Philadelphia Phillies Make Pitch for World Series Victory

The Philadelphia Phillies' road to their second World Series win in their 125-year history begins with Cole Hamels and ends with Brad Lidge.

But there is a whole lot of baseball and a young and talented Tampa Bay "Devil" Rays, who seek to carve their own path to baseball history in its 10-year history in between.

Certainly if the Phillies are to win, their pitching will take them to the title. A breakdown of the Phillies' pitching staff follows, with their successes and failures in the 2008 postseason and a mention of the Phillies' bullpen, a large part of their success this year, and the bridge between starter and closer, Lidge.

The Phillies have set their rotation with Cole Hamels to start Game One in Tampa Bay on Wednesday against TBA, but from what I heard on the radio, it will be Scott Kazmir. Hamels will be followed by Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Joe Blanton.

The Phils' staff

Cole Hamels: The absolute stud of the postseason. Overall, in series against the Brewers and the Dodgers, he has gone 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. During the regular season, he was better than average, 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA, but he has been absolutely nasty this postseason.

His 2-0, 1.93 ERA in 14 innings against the Dodgers earned him the NLCS MVP honors. Why is he so good? A fastball in the low 90s, and a change-of-speed pitch that has no discernible arm speed difference, making some batters look silly. He has been one cool customer in the playoffs and got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh inning of the clincher against the Dodgers, striking out Jeff Kent looking.

Brett Myers: You don't know what you are getting from the Phillies' opening day pitcher. He will be most remembered in his 5-2 Game Two win for working a walk off CC Sabathia, and not the one run he gave up in seven innings. He is 2-0 in the postseason and gave up five runs in his Game Two victory, but he got three hits and three RBI in his victory over the Dodgers.

He has a pedestrian 5.25 ERA in the postseason. He went 10-13 with a 4.55 ERA in a season split between the majors and a month-stint in the minors, to work out some kinks. Myers was last year's closer and it was hard for him to mentally accept that he was a starter again in 2008. He has been pretty solid in the postseason.

Jamie Moyer: He has had an absolutely horrible postseason. At 16-7, he was the Phillies' top winner in the regular season. Moyer is 0-2 in the two series, going only 1.1 innings in a 7-2 Game Three loss to the Dodgers. He went five inning vs. the Brewers, giving up four runs.

He is 0-2 with a horrid 13.50 ERA. With an 82-MPH fastball, the 44-year-old lefty must get the strike calls on the corners. He may benefit from a young, anxious Rays lineup. He absolutely dominated the Florida Marlins during the season, also with aggressive hitters.

Joe Blanton: A stellar six-inning shutout of the clinching 6-2 win in Game Four of the NLDS series with the Brewers was followed up with a decent six-inning, three-run outing in the landmark game of the Dodgers series, as the Phils pulled off a thrilling 7-5 win to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS.

Most experts say that Blanton should follow Myers in the rotation, but Phils manager Charlie Manuel is loyal to his players, rewarding Moyer with his 16-win season. Blanton was a midseason acquisition from Oakland and went 4-0 with the Phillies and 9-12 overall. He has had a solid postseason.

The bullpen: Brad Lidge. "Lights Out" Lidge. A perfect 41-41 saves during the regular season. Only one of his three postseason saves were one-two-three innings. He will put men on base, allow a walk or hit here and there, but has always gotten out of jams. He has really grown since the long home run he gave up to Albert Pujols while with Houston in the playoffs a few years back.

The Phillies' bullpen has been extremely solid down the stretch, lead by righties Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin and lefty J.C. Romero. Madson has developed into the eighth inning set up role, recently clocking 97 MPH on the radar gun.

Conclusion: My gut feeling is that for the Phillies to win, they have to keep the score low. The Phillies have not lost this postseason at home, but the Rays are strong at home during the regular season and won two games at a tough Fenway Park. The Phillies can only hope that the Rays' starters are pulled no later than the sixth inning, remembering the Rays' 8-7 loss to Boston in Game Five of the ALCS. As much as I love the Phillies and hope inexperience dooms the Rays, I predict Rays in seven games.