Kuzul

Greetings everyone, baseball addict Evan Adrian here, live blogging game one of the NLCS between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. We’re in for quite a showdown tonight, as both teams trot out their aces for Game 1 in Philly.

Tim Lincecum is on the mound for the Giants, fresh off his brilliant, 14 strikeout, complete game two-hitter over Atlanta. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay toes the rubber for Philadelphia. All he did in his first career playoff start last Wednesday was throw the second ever no-hitter in MLB playoff history.

Both clubs are hoping for repeat performance for their aces. Lets find out which Cy Young winner brought their A-game tonight.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants ready to get the 2010 NLCS underway Saturday night, the Phillies are the heavy favorites. San Francisco beat a fiercer first-round foe than did Charlie Manuel’s club, but the Phillies are a full-fledged National League dynasty. They will attempt to reach their third straight World Series this fall, after already having claimed their fourth straight division title.

This year’s team may have the best shot at winning it all–even though they actually did win it all in 2008. The 2010 Phillies have balance unlike those before them, with a three-headed monster atop their starting rotation that looks to be unmatched by any team still standing.

The ace of that staff, of course, is right-hander Roy Halladay. Halladay no-hit Cincinnati in the first round, but that tells only a part of the story of his historic debut season in the National League.

That campaign has also seen him throw a perfect game (against Florida in May), win a league-high 21 games (finishing nine of them and shutting out the opponent four times, also NL bests), top 250 innings and set new career high-water marks for strikeouts and walks per nine frames–all at the age of 33. If he was not a Hall of Fame pitcher to begin this season, he may be a Cooperstown shoo-in now.

Assuming (and it seems a safe assumption) that Halladay will get a chance to make two starts in the NLCS, the Phillies ought to win, and Halladay (in his very first opportunity to earn a postseason award) has a very real chance to be NLCS MVP. Here are ten reasons Doc will be crowned king of the NLCS.

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Another day has come and gone, and still no baseball. We hear that there will be a National League Championship Series played soon, but we are beginning to have our doubts. The NLCS allegedly starts on Saturday. We’ll see.

In the meantime, as we continue to prepare to watch baseball, here are some more things to think about ahead of Game 1.

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We’ve already seen some awesome pitching from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2010 MLB playoffs. But will the Phils be able to display some equally clutch hitting as the postseason continues? Let’s hope.

In the mean time, let’s look back at the 10 biggest hits in Phillies’ postseason history.

Keep in mind that the following rankings are not just based on the timeliness of the hit itself, but also on the relative magnitude of the game in which the performance came (basically, World Series hits count for extra).

Enjoy this trip through Phillies’ history!

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The MLB playoffs are in full swing, and we have already seen our fair share of memorable moments in the respective Division Series games. However, the Phillies have been the talk of October thus far, thanks to Roy Halladay’s no-hitter, and their dominant sweep of the Cincinnati Reds.

The Phillies are coming off of their fourth straight NL East title, and have been to the World Series in each of the past two seasons. In this day and age of free agency, a three peat in the World Series is a legitimate dynasty, and the Phillies seem to have all the components to do just that.

So here is a look at what makes the Phillies great, and the reason that this group could very well go down as one of the best teams in the history of the National League when all is said and done, and if they take home the championship as many feel they will.

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Whoo! I’m not a fan of either of these teams, but just as a baseball fan I am pumped for this series. To look at the pitching that is going to be on display between these teams gives me the shivers.  What excitement. For instance, this season, the Giants were 1^st in ERA, 1^st in strikeouts, 1^st in saves, and 4^th in WHIP  . . . in the major leagues! How does that even happen?

The Phillies were no slouch either: Roy Halladay has the CY Young all wrapped up; meanwhile, the Phillies were sixth in ERA and 1^st in WHIP.

Forget hitting and intangibles for right now, in terms of pitching, this is going to be one memorable series.

Let’s break it down, starter to starter.

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Alright, the NLCS field is all set. It is going to be the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The uniforms have been washed, the shoes have been shined, let’s throw on our Roy Halladay replica jerseys and get to the ballpark.

We’re going to be playing some championship baseball in just . . . five days?!?!?!

Uh, okay.

(Psst: who’s in charge of scheduling around here? Oh right; the networks.)

Anyways, in order to attempt to hold your attention for the next week while we wait for baseball to come around again (seriously, the All Star Break isn’t this long), I’d like to present 10 Fun Facts regarding the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, and the National League Championship Series.

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As you’ve seen, we’ve analyzed the pitching matchups and how the Phillies and Giants compare in the infield.

This slideshow will examine the only part of the teams we haven’t focused on yet: the outfield.  Outfield defense is extremely important in the playoffs. 

Need an example? Last night in Atlanta, Cody Ross gets a base hit with the bases loaded, and Braves left fielder Matt Diaz threw out Pat Burrell, who was trying to score from second at home plate to keep the damage to just one run instead of two. 

The Braves would go on to lose, but with runners on first and second with one out in the ninth inning, they could’ve won the game with an extra-base hit, rather than just tie the game with one.  It was almost a huge play.

This slideshow will examine both San Francisco’s and Philadelphia’s outfield offensive production and defense.  So far, the teams seem evenly matched in pitching, while the Phillies infield smoked the Giants infield in our last slideshow. 

Will the Giants outfield even it up, making this series a complete toss-up?

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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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When the San Francisco Giants topped the Atlanta Braves 3-2 last night, they earned their first trip to the NLCS since 2002.

Waiting for them, of course, is the Philadelphia Phillies–the two-time defending champions of the National League.

The Phillies, based on both their success the last few years and the strength of their position players, are considered the favorites by most baseball fans and pundits.  But what of those Giants, a franchise that has not yet won a World Series since moving to the Bay?

Do they have a chance?

What are five ways that the Giants can win this series?

First, let’s take a brief look at how the teams match up.

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