doubles (well, Cameron makes a terrible defensive break and almost catches it) bringing in two runs. Another fastball slightly elevated. In typical fashion, the Brewers then walk Howard intentionally. Burrell follows with a great at-bat drawing a walk by somehow letting go of a nasty curve. Bases loaded for Victorino. Gallardo then walks Victorino, bring in Utley. He's really losing it, and his body language is screaming, "Get me out of here!" Yet, Feliz flies out to center on the second pitch. You know, he's just watched three walks in a row. TAKE A FEW PITCHES!!! Regardless, let's see how Hamels reacts after sitting in the dugout for a while. Final thought, errors kill you.

T 4 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Cameron starts off the inning by grounding out weakly to second. Hall follows by bouncing out to Howard. Hamels then jams Braun, who flies out to left. Nevermind about the sitting in the dugout causing rest thing. Hamels just told the Brewers the game's over. You know, he's only thrown his big curveball a couple times, and he's still dominating them with his fastball-curveball combo. Lesson here kids is that you don't need a curveball until high school. Change-ups are cool, too.

B 4 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Ruiz starts out by inexplicably bunting. He pops it up right to Gallardo. What are the Phillies thinking? Doesn't Ruiz know he's slow? Hamels follows up, orthodoxically (?), by striking out. Rollins then rips one into right for a single. Werth improves on his first two at-bats by ... popping it into foul territory for Prince Fielder. Anyway, it just feels like the Phillies are in command. Even though it's Citizen's Bank Park, there seems to be the feeling that this game is actually 7-0.

T 5 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Fielder starts off by striking out. Go figure on a change-up. Hardy grounds out to short. Then on 0-2 to Hart, Hamels throws a fastball right down the middle (they wanted it up around the shoulders). You know it's Hamels' day when he only singled to right. It ends the no-no, but Hamels quickly dispatches Weeks on a nasty front-door change.

B 5 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Lefty Mitch Stetter comes in for Gallardo. He gets an easy ground out from Utley. He then strikes out Howard on a big curveball/slurve. This is why you have a side-arm lefty against the Phillies. Sveum just came in to make a double-switch. Carlos Villanueva comes in and gets Burrell to line out to left. Craig Counsell is now in at second (Weeks was 0 for 2 with 2 K's).

T 6 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
The Brewers are finally starting to be more patient. After the previous inning's hitter forced some deep counts, Kendall goes 3-2 before striking out. Counsell then bloops one into center, making Sveum look smart. Hamels then walks Cameron, and it looks like the stretch is a little uncomfortable for him. Scratch that. Hamels strikes out Hall, and then he gets Braun to pop out to short on one pitch. Nothing fazes Hamels.

B 6 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Victorino flies to out right center to start things off. Feliz hits the ball like 10 feet to left, but it has the same result. Ruiz then pitifully gorunds out to third, but Hall did have a little trouble with it. Still, a quiet inning. Do you think they're just trying to get out so the game ends quicker?

T 7 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Hamels needs 5 pitches. Howard makes a nice stab on Fielder's hard grounder. Feliz dives to stops Hardee's (sorry). Hart flies out to center. 5 pitches or 3U, 5-3, F8. Apparently, the Brewers are trying to end the game quickly as well. They know the game's over.

B 7 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Villanueva is matching Hamels. He strikes out Hamels on a curve. He gets Rollins on a curve. Just to switch things around, he blows a fastball past an unexpecting Werth (3 K's on the day for Werth). You know, the Phillies really should score like three more to save Hamels a little. I know he won't want to come out, but with a few more runs, he could save himself a little. He's up to 90 pitches.

T 8 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Eric Bruntlett comes in for Pat Burrell, and the Phillies obviously believe they have the game won. First pitch, Tony Gwynn Jr. tries to bunt and is a good one, but Utley gets to it and glove-tosses it to Howard for the out. Kendall strikes out on another nasty change-up. Counsell ends the inning on a grounder to third. Three more outs. Will we see Lidge?

B 8 (MIL 0 - PHI 3)
Manny Parra in to pitch. He gets Utley to cue one to second, but he walks Howard. If you're the lefty reliever, you need to get him out, or at least try to. Bruntlett hits one up the middle. Hardy dives but can only stop it, and all men are safe. Victorino grounds to Weeks, but Victorino beats the throw to first, meaning no double play. With a man on first and third, Sveum goes to get Parra and brings in Mota to face Feliz. Why would you bring in a fastball guy to face a dead fastball hitter? I guess we'll see. I'm wrong. Mota jams Feliz, and Counsell makes a great over-the-shoulder grab to end the inning. Lidge is up in the bullpen, so he should be coming in to finish the game.

T 9 (MIL 1 - PHI 3)
Things are getting scary. Lidge struck out Cameron. But Durham, pinch-hitting for Hall, hits a single. Braun follows with a double, and an error by Utley brings Durham home. Fielder, in a long, tough at-bat, strikes out. In another long at-bat, Hardy walks. Lidge needs to get a quick out. Lidge throws one in the dirt, and the runners move over. 32 pitches for Lidge. Lidge blows one past Hart to end it.

What a game! Hamels was absolutely amazing going 8 while striking 9 and walking one. His change-up was simply amazing. I wonder if he'll use his curveball more if he has to pitch another game in the series because he didn't throw it much today. Gallardo had the stuff, but his command was really off. In the end, you really have to hand it to the Brewers for fighting back in the ninth against Lidge, but as he has all season, Lidge finished it off. Other than the bottom of the third, the game was even, but you just can't give good teams extra outs, especially when they just hand it to you. Two bad defensive plays do the Brewers in. Sabathia tomorrow, so the teams will probably go to Milwaukee tied up. Another thing, will Lidge's 35 pitches affect his availability for tomorrow. My guess is no. It is the playoffs after all, and maybe it was just some rust from not pitching since Saturday.

Phillies 1-0