Philadelphia Phillies Made a Statement with Their Game 1 Win over St Louis

The Philadelphia Phillies spent the 2010 postseason riding their pitching while struggling at the plate.  The San Francisco Giants pitching shut down the powerful Phillies offense while their much weaker offense found a way to score just enough runs to win the NLCS.

The Phillies steamrolled into the 2011 playoffs with an out of this world starting rotation and an offense that started to run with all cylinders firing about the time they acquired Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros.  To say they were the favorites to represent the NL in the World Series was an understatement.

The Phillies had clinched early and were able to set up their pitching rotation exactly how they wanted it—with Roy Halladay starting Game1.  Halladay would oppose the St Louis Cardinals but their ace, Chris Carpenter was needed on the final game of the regular season just to get them into the playoffs.  Halladay would face Kyle Lohse in an apparent mismatch that heavily favored the Phillies.

The Cardinals were the Wild Card team—the team that could not afford the luxury of relaxing down the stretch.  They were the team that had a huge wave of momentum coming into the playoffs, a factor that the Phillies would have to contend with.  Sometimes when momentum comes into play the better team does not necessarily win.

All eyes were on the pitcher’s mound in Philadelphia as Roy Halladay threw the first pitch of the game to the Cardinals Rafael Furcal.  By the time the final pitch of the top of the first inning had been thrown, the Cardinals had a 3-0 lead on the Phillies and more significantly, Roy Halladay, after Lance Berkman had lifted a three-run home run into the right field bleachers.

Last year, the Phillies would not have won this game.  Whether that is a statement on the quality of the pitching staffs the Phillies faced last year and this year or perhaps a statement on the desire of the Phillies as a team, they simply would not have come back to win that game.

The turning point in Game 1 was Ryan Howard's at bat in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Howard battled with Kyle Lohse and when he won that battle in spectacular fashion, depositing a titanic home run into the right field bleachers 423 feet away, not only did the Phillies take a lead they would not relinquish; the Phillies sent a message to all of baseball that they are focused and determined and that the NL Pennant will have to go through Philadelphia.

It is entirely possible that the Cardinals could rebound and make a competitive series out of this but I think that with one swing of the bat, Ryan Howard took the Cardinals' momentum and brought it into the Philadelphia clubhouse.  I don't think the Cardinals will be able to recover from that.