PHILADELPHIA (AP) -The Milwaukee Brewers’ last trip to Philadelphia was a disaster. They were swept in a four-game series and manager Ned Yost was fired the next day.
Two weeks later, the wild-card winners are back in Philly, Dale Sveum is filling out the lineup card and that brutal sweep by the Phillies is all but forgotten.
“We learned yet again we were able to deal with adversity,” left fielder Ryan Braun said. “The end of that series was about as low as we got as a team.”
The Phillies trailed the Brewers by four games in the wild-card standings, then capped the surprising series with a day-night doubleheader sweep. Yost was fired Sept. 15 and Sveum took over for his friend.
“It wasn’t a very pleasant experience, but obviously my life changed the next morning,” Sveum said. “It’s definitely been a whirlwind.”
After a 1-4 start under Sveum, the Brewers finished 6-1 and clinched their first postseason berth since 1982 with a win in the last game of the season.
ying.”
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel doesn’t expect this series to be won as easily as their last matchup.
“I think at that time they weren’t hitting the ball real good. They were having problems,” Manuel said. “At the same time, I look at how we pitched and we did a good job.”
While the Phillies are 5-1 against the Brewers this season, they haven’t faced Game 1 starter Yovani Gallardo or Game 2 starter CC Sabathia this year.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Manuel said of Sabathia, “but I feel like we still have a chance to score some runs on him.”
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CRAWFORD READY?: Barring a setback, Rays left fielder Carl Crawford likely will return to the lineup on Thursday in the division series after missing most of the past seven weeks with a finger injury that required surgery.
The two-time All-Star participated in an Instructional League game Monday, and manager Joe Maddon liked what he saw.
“You can assume he’s going to be there. His health looks good,” Maddon said, adding that Crawford would take over his customary spot in left field but not necessarily move back into the No. 2 hole in the batting order.
“The difference between him and a lot of the other guys who have been injured is the fact he had to go through surgery. That’s significant over just rehabbing something. That requires a little more attention,” Maddon said.
hermore, it is the playoffs. It’s not the middle of June.”
Regardless of where he bats, Crawford’s return will be a huge boost, Maddon said.
“You send the lineup card over to the other side and it has his name on it, there’s a lot more angst created as to when it’s not,” Maddon said.
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BACK AGAIN: Paul Byrd and his Cleveland Indians were one win away from going to the World Series last year before the Boston Red Sox won three straight to win the AL championship series.
Byrd is getting another chance this fall with those same Red Sox, who rescued him from the scrap heap in a trade with the Indians on Aug. 12. And their opponent in the division series is the Los Angeles Angels, whom Byrd helped get to the ALCS in 2005.
“I was available for weeks,” Byrd said Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif. “I passed the trading deadline, then they put me on waivers and nobody wanted me. Then it went past waivers and still nobody wanted me. Then finally, Boston said, `Hey, we’ll take a chance on this guy.’ And it felt really good to be able to help them out.”
The 37-year-old right-hander still feels the sting from the Indians’ Game 7 loss at Fenway Park, when the Red Sox beat them 11-2. CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona were Cleveland’s starting pitchers in the final two games, but couldn’t close the deal.
who will be used out of the bullpen against the Angels. “That was what my offseason was like.”
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RAYS ROTATION: Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon announced his rotation for the Rays’ series against the AL Central champion, and right-hander James Shield will start Game 1 Thursday over lefty All-Star Scott Kazmir.
Shields (14-8), who also was Tampa Bay’s opening-day starter, is 9-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 home starts.
“This is what it’s all about. This is what we work hard all season for,” Shields said. “I’m going to try to do my best out there to keep our team in the game and hold some leads maybe. The first game is a big game. I’m going to take on the challenge.”
Kazmir (12-8), who has been inconsistent since going 5-1 in May, will start Game 2 Friday night at Tropicana Field. Matt Garza (11-9) and Andy Sonnanstine (13-9) will start Games 3 and 4.
“You pretty much know that Shieldsy will go deep into the game,” Maddon said. “Kaz, obviously, has not gone deep into games, but normally you’re pretty much in the game by the time he leaves and you have a good chance to win. … There’s just some common sense applied to it.”
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CALM COLE: Phillies Game 1 starter Cole Hamels is still looking for that first postseason win. What he doesn’t need is another case of the playoff jitters.
e around the playoffs.
“I have playoff experience checked off next to my name,” Hamels said. “I don’t know, for some odd reason, being able to experience something for the very first time, there’s a lot of nerves because of the unexpected. You just have to really go out there and treat it as something that’s not as foreign as it was last year.”
Hamels allowed three earned runs in 6 2-3 innings in last year’s opener, which Colorado won 4-2.
Hamels hasn’t pitched in eight days. The lefty was scheduled to pitch in Sunday’s season finale if the Phillies were still fighting for a playoff spot. Once the Phillies clinched the NL East on Saturday night, Hamels was given the day off.
“I definitely had to change it up a little bit with the extra days of rest,” Hamels said.
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