What Game 2 Means for the Phillies
October 11, 2008
Filed under: Phillies, NL East, MLB Playoffs
Having home-field advantage in a best of seven series is only meaningful if you win the first two games. Split the first two, and you’ve got three road games in the resulting best of five series. Win the first two like the Phillies did and suddenly the opponent needs four wins in five games to win the series. The Phillies are certainly sitting awfully pretty right now after their two wins in Philadelphia to open the series.
Before the series started, the general consensus was that Cole Hamels could probably get the Phillies two wins in this series and if they could find two other ones, they’d be in good shape. Brett Myers‘ start wasn’t pretty last night, but it got them exactly what they needed. And with Ryan Howard struggling at the plate, Myers’ picked up his slack with three hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Eight runs is eight runs.
Most importantly for the Phillies, they have a chance to put a stranglehold on this series. If Jamie Moyer or Joe Blanton can scrape out a road win in the next two games, Hamels can put the hammer down in Game 5 and the Phils never have to worry about Myers or Moyer starting Games 6 and 7 of this series. Still, they need Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard to start producing. The Philles have built this 2-0 lead with the two of them going 1-for-17 in the series, but you can’t count on the pitcher for three hits every night. If those two keep scuffling, the door is going to stay open for the Dodgers.
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