Phightins

That's exactly what I mean. Doc gets his ground ball but to the wrong spot, and the Giants score. The Giants couldn't be luckier and the Phillies couldn't be unluckier. I swear the Giants have a 1.000 BABIP this series. Oh, and Chase Utley's postseason defense is dreadful.

The Giants are getting very lucky in this series. That isn't sour grapes, it's the truth. They are not making solid contact, and the only times they do the ball seems to find a hole or gap, or it happens on the one pitch they decide to send a runner. And to help their case, the Phillies luck has been basically the exact opposite.

My earliest Phillies game memory is walking around the basement of the Vet, and having some douche put out his cig on my arm. No idea what happened on the field that night!

Polly back to 2 and Utley back to 3. AKA they better have the lead by the 7th inning or Lopez/Affeldt is going to tear up the middle of the lineup. Also, Torres, Sandoval, and Uribe in Giants lineup. Anyway, 1 game at a time. Start by getting the series back here. I will take my chances with Oswalt/Hamels pitching at home any day of the week. Odds not in our favor, but I have seen crazier things.

Tickets "on the cheap"?

Haha I think all the baseball posts are awesome, it would just be cool if it was this way all season. Also, speaking of the '90's Mariners....how the hell did that team never win anything? Talk about stacked.

It is super rare for the Phillies to have a "total team loss". That is what tonight is. Everybody [expletive]ed up. Top to bottom. Joe Blanton and Ryan Madson get props. That's it.

Seems like OTR's baseball fanbase quadruples in October.

It can still be done. [expletive]ed by bad decisions and bad umpires tonight. Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels. If anybody can make it happen, it is those 3.

I am seriously about to throw up. Inexcusable for a playoff game.

This is on Charlie Manuel. This is on Wally Bell. Can't put it into words.

So does Wally Bell just pick and choose when the inside corner is a strike? Horrible.

Props to Mad Dog. Hopefully some of that rubs off on his teammates.

Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee have made some horrendous decisions tonight. If you are using Madson this inning, why the hell do you wait until after Posey doubles off Bastardo to make the change? Also, Jimmy absolutely has to make that play on the ball Ross hit. Just isn't meant to be I guess.

Says the guy who stopped watching his team in September. Glad the Phillies are able to provide your only baseball entertainment of the year.

Absolutely awful.

And we can now add "Charlie Manuel bullpen mismanagement" to the list of problems tonight. Hopefully this doesn't cost them more than just that one run.

And Mike Green is really sexy in the regular season, but going into the postseason with him as your "number 1 defenseman" is kind of a recipe for disaster.

Two blatant ball 4's called strike 3 and 3 brutal calls on the bases. And we are only in the third inning. What do they have in store for us next?

Hamstring tightness for Nelson Cruz. Ouch.

Francisco starting in LF for Ibanez, as expected.

Vic Utley Polly Howard Werth Rollins Francisco Ruiz Blanton Renteria Sanchez Huff Posey Burrell Ross Sandoval Rowand Bumgarner

And just to make it official, Mark Teixeira is done.

Playoff crowds suck everywhere, not just NY. I think you saw the "real fans" sticking around there at the end. Most "real fans" are priced out by playoff tickets. They are just too damn expensive.

Haha just trust me. I have seen basically every inning since Spring Training started. They are a very frustrating group. Strikeouts from top to bottom, so they are prone to these massive group slumps. Carlos Ruiz and Placido Polanco are basically the only two who don't fall into that mold, and neither of them are really capable of carrying a lineup through a slump. But really, they are so hit or miss. Also, they are obviously very left handed, which makes them very easy to pitch to in the later innings. And as I was mentioning earlier, they are all having down years to boot (except Ruiz). Howard's and Utley's OPS's are way down, Jimmy Rollins' everything is down, Raul Ibanez is a career in decline, etc. Talented group for sure, as you said, but very overrated. Not to mention Jayson Werth's inability to hit with RISP (which he was needs to do a lot). Good numbers for most of these guys, but as with most situations in baseball, numbers don't exactly tell the entire story. They are quite hit or miss, and when they miss they miss horribly, as evidenced by them being shut out 11 times this season (and what you are seeing here in the playoffs). One change for tomorrow though...I would expect to see Ben Francisco in LF.