Last Updated on October 13, 2009 6:02 pm by admin
A look at the best-of-seven National League championship series between the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees:
Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Los Angeles (8:07 p.m.); Game 2, Friday, at Los Angeles (4:07 p.m.); Game 3, Sunday, at Philadelphia (8:07 p.m.); Game 4, Monday, Oct. 19, at Philadelphia (8:07 p.m.); x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Philadelphia (8:07 p.m.); x-Game 6, Friday, Oct. 23, at Los Angeles (8:07 p.m.); x-Game 7, Saturday, Oct. 24, at Los Angeles (8:07 p.m.). (All games on TBS).
x-if necessary.
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Season Series: Los Angeles won 4-3.
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Projected Lineups
Phillies: SS Jimmy Rollins (.250, 21, 77, 100 runs, 31 SBs), CF Shane Victorino (.292, 10, 62, 102 runs, 25 SBs), 2B Chase Utley (.282, 31, 93, 112 runs, 23 for 23 SBs), 1B Ryan Howard (.279, 45, 141, 105 runs), RF Jayson Werth (.268, 36, 99, 20 SBs), LF Raul Ibanez (.272, 34, 93), 3B Pedro Feliz (.266, 12, 82), C Carlos Ruiz (.255, 9, 43).
SBs), 3B Casey Blake (.280, 18, 79), 1B James Loney (.281, 13, 90), 2B Orlando Hudson (.283, 9, 62) or Ronnie Belliard (.277, 10, 39), C Russell Martin (.250, 7, 53).
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Projected Rotations
Phillies: LH Cole Hamels (10-11, 4.32), RH Pedro Martinez (5-1, 3.63 in 9 starts), LH Cliff Lee (7-4, 3.39 in 12 starts with Phillies after trade from Cleveland; 14-13, 3.22 overall), LH J.A. Happ (12-4, 2.93) or RH Joe Blanton (12-8, 4.05).
Dodgers: LH Randy Wolf (11-7, 3.23), LH Clayton Kershaw (8-8, 2.79), RH Vicente Padilla (4-0, 3.20 in 8 games, 7 starts with Dodgers after getting cut by Texas; 12-6, 4.46 overall), RH Chad Billingsley (12-11, 4.03).
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Relievers
Phillies: RH Brad Lidge (0-8, 7.21, 31/42 saves), RH Ryan Madson (5-5, 3.26, 10/16 saves), RH Brett Myers (4-3, 4.84 in 18 games, 8 relief appearances), RH Clay Condrey (6-2, 3.00), RH Chad Durbin (2-2, 4.39), LH Scott Eyre (2-1, 1.50), LH Antonio Bastardo (2-3, 6.46 in 6 games, 5 starts).
ndbacks and Dodgers).
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Matchups
Hamels is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 4 career regular-season starts against Los Angeles. … Ruiz batted .571 (8 for 14) with a homer and 5 RBIs vs. the Dodgers this season. Rollins, Utley, Victorino and Howard were all held under .200. … Lidge had a 7.36 ERA in 4 appearances against the Dodgers. … Loney hit .393 (11 for 28) with 2 homers and 6 RBIs against the Phillies this year. Blake and Kemp both batted .333. … Broxton struck out 8 and walked 1 in 3 innings vs. Philadelphia. He was 2-0 with a 6.00 ERA in 3 outings. … Kershaw was 0-2 with a 5.23 ERA in 2 starts against Philadelphia this year. Wolf was 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in 2 starts. … Ethier had no RBIs in 22 at-bats in last year’s NLCS. … The Dodgers and Phillies had the two best records in the NL this season.
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Big Picture
doubles and 6 RBIs. Werth homered twice and finished 5 for 14 (.357) with a triple, 4 RBIs and 5 runs. He also walked 4 times. Victorino batted .353 (6 for 17) and scored 4 runs. … After a tough start at home this season, the Phillies were 32-14 at Citizens Bank Park from July 1 on. They had the best road record in the majors at 48-33. Then they went 2-0 at chilly Coors Field in the division series. … The Phillies hit a club-record 224 homers and became the 12th team in major league history to have four players with 30. … The bullpen, a major strength during last year’s championship run, was decimated by injuries and inconsistency. But Lidge, who had 11 blown saves during the season, closed out both one-run wins in Colorado. He looked sharp in his last two regular-season outings, too. … Happ, the team’s most consistent starter all season, made a brief start against the Rockies and pitched out of the bullpen as well. The rookie’s versatility is important to the Phillies because they’re short on left-handed relievers. He’s been effective in any role. … A potent lineup boasts power and speed. No other NL team had 200 homers and 100 steals. … Fans flocked to the ballpark in Philadelphia, selling it out 73 times and setting a club attendance record.
postseason home runs, hasn’t gone deep in 44 at-bats since Sept. 18. … RHP Hiroki Kuroda missed the first round with a herniated disk in his neck. He already has sat out two months with an oblique strain and another three weeks after he was struck by a line drive. … Torre’s lineup juggling wasn’t effective late in the season when the Dodgers’ offense went cold. … Torre was on Manuel’s coaching staff at the All-Star game.
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Watch For
– Closing Time. It looks as though Lidge has that nasty slider back. He saved the last two games of the division series, both times retiring Rockies cleanup batter Troy Tulowitzki with two on for the final out. Will he stay perfect against the Dodgers if Manuel keeps going to him? Lidge was 48 for 48 on save chances last year, including the postseason, but never came close to matching that dominance this season.
– Will Manny Be Manny? Ramirez didn’t produce in the final weeks of the regular season, but his swing started to come around against the Cardinals. In last year’s NLCS against Philadelphia, he was 8 for 15 (.533) with 2 homers, 7 RBIs, 7 walks and 2 doubles.
After being pulled for a pinch hitter, he rushed off to be with his wife, Heidi, who was in labor with the couple’s first child. If Hamels can find his unflappable form again when the stakes are high, the Phillies have a good chance to repeat.
– Left Is Right. With Wolf and Kershaw at the top of the rotation, plus Kuo and Sherrill in the bullpen, the Dodgers might have enough quality left-handed arms to slow down a Philadelphia lineup loaded with left-handed power in Utley, Howard and Ibanez. One of Werth’s important jobs is to offset lefties, and he does it well. He batted .302 with 14 homers in 149 at-bats against southpaws this season.