Philadelphia Phillies-Los Angeles Dodgers NLCS Game Four Notes

DMtShooter Five Tool ToolOct 19, 2009

11) According to the World Wide Lemur, Jimmy Rollins's game-trying and game-winning RBI is the first time that a home team got one of those since...Kirk Gibson. So that means we can stop showing that footage, right? (Please?)

10) Please note that the game-tying run tonight was sparked by the man that lives in permanent heavy rotation in Jonathan Broxton's nightmares: Matt Stairs, working the walk. And if you suspect, like I do, that Charlie Manuel kept the old fire hydrant around all year for just this purpose...well, Cholly's smarter than he lets on, OK?

9) I have to say, I'm really enjoying Bill Simmons's bandwagon rooting for the Dodgers and his old pal Manny. Wait, what's that, you mean he didn't write a word about it, because he doesn't write about things that don't go his way? I'm shocked, shocked, to see a Boston fan behave this way. Just shocking, really.

8) I'm pretty sure that we all expected this series to turn on a catastrophic bullpen failure to blow a save. Really the only way it could have gone.

7) In the eighth inning tonight, Ryan Howard reminded us all of why he's not, in fact, the best first baseman in baseball. It's mostly because left-handed pitchers exist.

6) You'd never know from his at-bat tonight to win the game, but Jimmy Rollins has been mostly terrible his year, leaving the table clear for the pulp-crushing machine that is the middle of this lineup. But it's all water under the bridge now.

4) The Phillies' bullpen tonight: 3 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts and a win. After the Game Two tragedy to deny Pedro Martinez, Philly Fan was reminded anew to never, ever trust the bullpen ever again...but to be fair, getting nine outs without giving up a single run is not quite the worst bullpen effort ever. Kudos, Chan Ho Park, Ryan Madson, Scott Eyre, and tonight's winning pitcher...Brad Lidge.

3) Chutch Ruiz scored the winning run tonight after getting on base via being hit by the pitch. He also made it all the way around the bases on the Rollins hit, and looked like the world's biggest kid every step of the way.

2) Both MLB playoff games ended today with a walk-off hit. If MLB wants to keep doing this sort of thing, maybe the sport will survive the men who run it...

1) Game Five will be on Wednesday, and feature Cole Hamels vs. Vincente Padilla. Dodger fans, I've seen Padilla in a must-have situation before, and lemme tell ya, I'm not loving your chances...