House
10-05-2008, 08:57 PM
Phils finish off Brewers; Dodgers are next
By Todd Zolecki
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
MILWAUKEE - Jimmy Rollins, soaked in champagne, his eyes burning from the alcohol, stood in the middle of the visitors' clubhouse at Miller Park today and recalled a conversation he had with Larry Bowa when the Phillies closed Veterans Stadium in 2003.
"This is the house you helped build," Rollins told Bowa. "The one across the street is going to be the one that we build."
The one across the street is Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies will host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Behind two home runs from Pat Burrell, the Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2, today in Game 4 of the NL division series to advance to their first NLCS since 1993.
"This is one step in the right direction," Rollins said.
Brewers catcher Jason Kendall grounded out to Rollins in the ninth inning to end the game and the series. The Phillies stormed the field before carrying their celebration into the clubhouse, where they popped champagne and cans of beer.
They partied, but not nearly as hard as Sept. 27 when they clinched the NL East.
"We don't feel like we should be looking at anything less than a World Series," Rollins said. "And that's a World Series win. It's a lot of work. It's not going to be easy, but we weren't geared just to get to the playoffs. We're geared to win. We haven't broken through anything yet. We've just stepped over one hurdle."
It was quite a hurdle.
The Colorado Rockies swept the Phillies in the division series last season. The Phils had not won a postseason series since 1993, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.
Hard to believe, but that was 15 years ago.
"Fifteen years ago I was still in high school," Rollins said.
These Phillies have heard endless stories about the '93 and '80 teams, and they suddenly have an opportunity to make their own history. They would like people to someday talk about Rollins, Howard and Utley the same way they talk about Schmidt, Carlton and Rose or Wild Thing, Nails and Dutch.
"To be a part of something that hadn't happened in 15 years is great," Brett Myers said. "We're going to try to put '93 in the past where it should be. We're going to try to take it a little further than they did and win the whole thing."
They must beat the Dodgers first, and it won't be easy. They split the eight-game season series with Los Angeles. The Dodgers won four games at Dodger Stadium and the Phillies won four games at the Bank.
The Phillies must continue to get quality pitching and timely hitting, like they got today, to have a chance to reach the World Series.
Rollins led off the game with a solo home run to right. The Phillies made it 5-0 in the third.
Shane Victorino was on second with two outs when the Brewers intentionally walked Ryan Howard to face Burrell.
On the surface, it made sense. Howard is a lefthanded hitter and Burrell is a righthanded hitter, so it put Burrell up against the righthanded Jeff Suppan. But that textbook logic should have been thrown out the window. Burrell had hit .454 (10 for 22) with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs in his career against Suppan, including a second-inning single down the right-field line. He also walked six times.
Burrell made the Brewers regret the choice. He crushed a 2-2 fastball to left field for a three-run home run to make it 4-0. It was Burrell's second hit of the series and the second homer of his postseason career.
Jayson Werth followed with a homer to left-center to make it 5-0.
Burrell didn't call his shot before the game, but he told Rollins that he felt good.
"He gave me some lip yesterday about not getting Howard over," said Burrell, who hit his second homer in the eighth. "He was on second with nobody out, and he was right. I didn't get him over. So I said, 'Why don't you do something?' Sure enough, he did. And then it was on me."
Burrell, Rollins and Werth made things easier for righthander Joe Blanton, who allowed just five hits and one run in six innings in his first postseason start. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge preserved the win.
Four more victories to reach the World Series.
Eight more victories to win it.
Eight more victories and the Phillies finish the season with 103 wins.
Rollins predicted before the season the Phillies would win 100 games. He just never gave a time frame to get those 100.
"That's what so great about those things," Rollins joked about his prediction. "You can always adjust them on the go."
By Todd Zolecki
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
MILWAUKEE - Jimmy Rollins, soaked in champagne, his eyes burning from the alcohol, stood in the middle of the visitors' clubhouse at Miller Park today and recalled a conversation he had with Larry Bowa when the Phillies closed Veterans Stadium in 2003.
"This is the house you helped build," Rollins told Bowa. "The one across the street is going to be the one that we build."
The one across the street is Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies will host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday in Game 1 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Behind two home runs from Pat Burrell, the Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2, today in Game 4 of the NL division series to advance to their first NLCS since 1993.
"This is one step in the right direction," Rollins said.
Brewers catcher Jason Kendall grounded out to Rollins in the ninth inning to end the game and the series. The Phillies stormed the field before carrying their celebration into the clubhouse, where they popped champagne and cans of beer.
They partied, but not nearly as hard as Sept. 27 when they clinched the NL East.
"We don't feel like we should be looking at anything less than a World Series," Rollins said. "And that's a World Series win. It's a lot of work. It's not going to be easy, but we weren't geared just to get to the playoffs. We're geared to win. We haven't broken through anything yet. We've just stepped over one hurdle."
It was quite a hurdle.
The Colorado Rockies swept the Phillies in the division series last season. The Phils had not won a postseason series since 1993, when they beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS.
Hard to believe, but that was 15 years ago.
"Fifteen years ago I was still in high school," Rollins said.
These Phillies have heard endless stories about the '93 and '80 teams, and they suddenly have an opportunity to make their own history. They would like people to someday talk about Rollins, Howard and Utley the same way they talk about Schmidt, Carlton and Rose or Wild Thing, Nails and Dutch.
"To be a part of something that hadn't happened in 15 years is great," Brett Myers said. "We're going to try to put '93 in the past where it should be. We're going to try to take it a little further than they did and win the whole thing."
They must beat the Dodgers first, and it won't be easy. They split the eight-game season series with Los Angeles. The Dodgers won four games at Dodger Stadium and the Phillies won four games at the Bank.
The Phillies must continue to get quality pitching and timely hitting, like they got today, to have a chance to reach the World Series.
Rollins led off the game with a solo home run to right. The Phillies made it 5-0 in the third.
Shane Victorino was on second with two outs when the Brewers intentionally walked Ryan Howard to face Burrell.
On the surface, it made sense. Howard is a lefthanded hitter and Burrell is a righthanded hitter, so it put Burrell up against the righthanded Jeff Suppan. But that textbook logic should have been thrown out the window. Burrell had hit .454 (10 for 22) with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs in his career against Suppan, including a second-inning single down the right-field line. He also walked six times.
Burrell made the Brewers regret the choice. He crushed a 2-2 fastball to left field for a three-run home run to make it 4-0. It was Burrell's second hit of the series and the second homer of his postseason career.
Jayson Werth followed with a homer to left-center to make it 5-0.
Burrell didn't call his shot before the game, but he told Rollins that he felt good.
"He gave me some lip yesterday about not getting Howard over," said Burrell, who hit his second homer in the eighth. "He was on second with nobody out, and he was right. I didn't get him over. So I said, 'Why don't you do something?' Sure enough, he did. And then it was on me."
Burrell, Rollins and Werth made things easier for righthander Joe Blanton, who allowed just five hits and one run in six innings in his first postseason start. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge preserved the win.
Four more victories to reach the World Series.
Eight more victories to win it.
Eight more victories and the Phillies finish the season with 103 wins.
Rollins predicted before the season the Phillies would win 100 games. He just never gave a time frame to get those 100.
"That's what so great about those things," Rollins joked about his prediction. "You can always adjust them on the go."