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Just when we all thought we were getting our postseason fill with the NLDS, the approaching NLCS is about to open up the flood gates with a good old fashion civil war between the East Coast and West Coast.

It’s time to put on the gloves, get out your rally towels, and show those Giants draped in orange what Philadelphia is all about.

Who cares about that old Willie Mays statue, when you have Ashburn Alley!

Who needs the California Cookout when you have Bull’s BBQ!

How can you enjoy the beautiful sun filled California beaches when you have the Jersey Shore????

*cough*…Ok, San Francisco, you win that one.

The postseason engine just switched into its high gear, and Game One of the NLCS has all the makings of a historical event waiting to happen.

At this rate, even the World Series is going to wind up paling in comparison to not only what has already happened in the NLDS and ALDS, but what is about to transpire in the NLCS.

I am, of course, talking about the reigning Cy Young Award Winner Tim Lincecum, about to take on the pending 2010 Cy Young Award Winner Roy Halladay.

I’m talking about two of the best pitchers in not only the NL, but all of baseball.

The Freak vs. The Doctor.

It really doesn’t get any better than this, unless you’re sitting in Citizen’s Bank Park with a Hatfield hot dog and an ice cold Bud Light.

But I digress.

Even as good as Tim Lincecum is, he’s only one man, whereas the Phillies tandem of Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels (H₂0) is more than any team has really been able to handle since the beginning of September.

And that could wind up being all the Phillies need once again.

They already beat the best defensive team in the National league, and one of the best hitting teams in the National League (the Cincinnati Reds), now they get set to face one of the hottest teams in the National League.

No problem, right?

You wanted drama? You wanted excitement? You wanted a thrilling postseason drive?

If this doesn’t get you excited, you may want to check your pulse.

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We just did a piece on the pitching matchups for the NLCS, that you should really read if you haven’t already. 

This time, we’re breaking down the infields of the finalists for the National League pennant.

Obviously, the Phillies boast Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in their infield.  Can the Giants infield offense (and defense) compete?

Each slide will breakdown the position battle, and see which team has the advantage at each position.

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If you are a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, this isn’t really the matchup you wanted. If you’re a fan of the San Francisco Giants, this isn’t really who you wanted to see. But if you’re a fan of great pitching, great matchups and great baseball, well, this is exactly what you wanted to see.

The Giants knocked off the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS on Monday (Bobby Cox, we hardly knew ya) and move on to face the Phillies in the National League Championship Series for a chance to go to the World Series.

The matchup pits one of the best teams in baseball for the last five years against one of the best teams in baseball history. While the Phillies are looking to become the first National League team since the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s to make three straight World Series appearances, the Giants haven’t been to a World Series since 2002 and are still looking for their first championship since moving to San Francisco.

Here is a look at some of the ins and outs of the upcoming series.

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They say, rightfully so, that pitching decides the postseason.

In the NLCS this year, pitching will almost certainly have a direct impact on who goes to the World Series, and who goes home until spring training in 2011. 

The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves Monday night to advance to the National League Championship Series where they will face the Philadelphia Phillies, who shrugged off the Cincinnati Reds in their first-round matchup.  The Phillies are looking to become the first team since the St. Louis Cardinals of 1942-44 to win the National League pennant three straight seasons. The Giants are making their first NLCS appearance since 2002, when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games to advance to the Fall Classic.

Both teams have outstanding pitching staffs.  The Giants ERA was the best in baseball in the regular season, with a 3.36. A September in which their team ERA was a minuscule 1.78 was what propelled them over the San Diego Padres in that final month of the season.

The Phillies made the top 10 with a 3.67, good for sixth in all of baseball. 

Honestly, it’s hard to fathom that either of these teams could go home because one team out-pitched the other, especially San Francisco.  But that could absolutely happen, as Philadelphia has some dangerous arms on their staff. 

Here’s the breakdown:

San Francisco Giants:

Starting Pitching: Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez.

Outlook: In the NLDS, the rotation went Lincecum-Cain-Sanchez-Bumgarner.  Considering the Giants only allowed nine runs in the four games total, why mess with success?  Expect the same four-man rotation in the next round. 

It’s interesting, to say the least, that Barry Zito could technically be put back on the postseason roster to face the Phillies lineup, which is loaded with left-handed sluggers like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez that the left-handed Zito could neutralize. 

But over his last seven starts, Zito’s ERA is over six.  For the Giants to take one of their starting pitchers out on the off-chance that Zito might be effective against the Phillies would be them taking a risk that is not a smart one against a Philadelphia team that is a few wins away from being a dynasty.  Not to mention, the only two that you could fathom being replaced for Zito, Sanchez and Bumgarner, are left-handed as well.  (On a side note: In Zito’s only start against the Phillies this year, he allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings).

Bullpen: Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Guillermo Mota, Ramon Ramirez, Sergio Romo, Brian Wilson.

Outlook: The San Fran ‘pen has two lefties (Affeldt and Lopez) to neutralize the Phillies left-handed sluggers.  Closer Brian Wilson led the majors with 48 saves in the regular season.  Sergio Romo, Ramon Ramirez and Santiago Casilla had a fantastic 2010.  This bullpen is set up for success right now, especially if the Giants starters can continue to go deep into games. 

They could fall into trouble if their starters are pulled early or if tight games go into extra innings, though.  The last thing you want to do is send a right-handed reliever into a tie game to face Howard, Utley or Ibanez, because the game more than likely won’t be tied afterward.  Knowing the proper times to use his left-handed relievers will be critical for Giants manager Bruce Bochy in this series.

Philadelphia Phillies:

Starting Pitching: Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt.

Outlook: That 1-2-3 punch of Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt is the best remaining in the playoffs.  That alone gives them a significant advantage over a San Francisco team that only scored 11 runs in their four-game series with the Braves.

Blanton will more than likely make his 2010 postseason debut in Game 4.  The Phillies could opt to use Halladay in Games 1, 4 and 7, Oswalt in Games 2 and 5 and Hamels in Games 3 and 6.  But me thinks Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel would rather that his big ace gets that extra day of rest and goes in Game 5.

With Blanton in the mix, expect Halladay to start Game 1 and Game 5, Oswalt to start Game 2 and Game 6, Hamels to start Game 3 and a possible Game 7, with Blanton splitting the big 3 with his Game 4 start.

Bullpen: Antonio Bastardo, Jose Contreras, Chad Durbin, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero.

Outlook: The Phillies bullpen ERA was 4.48 since September 1st.  The Phillies are coming out looking like roses after sweeping the Reds, but their biggest weakness, their bullpen, was never showcased in a huge spot.  Halladay and Hamels both threw complete games, so the Phillies’ bullpen only had to pitch four innings total in the three game series.

Hard to overlook the experience in this bullpen, though.  The Phillies have won the NLCS the past two years with Chad Durbin, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero in their bullpen.  Philadelphia has enough right-handers to deal with Buster Posey late in a game, and the left-handed J.C. Romero will probably get to know Aubrey Huff pretty well by the time this series is over.

It looks as if San Francisco has the edge when it comes to relief pitching, but Philadelphia may have the edge in their starting pitching, no matter what the Giants ERA was in the stretch run of September.  This could be one of the more evenly matched NLCS (pitching-wise) that we’ve seen in a long time.   

What do you think?  Do you think the Giants starting pitching is enough to match up with the Phillies?  Do you think the Phillies bullpen’s experience alone will be enough to stand with the Giants ‘pen? 

One thing’s for sure: If both teams pitch how they’re capable of, don’t expect a lot of runs.

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Bobby Cox exited Turner Field Monday night for the last time as the Atlanta Braves‘ manager.

His emotional exit was seared into the memories of baseball fans worldwide, and a tear, no doubt, trickled down the cheeks of many, both male and female alike.

Game 4 of the NLDS was a must win game for the Atlanta Braves. It looked very promising for Bobby’s bunch until a costly error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez allowed the Giants to score two runs in the top of the seventh and take the lead by a score of 3-2.

With one out and the bases loaded, a ground ball was hit sharply to the right-hand side of Gonzalez. He made a great play to reach the ball and backhand it; however, his throw to second pulled Omar Infante off the bag, and all Giants runners were safe. A run scored on the play, tying the game at two runs each.

Had Gonzalez made an accurate throw, the Braves would have recorded their second out. Instead, the Giants accepted the gift of only one out with the bases still loaded.

The next batter struck out. This should have ended the inning. With an extra out, so to speak, Cody Ross came up to the plate with intentions of doing more damage to the Atlanta Braves.

Earlier in the night, Ross broke up a no-hitter by Braves pitcher Derek Lowe when he hit a solo home run. Now, with the bases loaded and an extra out with which to play, the Giants would make the Braves pay once again.

Ross hit a single to left field, and the go-ahead run came across the plate. The Giants attempted to add an insurance run on the same play. However, Braves left fielder Matt Diaz threw a strike to catcher Brian McCann, and with a collision at the plate, Atlanta finally had its third out.

From that point forward, no more runs would be scored by either team. The Braves had hope in the bottom of the night when Giants closer Brian Wilson walked two batters and put runners on first and second. The game ended when Melky Cabrera dribbled a grounder to third and was thrown out at first.

As soon as the game ended, chants of “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” could be heard throughout the stadium. With tears in his eyes, longtime Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox returned to the field to acknowledge fans and players, including most of the San Francisco Giants, who had remained on the field to pay tribute to Bobby before enjoying a cold champagne shower.

It will not be the same without Bobby Cox. We will miss him. He is one of the most beloved men in baseball and will always be. Still, I believe it is time for Bobby to go. It is time for a new man to take control of the Atlanta Braves and get them back to postseason success.

I dare say that Bobby Cox has not been making his best decisions for some time now. In the late 1990s, Bobby would not have let a pitcher talk him into staying in the game, even if that pitcher were named Smoltz, Glavine or Maddux. Just a few short years ago, Bobby would not have played Brooks Conrad at third base after losing Chipper Jones and Martin Prado.

For the past few years, Bobby has made a lot of decisions based upon emotion and feeling instead of doing what was best at the time. He loves those players, and he has always been a players’ manager. However, when it came time to win a baseball game, Bobby was never afraid to hurt a player’s feelings. He would take a player or a pitcher out at the drop of a hat.

Over the past few years, he accepted a lot more from the players, and because of his relationships with them, he would, at times, put decisions off that ended up hurting the team. 

Little by little, as the years rolled by, those who know baseball best could tell that Bobby’s decision-making process was changing. Did it hurt the Braves recently? Yes, it did, but more realistically, it was the lack of offense and the errors that ended the Braves’ hopes of making it to the World Series.

Derek Lowe should have been pulled much sooner, but he deserved to be out there, and Bobby made the decision to leave him out there. It was not a good decision, but it was fair and deserving. Just a few years ago, Bobby would have pulled Lowe after the sixth inning. Had he pulled him after the sixth last night, the Braves would have had a much better chance to hold the lead.

Please don’t misunderstand me, reader. Derek was dealing, but he was pitching on three days’ rest, and by the end of the sixth inning you could tell that Derek was laboring. A fresh reliever to start the seventh would have most likely shut the Giants down. We can only speculate, and we’ll never know for sure.

Bobby Cox will go down as one of the greatest managers in Major League Baseball history. No other manager will ever win 14 consecutive division titles. Bobby has had tons of success, including a World Series title in 1995. He managed every game to win, and he gave all he had at all times.

Just as many fans feel today, I am sad and I hate to see him go. Players loved to play for him, and fans loved to cheer for him.

Bobby Cox will always be, in the hearts of many, the manager of the Atlanta Braves.

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If the Phillies win the upcoming National League Championship Series, they will be the first team since the St. Louis Cardinals from 1942-44 to win three straight National League pennants. 

But a very dangerous and hungry San Francisco Giants team will have a lot to say about the Phillies chase towards almost 70 years of history.

The Giants eliminated Bobby Cox and the Braves Monday night to advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2002, where they will face off against those Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Braves may have been a better matchup for the Phillies in their quest to three-peat as National League champions. 

The Phillies barely edged the Braves with a record of 10-8 in the games the two played against each other in the regular season, but Philadelphia probably owns a significant psychological advantage considering they swept the Braves in the middle of September with the National League East division pretty much hanging in the balance. 

Had the Braves squeezed out of the first round, the Phillies might’ve had a relatively easy NLCS depending on how much the sweep from a month ago was weighing on the Braves mentally, along with the makeshift roster the Braves brought into October baseball due to injury. 

Their already depleted roster was not helped when closer Billy Wagner went down with an oblique strain in Game 2.  So the Giants winning that series will be good for baseball in general, as this will be a more competitive NLCS matchup.

The Giants, while nowhere as offensively talented as the Phillies, who boast Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the middle of their lineup, will certainly have an opportunity to neutralize the Phillies lineup with their pitching. 

Tim Lincecum, most likely the Game 1 starter, had arguably the best performance outside of Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in the entire first round of the postseason, throwing a complete game shutout while striking out 14 Atlanta hitters.  In a long series, you could fully expect him to throw in three games. And when he’s on, he can throw with anyone in the league (Yes, even Roy Halladay).

They also have arguably the best bullpen remaining in the playoffs, headlined by closer Brian Wilson, who led the majors in the regular season with 48 saves.  Right-hander Sergio Romo, and left hander Jeremy Affeldt shoulder most of the important duties in their relief corps. 

If the game is tied in the late innings where it becomes a battle of the bullpens, the advantage is almost automatically San Francisco’s.  The Phillies bullpen was a mystery for most of the regular season, and it hasn’t proven much in the postseason because, well, they haven’t had to.  Halladay and Cole Hamels each threw complete games so the only game in which the Phillies bullpen had to compete was in Game 2.

The Phillies clearly have the big three in the front of their rotation: Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt.  That is huge, as proven in the first round where Cincinnati didn’t have a chance in the land of fire and brimstone.  But if the Giants were going to win this series, it wasn’t going to be with their offense to begin with.  The Giants only scored 11 runs in four games, under three per game.. and won the series.

It’s hard to discount the Phillies, who made the World Series last year and won it in 2008.  But this San Francisco ballclub is a lot tougher than the Dodgers that the Phillies eliminated in 2008 and 2009. 

They held off an Atlanta club that was hellbent on getting their retiring skipper Bobby Cox to a World Series, and now it’s their job to hold off a Philadelphia team that has not seemed one bit jaded by all their recent success.  The difference may be that the Giants were battle-tested by the Braves in the first round.  The Phillies?  Not so much. 

If the San Francisco pitching staff does their job, the Giants will have a chance to win this series.  And if the Giants can hit a little bit, they will win the series. 

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We knew the Giants were not going to make it easy against the Braves. We knew postseason baseball for the Giants had to resemble the regular season—torturous.

San Francisco won their NL Divisional Series against Atlanta 3-1 and will face the Philadelphia Phillies starting on Saturday.

There were many things the Giants did well.

Starting pitching

What more could the starting pitchers have done? None of them had been to the postseason before and all of them pitched like it was just another game.

Between Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, the starting pitchers threw 28.2 innings, allowing four runs while striking out 36.

They absolutely shut down Jason Heyward and Derrek Lee. The Braves were only able to muster a .175 batting average in the series.

Ability to come back

Three times in the series, the Giants came back from deficits to win.

In Game 3, the Giants scored twice in the ninth to take a 3-2 lead and win. In Game 4, San Francisco came back twice.

With the Giants trailing 1-0 in the sixth inning, Cody Ross unloaded on a Derek Lowe pitch and planted it in the left field bleachers. The Braves tied the game the following inning on a Brian McCann home run. In the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases and tied the game on a fielder’s choice by Juan Uribe.

The Giants would retake the lead on a Ross single to left.

San Francisco never quit and showed great poise, not to just come back, but to do so on the road twice.

Now, we know the Giants still have some issues to workout.

Offense as a whole

Despite winning the series 3-1, the Giants only scored 11 runs in four games. The game in which they scored the most (Game 2), the Giants lost.

They were very good about taking pitches and running up pitch counts during this series but it has been uncharacteristic of them and may not suit them well against the Phillies.

Sergio Romo

What do the Giants do with Sergio Romo?

He had two bad outings against the Braves but I do not expect that to cost him a roster spot for the NLCS. The question is, when do you use him?

He was not used in the series clinching Game 4. Instead, Santiago Casilla and Javier Lopez were used in the eighth. This could show a lack of confidence in Romo or it could be a way to let him regroup and collect himself before the NLCS.

Whatever the case, it has to be solved before Saturday.

This brings us to the matchup itself. Phillies vs. Giants. The following are the projected pitching matchups:

Game 1: Tim Lincecum (SF) vs. Roy Halladay (PHI)

Game 2: Matt Cain (SF) vs. Roy Oswalt (PHI)

Game 3: Cole Hamels (PHI) vs. Jonathan Sanchez (SF)

Game 4: Roy Halladay (PHI) vs. TBD (SF)

Game 5*: Roy Oswalt (PHI) vs. TBD (SF)

Game 6*: TBD (SF) vs. Cole Hamels (PHI)

Game 7*: TBD (SF) vs. Roy Halladay (PHI)

The Giants starting staff will face a much more daunting task with the Phillies lineup, although this is a Phillies lineup that has scuffled most of the year, mainly because of injuries.

Philadelphia’s lineup is much more susceptible to striking out and that may play a huge factor in this series. The Braves are a much more patient team (634 BB to 560 BB).

Atlanta was fourth in Major League Baseball in on-base percentage. Philadelphia was 11th.

I left the pitching probables for the Giants blank for games 4-7 because it may depend on how the Giants are faring in the series. It may also depend on who is on the roster.

Over the next couple of days, Barry Zito and Jose Guillen’s names will come up and it has to be decided whether to leave them off or put them back on.

With a longer series, an additional pitcher may provide useful for the Giants but is that pitcher Zito?

Could it be Chris Ray?

Ray and Guillen have been battling injuries and that was one of the main reasons Guillen did not make the NLDS roster. Guillen’s health may determine his spot on the roster.

But if Guillen is on, who is off?

Aaron Rowand did not contribute in the NLDS but playing against his former team may breathe some life into him. Edgar Renteria dropped what could have been a crucial pop up in the eighth inning of Game 4. Luckily it did not make a difference but defensive concerns were apparent in the series with Atlanta (See: Brooks Conrad).

Most of these questions will be answered over the next week. The NLCS is nothing new to the Phillies and the Giants will be playing the role of underdogs.

But watching the Giants this season, I don’t think they’d have it any other way.

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The San Francisco Giants made short work of the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series.  Tim Lincecum and his teammates gave Braves manager Bobby Cox a rude farewell, winning the series three games to one.

Their reward?  They get to play the Philadelphia Phillies, who swept the Cincinnati Reds in their first round match-up.

But, that series won’t start for a couple days, so let’s take a look at five players who played key roles in the Giants’ first round victory.

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It started with blasts of Jason Heyward in Spring Training and probably the most memorable Major League debut in recent history.

One hundred sixty-six games and 725 tweets (by me) later, the 2010 season ends for the Atlanta Braves with Bobby Cox tipping his cap to the San Francisco Giants following Game 4 of the National League Divisional Series.

We all wanted “11 for 6” and a world championship for the capper on the illustrious career of venerable Braves manager Bobby Cox…but that’s simply not what was in the cards for a Braves team that finished the season riddled with injuries and defensive miscues.

And, before I move on, you can hate on Brooks Conrad as much as you want and place him with the title of “goat” for the Braves falling short…but the fact of the matter is this: Without “Raw Dawg’s” late-inning dramatics in three or four games over the course of the regular season, the Braves don’t even get the chance to disappoint us in the playoffs…. Dude played his guts out for the Braves all year.

As the long offseason awaits the Braves, there are a lot of things this team can build on…Jason Heyward‘s career should continue its upward track…Brian McCann is becoming a more well-rounded catcher…and the “mellow” of the team created by the veteran-rookie mixture (think: Freeman, Heyward, and Kimbrel to Jones, Lowe and B-Mac next year) should still be in place.

I’m going to keep this short…I’m kind of in shock right now (that’ll happen when you watch 98 percent of the games…).

But I think I can muster up the energy to say two more things…

First, and foremost, go Rangers.

Second: After four years of it, I think I was, emotionally, ready for this over and for the Braves to start the offseason…there’s more to write about (that, my friends, is called light sarcasm). 

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When Philadelphia Phillies’ LHP Cole Hamels took the mound in the 2009 postseason, he looked like a guy that had lost all confidence in himself. Hamels took the mound last night against the Cincinnati Reds the complete opposite of that guy in 2009.

Hamels pitched a complete game shutout against the Reds as the Phillies won 2-0 to sweep the Reds 3-0 in their best-of-five NLDS. This is the third straight year that the Phillies will advance to the NLCS.

Hamels in this game was just flat out awesome! There is no other way to describe it. His fastball was popping (average of 92 and high of 95) and his change-up was lethal.

Hamels threw his change-up 33 times last night and 26 of them were thrown for strikes. Impressive. What might have been more impressive was that Red hitters swung and missed at 36 percent of those change-ups.

That a look at his strike zone plot on change-ups via Pitchfx…

The change-ups are in yellow. As he can see, he pounded the lower half of the zone with those change-ups. Very rarely did he miss up in the zone and that’s when a pitcher can get hurt.

Hamels overall struck out nine, didn’t walk a batter, and gave up just five hits in the 119 pitch effort. Hamels is now 6-3 in his postseason career. He is the second pitcher to win six postseason games before turning 27 years old. The other is Jim Palmer.

Here are some other observations from this game…

The biggest play of this game might have occurred in the bottom of the first. After Drew Stubbs led off the game with a single, Brandon Phillips hit a rare mistake from Hamels into the left center field gap that Shane Victorino ran down for the first out.

If that ball gets by Victorino, the game is tied at one and Phillips is standing on third with nobody out.

Johnny Cueto was very good in this game and will be overshadowed by Hamels’ performance. After a rocky first, he settled down and pitched five very solid innings. The only reason he didn’t pitch deeper into the game was because with the Reds desperate for offense, he was pinch-hit for in the fifth.

Note to Dusty Baker: If you are going to pinch-hit for your pitcher, can someone other than Miguel Cairo do it? He’s an automatic out.

Homer Bailey was very good for two innings. I thought he was going to give the Reds a Sid Fernandez-like Game 7 of the 1986 World Series performance to keep his team in the game and spark the team offensively, but it just never happened.

Quick 2011 prediction: Bailey wins 15 plus games for the Reds next year.

If the Phillies are going to beat either the Braves or Giants in the next round, Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins are going to have to wake up. Combined they hit .129 in the three games with no extra base hits.

Scott Rolen might have played his worst three-game stretch defensively ever. Outside one or two plays, he looked terrible all series.

Reds fans chanting “Cheat-er, cheat-er” when Chase Utley came to the plate was fantastic.

Though I am sure they didn’t think it was so great when he launched one to right center to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

Regardless if the Braves and Giants series closes out Monday night or Wednesday, Game 1 of the NLCS will start Saturday in Philadelphia.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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