It all comes down to this. Millions of fans in the greater Philadelphia area and St. Louis area are anxiously anticipating tonight’s Game 5 between the Phillies and the Cardinals. It will be the battle of aces tonight as Roy Halladay gets the nod for the Phillies and Chris Carpenter gets the ball for the Cardinals.

Halladay (1-0, 3.38 ERA) retired his last 21 batters after a leadoff single in the second inning against the Cardinals last Saturday. Halladay went eight innings and got the win for the Phillies.

Carpenter (0-0, 12.00 ERA) went only three innings in his Game 2 start and allowed four runs to the Phillies. Carpenter got the ND as the Cardinals came back to win it 5-4 on Sunday night.

The Cardinals are looking to feed on the momentum from the Game 4 victory against the Phillies. It is no secret that the Cardinals got the matchup they wanted with Chris Carpenter going for them on normal rest. Albert Pujols has been one of the keys to this offense as he is hitting .412 for the Cardinals. Matt Holliday provided a spark for the Cardinals offense the other day in his return to the starting lineup. Look for the Cardinals to feed on that as well. It is no surprise but it is “all hands on deck” for the Cardinals as virtually everyone will be available in the bullpen tonight.

The Phillies return home for Game 5. They are hoping to get the crowd involved early and feed off the energy of the Citizens Bank Park faithful. The key is to keep the crowd involved. Ever since Chris Carpenter was pulled in Game 2, the Phillies have not been seeing a lot of pitches. The Phillies were successful against Carpenter in Game 2 when they were seeing pitches and were patient at the plate. The patience lead to base runners which put the heat on the Cardinals. The Phillies will look to be more patient at the plate and get base runners early and often. We talked about it at length yesterday, but did Ryan Howard make an adjustment? Will he prove all the doubters wrong? We will see tonight. Similar to the Cardinals, the Phillies also have “all hands on deck” as everyone is available in the bullpen tonight, even Cliff Lee.

Roy Halladay is pitching on extra rest tonight (he is pitching on five days rest). As a Phillie, Halladay is 16-3 with a 1.81 ERA and 143 strikeouts with 23 walks, when pitching on five days rest. The season rests on Doc’s shoulders.

-Steve Dolan

Within the first five pitches of the game, the Phillies grabbed a 2-0 lead. A leadoff double by Jimmy Rollins, followed by a triple by Chase Utley that gave them the 1-0 lead, and then a Hunter Pence single to put them up 2-0. The Phillies had the momentum out of the gates.

Ryan Howard had worked a full count and seemed to have Edwin Jackson on his heels. Jackson threw a 3-2 pitch off the outside of the plate that should have walked Howard but home plate Angel Hernandez called strike three. Pence was running on the play and beat the throw to second. It was clear in real time and in slow motion that Pence beat the ball to second and was safe but second base umpire Chad Fairchild opted to go against the fact Pence was safe and called him out. Victorino flew out to end the inning. Remember all that momentum that the Phillies got to start the game? Well, Hernandez and Fairchild took it back even though the Phillies lead 2-0.

After a Skip Schumaker one out single, Roy Oswalt was able to get Albert Pujols to pop out to Placido Polcano to bring Lance Berkman to the plate. Berkman doubled to centerfield then Shane Victorino fell down (yeah, don’t ask how he did it, he just fell over) and Berkman advanced to third. The Phillies got Matt Holliday to end the inning but the Cardinals were able to cut the lead in half and the Phillies only lead 2-1.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Oswalt walked Lance Berkman to lead off the inning then hit Matt Holliday on the right arm (not far from his injured right hand) to put the first two men aboard. After a Yadier Molina line out, Cardinals third baseman David Freese stepped to the plate and ripped a two run double to left that rolled all the way to the wall. Berkman and Holliday both scored to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.

Two innings later, Freese stepped to the plate with one on and two out. He proceeded to deposit the Roy Oswalt into the batters eye in dead center field to expand the St. Louis lead to 5-3.

The Phillies were able to answer with a run in the top of the eighth. Ross gload lead off with a single to right. Michael Martinez came on to pinch run. After a Fernando Salas balk moved Martinez to second and Jimmy Rollins grounded out, Chase Utley reached on an infield single to put runners on first and third with one out. Martinez scored and Utley moved to second on a wild pitch by Fernando Salas. Pence grounded out to shortstop then Ryan Howard came up. Howard quickly fell into an 0-2 hole to Marc Rzepcynski and, as usually, Rzepcynski threw him a slider away and Howard swung over it to strike out and end the inning.

The Phillies went down in order in the ninth as Jason Motte got the save. Oswalt went six innings tonight, allowing six hits, five runs, while striking out five. This was the first time Oswalt has lost a postseason game in which he started. As for Jackson, he went six innings, allowing five hits, two runs, while striking out four.

It all comes down to Friday night at 8:37pm. Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park with Phillies ace Roy Halladay going against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. 


-Steve Dolan

Tonight the Phillies have a chance to eliminate the Cardinals and advance to their fourth consecutive NLCS. Since 2008, the Phillies are 3-1 in NLDS elimination games and 8-3 in elimination games overall. The Phillies send Roy Oswalt to the mound to get the win and the Cardinals send Edwin Jackson to the hill to try and extend their season.

RHP Oswalt (9-10, 3.69 ERA) has never lost a postseason game as a starter.

RHP Jackson (12-9, 3.79 ERA) has never started a postseason game. However, Jackson did pitch two innings, allowing one run, two hits, and a walk to the Phillies in the 2008 World Series as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays.

It is no secret that the Cardinals need a win tonight. All hands on deck for the Cardinals and that means that almost everyone will be available out of the bullpen except Jaime Garcia (last night’s starter) and Chris Carpenter (who will start a Game 5 if necessary).

Ryan Theriot went 4-for-5 yesterday and has continued his unusually good hitting. It is amazing that he has six hits in nine at bats. Albert Pujols continues to be one of the best hitters in the game. He had four hits yesterday, three of which were doubles. Pujols is 7-for-13 in the series and continues to prove why he is one of the most feared hitters in the game. He is potentially entering his final game with the Cardinals tonight as he is a free agent this offseason.

The Phillies are hoping to wrap the series up tonight. Last night featured an unusual hero- Ben Francisco. Francisco’s three run home run was all the Phillies needed to pull out a win in a crucial Game 3.

Via Phillies Insider Kevin McAlpin, the previous seven times the Phillies have held a 2-1 series lead in the postseason, the Phils have won all seven series.

First pitch is at 6:07pm at Busch Stadium and the game can be seen on TBS.

-Steve Dolan

Good morning! Steak and Eggs! Three of the four divisional series games were elimination games last night. Let’s begin with the one that wasn’t an elimination game….

The Phillies and Cardinals were in a wild one last night. Locked in a scoreless battle, pinch hitter Ben Francisco stepped in with two outs in the seventh and runners on first and second. Ben Francisco deposited the 1-0 pitch in the Phillies bullpen for a 3-0 lead. The Phils would give two back but hold on to win 3-2 and take a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 coming tonight at 6:07pm. More here.

The Rangers had the Rays on the brink of elimination in Game 4 at Tropicana Field. Ian Kinsler hit a homerun on the second pitch of the game. Adrian Beltre followed by hitting three solo home runs. He joins Adam Kennedy, George Brett, Reggie Jackson, Bob Robertson, and Babe Ruth as the only players to ever hit three home runs in a playoff game. The Rangers won 4-3 and eliminated the feel good Rays. More here.

The Brewers had the opportunity to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. Trailing 3-1 in the fifth with the bases loaded, Brewers pitcher Shaun Marcum could not get on the same page as catcher Jonathan Lucroy on which pitch to throw. After a Lucroy visit to the mound,  Marcum still stepped off and showed visible frustration. When he went to look in for the sign, Lucroy just shrugged in confusion so Marcum threw a pitch of his choice and D’backs rookie Paul Goldschmidt hit a grand slam to break the game wide open. Brewers lead series 2-1 with Game 4 coming tonight.. More here.

The Yankees were on the brink of elimination last night as they sent A.J. Burnett to the mound to extend the season. Burnett got in trouble early but with two outs and the bases loaded, Curtis Granderson misplayed a ball in centerfield but recovered to make a fantastic leaping catch to get the Yankees out of the first unscathed. The Yankees got on the board in the third going up 2-0 but the Tigers answered in the fourth with a Victor Martinez solo homerun. The Yankees scored two in the fifth then blew it wide open with a sixth run eighth to win 10-1. Burnett when 5 2/3 innings and allowed only one run.The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 coming Thursday night. More here.

It wasn’t easy but, in the postseason, not much is easy. The Phillies grabbed a 2-1 series lead with a 3-2 win tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Jaime Garcia and Cole Hamels were dazzling tonight to say the least. Through six innings, it was a 0-0 game with the Cardinals, actually, holding some of the advantage.

Cole Hamels went six innings and allowed no runs but he threw a lot of pitches. He threw 117 pitches to be exact, 72 of them for strikes. Hamels struck out eight batters and walked three. He had three innings in which he threw 21 pitches or more. But his high pitch count might be what won the game for the Phillies. Follow me on this one.