Kuzul

The four teams vying for a World Series berth have one thing in common: they each have one (at least) of the greatest pitchers in recent postseason history.

Some are already postseason legends, while others are just beginning to etch their place in history.

The Giants-Phillies series has elicited the most reaction regarding sheer pitching prowess, but the other teams posses two of the top postseason pitchers of all-time. 

Many great pitchers buckle under the pressure of the playoff atmosphere, these guys feed off of it. 

Here are the top ten postseason pitchers available…

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Texas Rangers pitcher, Cliff Lee had one of the 2010 MLB postseason’s best performances last night at Yankee Stadium.  He struck out 13 New York Yankees hitters, while only allowing two hits and zero runs in eight innings.

While that seems like an outstanding game, (which it is) a couple other performances have one-upped Lee when it comes down to the final stat line.

2010 is definitely the year of the pitcher (outside of 1968), a couple of hitting performances have been just as important. 

Did the slugger of your favorite postseason team make the list?

Here are the top five performances of the 2010 playoffs (besides Cliff Lee).

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The star-studded staffs of the Giants and the Phillies have been largely dominant in the series so far, despite Roy Halladay’s ho-hum performance in Game 1; but Game 3 has the potential to become an offensive shootout even though a pair of elite pitchers are involved. 

Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14 ERA in the regular season) has to face a veteran Philadelphia lineup that is looking to reverse a growing trend of stranding runners on base. The Phillies can find solace in the fact that opposing hitters are batting, an unusually high, .267 with RISP and two outs against Cain (compared with fellow teammate Tim Lincecum’s .228 in similar situations) and that he has the propensity to give up home runs, a specialty of the power-laden Phillies lineup.

In his only start against Philadelphia this year, the Giants right-hander gave up a three-run homer to Jimmy Rollins that was set up by a Mike Fontenot error three plays prior. Cain would give up five runs (two earned) on the day en route to an 8-2 Phillies’ drubbing at Citizens Bank Park August 18th. 

Though the circumstances may be a bit different this time around for Cain, the Phillies offense has too much firepower to stay quiet for another game. The Giants’ right-hander is prone to the occasional pounding (he gave up six or more runs three times this season) and the middle infielders of the Phillies seem to have his number.

Rollins and Chase Utley have hit .600 and .467, respectively, over their careers against Cain, and the Phillies’ shortstop has had five of his six hits go for extra bases, including the aforementioned blast from earlier this year. 

On the flip side, Cole Hamels has been lights-out this postseason, as he looks to return to form since a rough performance last October

Hamels, though, has been historically sub-par against the Giants, especially at AT&T Park where he sports a 6.12 career ERA.

This year, the former World Series MVP, has been roughed up both times he has faced San Francisco, squeaking out a no-decision in their first meeting (he went 6 IP, 4 ER, but SF went 5 for 21 with RISP) and losing in their most recent matchup after giving up five runs in five innings pitched.

The scorching-hot Cody Ross murders Hamels with four home runs in his 30 at-bats against the lefty, and Buster Posey hit him hard in their first meeting with two doubles and two RBIs in the Giants’ 5-2 win.

Hamels’ penchant for giving up the long ball bodes well for a Giants’ offense that hit the sixth-most home runs in the National League and with 26 homers allowed on the season, the Phillies’ left-hander was tied for seventh in the NL, just in front of the WPIB (Worst Pitcher In Baseball) Zach Dukes. 

Game 3 will no doubt be a must-watch affair, whether the offensive fireworks are set off in this NLDS mathcup looks to fall on the shoulders of the game’s starting pitchers.  

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The 2010 National League Championship series between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies has already given us some sterling starting pitching. Despite what a few of the the classier Philly fans believe.

Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum hooked Cy Young horns in Game 1 and, though neither was on top of his superlative game, they still managed to whiff 15 batters in an evenly split 14 combined innings.

Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Sanchez dueled in Game 2 with the Phillies’ ace walking away the better man on the evening. The midseason acquisition spun eight frames of three-hit ball, surrendering Cody Ross’ fourth postseason big fly in the fifth inning as his only blemish.

Sanchez wasn’t quite as dirty, but he managed five erratic innings while only allowing two earned runs to a vastly superior offense.

And the fun isn’t over yet.

With the seven-gamer knotted at a game apiece, the Gents and Phightin’s will give us at least three more scintillating matchups between starting pitchers.

Matt Cain and Cole Hamels will reignite hostilities when the series opens in the City on Tuesday, and we’ll probably see rookie phenom Madison Bumgarner before another dose of Doc Vs. the Franchise in Game 5.

Depending on how the contests unfold, we might see one crack this list of the top 10 pitching matchups in the history of Major League Baseball.

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Crunch time in the 2010 MLB postseason is here. The San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are all trying to determine who will square off in the 2010 World Series.

Showcased on these teams are a handful of baseball’s biggest names. So both league championship series’  could come down to a great deal of individual matchups within each series.

The intensity is always there because of intriguing standoffs between hitters and pitchers. Here are is a handful of some of the (many) most-anticipated batter-pitcher matchups that fans will love to see down the stretch here in the 2010 MLB postseason.

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I have heard too many analysts, as well as Giant fans, tell me how good this team is. How they are going to defy the odds, how “deserving” they are of this, when the fact of the matter is they aren’t.

Although the bulk of this is based upon my opinion, this article is well-researched and formulated. Like it or not, you can’t ignore these numbers.

The first comment I usually (and will) get by the Giants faithful is the fact that San Francisco won the NL West…to which my response is usually… and? Somebody had to win it.

Their next comment is usually along the lines of their 92-70 record, which again, appears impressive. Lets examine that.

Now before I get too deep, the main purpose of this article is to explain why the Giants have no business making it to the World Series, and whether or not they beat the Braves doesn’t really matter.

If the Braves had advanced it would be almost the exact same scenario. Before you go look at my profile and determine I’m a Padres fan…that doesn’t matter either.

Had the Padres advanced to the playoffs, they would not have had any more of a chance than the Giants or Braves. They too had no business being here.

I’m aware of that, you should be too. So why do the Giants have no chance? Why aren’t they as good as everyone thinks? Why won’t they win the NLCS and eventually the series?

They can’t hit. They can’t score runs. but more specifically here are five reasons the bus stops here.

1. Cody Ross is not your (and never will be) NLCS/World Series MVP. Sorry.

Yes, he is having an unreal streak of at-bats for the Giants this postseason, but lets look at the big picture…after Burrell, nobody else is doing squat. You don’t pitch to one/both of them, and one/both has a bad game, the rest of the lineup is averaging .66 RBI’s per game.

That’s right, the other seven are driving in LESS THAN A RUN PER GAME…and you want to compete with the No. 2 offense in the NL.

Tim Lincecum will be our MVP!! No, he won’t.

You guys will not consistently score enough runs for him to keep winning games. He isn’t going to strike out 14 guys every game, which is what you needed to beat the Braves and their horrid offense.

He also needed Cody Ross to man up against Halladay, and he did…but there’s nobody else there to back him up.

If we look back at the last six years NLCS/ALCS MVP’s we have:

Ryan Howard, CC Sabathia, Cole Hamels, Matt Garza, Matt Holiday, Josh Beckett, Jeff Suppan, Placido Polanco, Roy Oswalt, Paul Konerko, Albert Pujols and David Ortiz.

The first thing we notice? six pitchers, six hitters, so we’re fairly balanced. The next thing? I don’t see any Cody Ross caliber players?

The worst player on that list is Jeff Suppan, and he’s a pitcher, not an 8-hole hitter. Most of those guys are perennial MVP/Cy Young candidates.

The next (and probably most important thing) we notice? Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Placido Polanco and Roy Oswalt are on that list….and they’re also on the Phillies. Not only that, Hamels was a World Series MVP as well (and he’s the number THREE starter).

To further emphasize the talent on the Phillies roster, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are regular season MVPs…and we haven’t even mentioned the Phillies best hitter in Chase Utley. Oh…and somebody named Roy Halladay…who had a fairly decent postseason debut.

2. Their regular season record IS 22 games above .500, but their record against teams that can score runs is not. If we take the top three NL teams in runs we get the Reds, Phillies, and Rockies.

If we examine the Giants record against these teams, we see they are a very average 18-15. If we include the Red Sox (No, 2 in the AL) in interleague play we get to 19-17.

The Giants record against teams that can score runs tells us all we need to know about what kind of club they are…and they showcased that in the NLDS against the Braves.

After they won that series a lot of Giants fans began running their mouth about how they’re the underdog, and nobody is taking them seriously, insert final cliche here. Who cares?

Your team is built around a bunch of misfits, has-beens, and never was players, anchored by a dominant starting rotation in Timmy, Cain, and Sanchez (which I will not discount…they’re solid).

3. Playoff experience. This won’t require too much explanation for the bulk of you that have watched what the Phil’s have done in the last few years. They’re the real deal, and they’re only getting better.

When was the last time a ROOKIE CATCHER led his team to a world series? 1966. We have already seen a no-hitter this postseason, so you never know.

4. Home field advantage for San Francisco doesn’t exist. Moving from the Cracker Jack Box that is Citizens Bank Park to AT & T Park is only going to make it even more difficult to score runs.

Citizens bank was 10th in baseball with 1.125 HR allowed per game, while AT & T was 20th in the league with .885 homeruns allowed per game…and that was during the summer. Few balls will leave the Giants bats and make it through the thick October nights and into the bleachers.

If the Giants team was built on speed that would be one thing, but nothing could be further from the truth. No team in the Major Leagues stole fewer bases than the San Francisco Giants.

They tied the Chicago Cubs for the fewest steals in the league with a whopping 55. The Phillies on the other hand,  finished the regular season with 108 steals. Advantage: Philly.

5. The Phillies starting three are too good. Halladay will pitch on short rest, meaning a seven game schedule would consist of Halladay three times, Oswalt twice and Hamels twice. You beat Halladay once, what are the odds on beating him again…or two more times?

He lost 10 games in 33 starts…so on average he will lose one of the three games he pitches…and he’s already done that. Will one of the worst offenses in recent playoff memory be the team to knock Halladay around three times in a row?

I’m shaking my head because I know there are Giants fans that are claiming they can do it.

“SAN FRANCISCO OWNS HALLADAY!! HE IS 0-2 AGAINST US THIS YEAR!!” True, but that’s very flawed logic. First, the regular season game he lost didn’t feature Cody Ross. Meaning this second go around didn’t have the same players as did the first one.

Not to mention that game was only Halladay’s fifth start of the year. Lets look at who did the damage that game. Halladay allowed five runs in a 5-1 loss. So who tagged Halladay for those five runs? Two of them were driven in by Whiteside, two by DeRosa. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen their names on any lineups thus far in the postseason.

Of the 10 hits allowed by Halladay that first game, two were from Sandoval, two were from Renteria, two from Whiteside, and one each from Bowker, Torres, Huff, and DeRosa.

How many of these players were even in the lineup against Halladay the second go around? Torres and Huff. How much did they benefit from seeing him a second time around? 2-9, zero RBI’s. So take that “favorable” matchup for what it’s worth.

You want to focus on matchups? Cain lost his only start versus Philly this year by a score of 2-8. Bumgarner was 0-4 against the top three scoring NL teams I mentioned earlier.

Congratulations on making it this far, the Giants have clearly demonstrated they are the best of the worst teams eligible to fill this slot in the postseason. It would have been difficult to write this about the Padres, but they would have been swept in the first round before I even got around to it.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t go out there and cheer for your team, just be a little more humble about it. You’re fortunate enough to have gotten this far.

The Giants pitching staff should keep them competitive for the next few years, and Buster Posey caliber players will continue to emerge from a strong farm system that continues to develop talent.

If you guys pull it out, good for you. If not, try not to blame the umps.

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Even after just two games in this NLCS, one thing is as clear as ever: The two-time defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies have their hands full this time around.  These San Francisco Giants are not “your father’s Giants.”  This team has gotten it done all season long with pitching and timely hitting when necessary, and present a very tough challenge for the Phillies in the NLCS.

The Phillies, hoping to get to a third consecutive World Series, are playing a different type of game this time around and it has worked to fruition.  It’s been their pitching, not offense, that has brought them here. Their H20 rotation of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt has carried them as their bats were often silenced this season.

The Giants on the other hand have an entirely different lineup than they did in the beginning of the season and caught fire down the stretch to rip the NL West away from the San Diego Padres.  Pitching alone may not be enough for San Francisco, but Cody Ross has made sure that pitching isn’t the only thing the Giants can do as well as the Phillies in this series.  

With two games in the rearview mirror, it’s now a best-of-five with the Giants holding home-field advantage, hosting the next three games in consecutive days.  This may go down to the wire.  Someone will need to swing the pendulum of momentum out West before the series shifts back to Philadelphia, if necessary.

Now, let’s go ahead and bear witness to some of the better performances over the weekend.  

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Surprise, surprise.  A 2010 playoff game ended up being all about pitching.

Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants ended up being a story of the two starting pitchers:  Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Sanchez.

Oswalt pitched an absolute gem, throwing eight innings of three-hit baseball, allowing only one run while striking out nine and walking three.

It was just what the Phillies needed to even up the series after the Giants did the unthinkable by beating Roy Halladay in Game 1.

Sanchez didn’t pitch poorly for the Giants, but he was still out-dueled by Oswalt.

In the first inning, Sanchez was wild.  He struck out the side, but only after three walks and an error, leading to an unearned run.

Sanchez then settled down and started mowing down Phillies batters, and his teammates eventually rewarded him when Cody Ross launched a home run off Oswalt in the fifth.

But the Phillies immediately retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff double and two sacrifice flies.

Philadelphia would hold on to the lead and extend it, eventually winning the game, 6-1.

So, what does this mean for each team?

San Francisco Giants

This certainly isn’t the end of the world for San Francisco.  They are still in very good shape.  At the start of the series, the Phillies had Hallday, Oswalt and Cole Hamels lined up to start the first three games. 

Staring down that murderer’s row of pitchers, the Giants teed off on Halladay in Game 1, earning the win and establishing confidence.

If they can hit Halladay, they can hit anyone.  Though they didn’t hit Oswalt last night, they should still be confident when they have to face him again.

Also, the Giants went into Philly and earned a split.  That’s about as good of an outcome as they could have hoped for.  Now the pressure is on the Phillies to win a game in San Francisco.

Philadelphia Phillies

That win was just what the doctor ordered for the Phillies.  Game 2 is too early for a must-win game in most playoff series, but it was just that for Philadelphia.

You can’t go down 2-0 heading to San Francisco and hope to win two ballgames against the Giants’ young arms.

Cole Hamels vs. Matt Cain in Game 3 on Tuesday afternoon will be the pivotal matchup in this year’s NLCS.

Whoever wins that game will be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the series.

While the matchup appears to be about pitching, it’s more about the offenses.

Can the Phillies build off their offensive success in Game 2, or will the Giants’ young arms return to form and shut them down.

Also, how will the lefty Hamels fare against the right-handed bats the Giants bring to the table.

Game 3 Prediction

Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants will take their first home game in this series, 3-2.  San Francisco’s offense will do just enough against Hamels to earn a victory, while Cain will hold Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and the Philadelphia offense to few enough runs to get the win.

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San Francisco Giants fans have to feel good about Tim Lincecum now. After a few rocky months, Lincecum is hitting the mid-90s again with his fastball and looking as dominant as he did during his two Cy Young years. I knew going into the game that, if they were both on, Lincecum would out-pitch Roy Halladay.

Despite what the stats may say, both were on last night. Due to an unforgiving strike zone, the game was higher scoring than it should have been, although 4-3 certainly isn’t much. Lincecum struck out eight against the National League’s best offense, despite walking three. What should be concerning for Giants fans is the method of scoring for the Phillies: the long ball.

While the Phillies have a prolific offense, Lincecum has historically been able to keep the ball in the park—becoming a rare strikeout/ ground ball type of pitcher. This year however, Lincecum nearly doubled his home-runs-allowed rate, a concerning stat going forward in these playoffs.

The biggest problem is that, while the Phillies are a good hitting team, they pale in comparison to the home run power of Yankees and the Rangers. And while the Phillies are a patient team, they are not the New York Yankees. Against a more patient team, especially with a home plate umpire like Gerry Davis, Lincecum could be in trouble.

Unlike years past, he is hittable. And against the best AL offenses he will be very hittable. Lincecum’s changeup is the best in the league, but it is effective falling out of the zone—something that the Yankees or Rangers will be sure to exploit.

I love watching Lincecum, and except for the month and a half where he couldn’t hit the strike zone (five walks in four straight games? C’mon man!), I don’t miss his starts. But it would make me nervous to be facing an AL team with him as my ace.

That being said, I could be entirely wrong and he’ll look like the Lincecum we saw from game one of the NLDS against the Braves. But even in that game, those two Braves hits were long doubles—and many of the outs were fly-ball outs. The 14 strikeouts were extremely impressive, but they come with some caveats.

Giants fans should, however, be impressed with their offense—managing to score four runs off of one of the best pitchers in the game. They are a scrappy team, and manage to score just enough runs to win. With each of their division series wins coming by merely one run, they have shown the ability to hit just as well as their very talented pitching staff allows.

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It was the matchup everyone was waiting for: Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter in this postseason’s first game, while Tim Lincecum threw a two-hit shutout complemented by 14 K’s.

In Game 1 of the NLCS, however, neither pitcher lived up to the expectations of a 1-0 game.

Roy Halladay gave up four earned runs in seven innings of work last night, including two home runs to Cody Ross. Tim Lincecum got the win, matching Halladay’s seven innings and giving up three earned runs. 

Neither pitcher was even close to being the player of the game. Both were in the shadows of Cody Ross, who had Roy Halladay’s number last night, bashing two homers off him. Lincecum gave up home runs to Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth. So, while the theme in Game 1 was supposed to be pitching, it turned out to be the long ball.

The Giants put the heavily favored Phillies behind in the series, 1-0, when Brian Wilson came in to get the save, striking out four out of the four batters he faced. 

But the Phillies do not need to worry. Between Oswalt and Hamels, I like the Phillies’ chances of winning the next two games.

Oswalt has a 1.74 ERA since joining the Phils earlier this year, and Hamels has been pitching much better this year than he did in 2009. Hamels looked great throwing a shutout against the Reds to finish off the sweep of the Reds. Additionally, Hamels knows how to pitch in the playoffs. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, Hamels was awarded the World Series MVP.

Although this is the first time the Phils have lost Game 1 of a postseason series in three years, they just seem to win every playoff series they are in. In the Phillies last seven postseason series, they have only lost one.

With Oswalt going in Game 2 against Jonathan Sanchez, one has to think that there is going to be a pitching duel. Oswalt has been dominant for the Phils this year, especially at Citizens Bank Park. Sanchez has been great against the Phillies this year with a 1.38 ERA against them. 

With Oswalt’s experience of pitching in the playoffs for the Astros, the Phillies have the edge in pitching experience for Game 2. Sanchez is a postseason rookie pitching in a hostile Citizens Bank Park. 

In Game 3, the pitching matchup will be Cole Hamels vs. Matt Cain in San Francisco. Hamels is one of the best playoff pitchers left in this year’s postseason. Cain is a postseason rookie just as Sanchez, but he is not bad for a first-timer. Cain gave up no earned runs in 6.2 innings against the Braves in Game 2 of the NLDS.

Cain was chosen to start by manager Bruce Bochy in Game 3 instead of Game 2 because of his 5.29 career ERA at Citizens Bank Park. He will start at AT&T Park, where he has had a career 3.16 ERA.

The Phillies have to hold the edge in Game 3 with Hamels, who seems to always be lights-out in the playoffs. I believe Cain will pitch a good game, but the Phillies have too much star power with the bats, and will manage to score enough runs for Hamels.

In Game 4, it’s Joe Blanton going for the Fightin’ Phils and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. Blanton has been far from good this year and Bumgarner is not only a playoff rookie, he is a first-year Major League pitcher. In terms of pitching, I am going to give the Giants a slight edge, but pitching will not be as much of a factor in this game as in the first three.

If there is any game in this series that will be a slugfest, it will be Game 4.

Whichever team shows up to hit the ball in Game 4 will probably be the winner. If the Giants can get an early lead, I think they will win the game. The way the Phillies can win the game is if Blanton gives up fewer than five runs and the Phillies just hit the ball pretty well against Bumgarner. 

In Game 4, I believe the Giants have the best chance at winning the game.

If Game 5 is necessary, it will be a 50-50 toss-up, just like Game 1. Don’t expect another 4-3 game, think more along the lines of 2-0 or 2-1. Halladay will toss a great game and Lincecum should match him. With the game at AT&T Park, I like the Giants to win Game 5 with Tim Lincecum pitching a complete game.

If Game 6 is necessary, it will look very similar to Game 2 with Oswalt going against Sanchez. At Citizens Bank Park again, I have to stick with Oswalt in the matchup.

Oswalt has the experience of pitching in big NLCS games in Houston, and he has been brilliant at home for the Phillies this year. The X factor in Game 6 will be the home-field advantage for Oswalt and the Phils. I like Oswalt to outduel Sanchez and win Game 6 for the Phils.

If all of my predictions are correct and this series goes to Game 7, the pitching matchup between Hamels and Cain is the most likely scenario. If that is the case, the Phillies will be heavily favored to win Game 7. Cole Hamels will be dominant, there is almost no question about it. So Matt Cain will have to match Hamels with an absolute gem, and that is no easy task for Cain in Philadelphia.

The Phillies fans will be relentless and make it hard for Cain, along with the rest of the team. Cain has struggled in his career in Philadelphia and I don’t see that changing. Hamels will pitch a good Game 7 and the Phillies will score enough runs off Cain to pull off the win.

The Giants will definitely give the Phillies a run for their money in this series. But between the pitching, hitting and playoff experience of the Phils, they will find a way to win this series.

They always do. 

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