Phillies Pitching Dominating As Playoffs Near...Yankees? Not So Much

Roy Halladay dominated in his latest start, something the Phillies pitching staff has done often this season. (Photo: Zimbio)

The Philadelphia Phillies have always had a powerful offense, but now they have the best pitching in baseball to compliment their deadly lineup. Roy Halladay, whom they acquired from the Blue Jays last year, and Roy Oswalt, whom they acquired from the Houston Astros this summer, were aces on their prior teams, and have formed a three-headed monster atop the rotation, joining the usually dominant Cole Hamels.

The three have been superb pitchers throughout their careers, but the numbers they have put up this month of September is hard to fathom even from them. Hamels, 26, was roughed up by the New York Mets of all teams in his last outing, but prior to that he was very hard to hit. In his previous five starts heading back to his last August appearance, the lefthander allowed a grand total of two runs in 36 2/3 innings. He won all five outings. At one point he threw 22 scoreless innings.

Halladay hasn’t been as lucky, allowing 14 runs in his five September starts, but his last one notched the Phillies their fourth straight division title. In tossing a complete game shutout against the Washington Nationals he won his 21st game and compiled his eighth complete game and third shutout. Hamels poor start increased his ERA to a still very solid 3.09. Halladay’s gem lowered his ERA to 2.44.

Then there is Oswalt, whose ERA sits in between Hamels and Halladay’s for the season due to a similarly win-filled September. He has won four of his five starts, getting solid run support he didn’t necessarily need. Five runs were all he relinquished, and he won four of his outing, increasing his total to thirteen. He shutout the Atlanta Braves over seven innings in his final appearance of the month, but the offense wasn’t as his back as it had been, settling for a no-decision. But, of course, the Phillies managed to prevail.

They have done that a lot lately, and though the pitching has been tremendous, the hitting has made life a lot easier for those three golden arms. Impending free-agent Jayson Werth is greatly improving his stock on the market. He his 26th homer and drove in four runs to bring his total to 83 in the division-clinching win, slugger Ryan Howard has seven homers in the month, and each of Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, and Raul Ibanez, four other consistent forces in their relentless lineup, have September batting averages over .300 as summer turns to fall.

The right combination of hitting and pitching. Some contending teams have one or the other, not both. The three-pronged attack atop their rotation and the bevy of terrific veteran bats in their order makes the Phillies the overwhelming team to beat come playoff time. They spelled defeat at the hands of the currently struggling New York Yankees in last year’s World Series, but with everyone at their best entering the postseason, all the pieces are in place to avenge 2009′s disappointing end and snag another championship for the city of Philadelphia.

A.J. Burnett has been the pitcher I've come to know and love. He hasn't pitched well in a long, long time.

Now, is their World Series opponent in the position to join them in late October once more? It sure doesn’t seem like it.

Whereas Philadelphia has three starters who can pave a path to the promise land, New York has one they can count on. Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia is that guy, a 20-game winner for the first time in his career. He is a strikeout pitcher, but he’s the only one on their staff. Oswalt, Halladay, and Hamels have combined for 417 strikeouts this season (factoring in Oswalt’s statistics in Houston). Sabathia has the repertoire to rack up the strikeouts, as he has 189 on the year, but the rest of the Yankees pitchers predominately pitch to contact. And lately that contact has resulted in a lot of hits and a lot of runs.

Even Sabathia has been hot and cold of late, but the other four starters have been particularly inconsistent. A.J. Burnett has been the worst, as was exemplified in tonight’s outing against Toronto. He lasted only 2 1/3 innings and allowed seven hits on seven runs to continue a recurring theme of ineffectiveness. That loss was his 15th of the season and increased his ERA to 5.33. Over his last 25 starts he has accumulated that loss total and has an atrocious 6.30 ERA. With those terrible numbers he’s probably not going to be making any postseason starts if the Yankees can help it, but Andy Pettitte hasn’t pitched well since returning from injury, and Phil Hughes, though their second best starter, has an ERA in the mid-fours and is hard to predict. It’s not like Burnett is their only big question mark.

The reigning World Series opponents contrast greatly in the pitching department, and pitching and defense usually win titles. New York has a great offense, but their pitching overrides their potency at the plate and makes the Yankees far from a sure thing come playoff time. Overall this month their pitching has a 4.57 ERA, which, not surprisingly, has led to a mediocre 11-14 record, good for last in the American League East, and five losses in their last six games.

New York could get their act together. Sabathia has proved himself as a big-game pitcher. So has Pettitte, who has a tremendous amount of playoff experience. Hughes has the talent to deliver as well. But if they do find their way into the World Series, the trio of aces from Philadelphia may just be there waiting. And that won’t bode well for the defending champs.