After three runs the first game and 2 runs through six innings, the Phillies had not been a hitting machine. But Oswalt makes something happen at the plate and the Phils end up loading the bases to bring up...no...not Jimmy Rollins.
Coming into the game Young James was 1-for-15 in the postseason and dropped to the six hole. In his first three at-bats, Jimmy looked terrible, but managed an infield pop-up hit. All three of those at-bats were from the right side. Jimmy's post-season success last year against Broxton and his two home runs in 2008 NLDS and NLCS clinchers came from the left side. And even though Jimmy has proven to be a hero in the postseason the past two seasons, the feeling inside was much less than enthusiastic that it was him coming to the plate with the bases loaded and 2-out in the 7th.
Enter Bruce Bochy.
After intentionally walking Jayson Werth to get to Rollins, left-handed pitcher Jeremy Affeldt was removed for righty Santiago Casilla, switching Jimmy to his what certainly appears to be more comfortable left side. If you didn't watch the game, (then you shouldn't be reading my blog) Jimmy took a 2-0 low fastball off the right field wall for a bases clearing triple and the finishing touches on a 6-run performance for a previously struggling offense.
If Jimmy comes alive in the sixth spot, this series could turn sour for the Giants who have to face postseason stud Cole Hamels on Tuesday afternoon then the Roys again later in the series.
If the Phillies bats feed off of their game 2 performance and continue to roll the team into the World Series, you can't help but question if Bochy's pitching decision kick-started a sleeping 'Giant.'
No comments:
Post a Comment