Rockies, Phillies NLDS Game 2 Preview
Cliff Lee pitched the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1-0 lead in the NLDS on Wednesday. Now Aaron Cook has the task of keeping the Colorado Rockies from going down two games in the short series.
Cliff Lee doesn't have any memories of the last time the Phillies faced the Rockies in the postseason. The lefthander's performance in Game 1 on Wednesday helped Philadelphia fans forget some of theirs.
Lee tossed a complete game six-hitter, losing the shutout in the ninth inning, and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the NLDS with a 5-1 win over Colorado. The southpaw even got in on the offensive side of the event with a single and stolen base, one of three thefts Philadelphia recorded in the game.
Now Charlie Manager will turn from one lefty to another when he hands the ball to Cole Hamels in Game 2 with Philadelphia looking to take a 2-0 lead with them on the road to Colorado this weekend. The line favors the Phils to do just that, opening at -150 on Philadelphia and immediately jumping up to -155. The total is set the same as Game 1 at 8½.
For Hamels, this will be just his third career start against Colorado and the first two tries ended in losses for the Phillies. One of those starts was here at Citizen's Bank Park in Game 1 of the 2007 NLDS when the Rocks took a 4-2 win on their way to the series sweep. Hamels worked 6.2 innings and allowed three of Colorado's four plate crossings.
The only other time he's faced them was in Colorado back in April, and the Purple Gang lit the lefty up for seven runs before he could get through the fourth frame.
Hamels exited the regular season in poor fashion with 13 earnies charged to his ledger over his final three starts (16.2 innings). Two of those three outings were at home against the Astros and Marlins. He worked just three innings against Florida last Saturday in his final regular season start, exiting after just 47 tosses with Philadelphia trailing 3-1 in what was a 4-3 final in favor of the Fish.
Rockies field boss Jim Tracy will counter with Aaron Cook who, like Hamels, hasn't fared too well against the opposition. In five starts vs. the Phillies since the start of the 2006 season, Colorado is 1-4. That includes two defeats this season, one at Coors Field back in April (6 IP, 3 ER, 7-5 loss) and the other in Philly in early August (5 IP, 3 ER, 3-1 loss).
The bulk of the Phils lineup has been trouble for Cook with the group combining for a .336 average and .842 OPS. The Big 3 in the order -- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard -- team up to bat .373 against Cook (25-for-67) with nine extra base knocks.
It's hard to get a good read on either starting pitcher. While Hamels pitched poorly at the end of the season, and was inconsistent throughout the year, Cook looked very good in his two starts the final 10 days after it appeared shoulder trouble ended his season in mid-August. He's also a perfect pitcher for this ballpark with his sinker conducive for keeping the ball on the ground.
I like the Phillies sticks and legs however, and expect them to put up 4-5 runs or more. I also look for the Rockies lineup to do more damage than they did in Game 1, maybe even pushing across enough towards the end against the Phils bullpen to win this. I'll play the Over.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 2, Thu, Sep 8, 2:37 p.m. (ET): Aaron Cook (14-13, 4.16) vs. Cole Hamels (16-16, 4.32)
UMPIRE
Bettors hoping to find an umpire's trend to help them in this one are going to be disappointed. Veteran field arbiter Bob Davidson worked 33 games behind the plate in the regular season, posting a 16-17 Home/Visitor record and 17-15-1 O/U mark on the totals. Davidson, who has been working MLB games since 1982, was a bit benevolent for home favorites with a 12-10 mark, but that's about it.
WEATHER
It should be a nice afternoon in the Philadelphia area with sunny skies and the thermometer climbing to about 70ºF. The wind that was gusting into the mid-30s on Wednesday won't be on hand with the current forecast listing WNW at 10-15 MPH (from LF corner towards 1B).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
Cliff Lee pitched the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1-0 lead in the NLDS on Wednesday. Now Aaron Cook has the task of keeping the Colorado Rockies from going down two games in the short series.
Cliff Lee doesn't have any memories of the last time the Phillies faced the Rockies in the postseason. The lefthander's performance in Game 1 on Wednesday helped Philadelphia fans forget some of theirs.
Lee tossed a complete game six-hitter, losing the shutout in the ninth inning, and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the NLDS with a 5-1 win over Colorado. The southpaw even got in on the offensive side of the event with a single and stolen base, one of three thefts Philadelphia recorded in the game.
Now Charlie Manager will turn from one lefty to another when he hands the ball to Cole Hamels in Game 2 with Philadelphia looking to take a 2-0 lead with them on the road to Colorado this weekend. The line favors the Phils to do just that, opening at -150 on Philadelphia and immediately jumping up to -155. The total is set the same as Game 1 at 8½.
For Hamels, this will be just his third career start against Colorado and the first two tries ended in losses for the Phillies. One of those starts was here at Citizen's Bank Park in Game 1 of the 2007 NLDS when the Rocks took a 4-2 win on their way to the series sweep. Hamels worked 6.2 innings and allowed three of Colorado's four plate crossings.
The only other time he's faced them was in Colorado back in April, and the Purple Gang lit the lefty up for seven runs before he could get through the fourth frame.
Hamels exited the regular season in poor fashion with 13 earnies charged to his ledger over his final three starts (16.2 innings). Two of those three outings were at home against the Astros and Marlins. He worked just three innings against Florida last Saturday in his final regular season start, exiting after just 47 tosses with Philadelphia trailing 3-1 in what was a 4-3 final in favor of the Fish.
Rockies field boss Jim Tracy will counter with Aaron Cook who, like Hamels, hasn't fared too well against the opposition. In five starts vs. the Phillies since the start of the 2006 season, Colorado is 1-4. That includes two defeats this season, one at Coors Field back in April (6 IP, 3 ER, 7-5 loss) and the other in Philly in early August (5 IP, 3 ER, 3-1 loss).
The bulk of the Phils lineup has been trouble for Cook with the group combining for a .336 average and .842 OPS. The Big 3 in the order -- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard -- team up to bat .373 against Cook (25-for-67) with nine extra base knocks.
It's hard to get a good read on either starting pitcher. While Hamels pitched poorly at the end of the season, and was inconsistent throughout the year, Cook looked very good in his two starts the final 10 days after it appeared shoulder trouble ended his season in mid-August. He's also a perfect pitcher for this ballpark with his sinker conducive for keeping the ball on the ground.
I like the Phillies sticks and legs however, and expect them to put up 4-5 runs or more. I also look for the Rockies lineup to do more damage than they did in Game 1, maybe even pushing across enough towards the end against the Phils bullpen to win this. I'll play the Over.
STARTING PITCHERS
Game 2, Thu, Sep 8, 2:37 p.m. (ET): Aaron Cook (14-13, 4.16) vs. Cole Hamels (16-16, 4.32)
UMPIRE
Bettors hoping to find an umpire's trend to help them in this one are going to be disappointed. Veteran field arbiter Bob Davidson worked 33 games behind the plate in the regular season, posting a 16-17 Home/Visitor record and 17-15-1 O/U mark on the totals. Davidson, who has been working MLB games since 1982, was a bit benevolent for home favorites with a 12-10 mark, but that's about it.
WEATHER
It should be a nice afternoon in the Philadelphia area with sunny skies and the thermometer climbing to about 70ºF. The wind that was gusting into the mid-30s on Wednesday won't be on hand with the current forecast listing WNW at 10-15 MPH (from LF corner towards 1B).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com and of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!