Early in the seven o’clock hour, the rally towels were already waving. The noise was already to the max, and the fireworks were already firing.
The historical city of Philadelphia always finds a way to write and rewrite history. The action was preceded by the world-famous Philadelphia’s boys choir opening with the National Anthem, and then it was time to play ball.
The Phillies came into the game on what can be considered a hitting slump by their standards. Turns out the irony of everything is, in a game that was thought to have been a pitching duel, turned out to be a battle of the bats.
Both teams started off swinging strong. The innings still ended three up, three down on hits sent into play.
At that point, it was evident, this wasn’t going to be your traditional pitcher’s duel: something was going to give. The question at the time still remained what? And who?
Each pitcher got through the first inning on seven pitches, which, quite frankly was symbolic of the match-up.
Cody Ross, by far the Giants MVP of the night, hit two home runs to make it 2-1. That opened the door for the sixth inning when Roy Halladay got into trouble, a close umpire call kept Pat Burrell at bat.
That’s when Burrell took advantage of his extra life with a two-out/two-strike double which scored two, making it 4-1.
Two pitchers that only allowed a total of two hits combined in Game 1 of the NLDS, turned around to belt 16 hits in Game 1 of the NLCS giving the Phillies their first game one loss of their four-year NL takeover.
“You find out what you’re made of. You never expect it to be easy,” Halladay said after the game. And it wasn’t easy; at all.
A series after Halladay’s gem, Lincecum had 14 strikeouts in San Francisco’s 1-0 win over Atlanta. He gave up six hits and struck out eight against the Phillies.
Lincecum, the reigning two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, had some adventures with a bat in his hands, though.
The notoriously rough Philadelphia fans came up with a unique way to mock Lincecum instead of the usual boos.
They serenaded him with whistles when he batted in the fifth and seventh, mocking his “beauty” with the long hair and innocent face.
Lincecum responded, in jest, “I must have a really nice butt. I was hearing a lot of them.”
In the end, though, that innocent face and long hair got the best of Philadelphia. The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the NLCS.
Game 2 is Sunday, Oct. 17, same place, at 8:19 p.m. EDT.
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