NLCS Game 5: Phils betting on Cole Hamels tonight
The Phillies can close out the NLCS and take home their sixth NL Pennant tonight when they send young ace Cole Hamels to the mound in Los Angeles with a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers. Joe Torre and LA look to extend their season at least one more game behind another young hurler in Chad Billingsley. Philadelphia is drawing the chalk at -115 to -120, with a first pitch slated for 8:22 p.m. (ET) on FOX.
The Phillies are just a game away from reaching the World Series, and maybe, just maybe we should’ve seen this coming all along given the rather consistent gaps between Philadelphia’s previous NL pennants, or blown NL flags.
Thanks to a Matt Stairs pinch blast on Monday to give the Phils a 7-5 win and 3-1 lead in the NLCS, they can wrap it all up in Game 5 tonight in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in an 8:22 p.m. (ET) first pitch on FOX. Stairs’ 2-run shot off the bench capped a four-run eighth inning for Philadelphia in Game 4 to rally them past LA.
It was the Whiz Kids version of the Phils that took the 1950 Senior Circuit title with Richie Ashburn pacing the offense and Robin Roberts leading the mound. Then 14 years later, 1964, the team blew a shot at the NL title, squandering a lead of 6½ games with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
The franchise had some chances in the mid-to-late 70s but fell in division series matchups to the Reds and Dodgers. Finally in 1980, they put it all together and won the whole shebang. The Phils were right back in the World Series three years later in a bit of an anomaly for them to win two NL flags so close together. But 13 years after their 1980 win, they surprised a lot of people by winning the NL Pennant before losing in seven to the Blue Jays, thanks to Joe Carter’s Game 7 blast.
Now, 15 years after that Series loss, the Phillies find themselves one game away from taking the NL flag. And if they continue with this trend, we should see them back in the same spot again sometime around 2021-2023.
Cole Hamels (2-0, 1.20 postseason) will get the ball Wednesday night to try and deliver Charlie Manuel and the Phillies to the Promised Land while Joe Torre and the Dodgers will depend on Chad Billingsley (1-1, 8.00) to keep their season going.
This will be Hamels’ fourth start vs. LA this season, with the Phillies 2-1 in the previous three, all of which have seen the floppy-haired lefty pitch well. In all three of his previous starts, counting Game 1 of this NLCS, Hamels has worked seven innings and allowed two earned runs. The only homer he has served up to the Dodgers this year was by LA backstop Russell Martin back in August in what turned out to be a 9-2 Philadelphia home win. He had never faced Los Angeles before this season.
The Phillies shelled Billingsley in Game 2 back east last Friday, touching the LA righty for eight runs (seven earned) and eight hits before knocking him off the mound in the third inning. Philadelphia starter Bret Myers delivered a pair of run-scoring singles against Billingsley, with Shane Victorino’s triple off reliever Chan Ho Park sealing the deal in the decisive third frame. That marked the second time this season the Phillies hung a loss on the 24-year old, and swelled his career ERA against them to 6.63 in four career outings (20.1 IP).
Mike Winters will have the call behind the plate in what could be the decisive game, and comes into this one off a season in which he went 19-12 in favor of the home team in his 31 plate assignments. Winters was 14-16-1 on the Over/Under with an average of 8.94 runs per game.
The total is listed at 7½ across the board, and the one game at that mark Winters worked this year cashed the Under tickets. He did not work any games started by Billingsley or Hamels this season.
Hamels and the Phils are favorites in the -115 to -120 range and it should be very nice weather around Chavez Ravine for the first pitch scheduled for 5:22 p.m. Pacific. The weatherman is calling for temps to reach the mid-80s this afternoon in the LA area, so look for something in the low-80s about game time and cooling down fairly quick once the sun begins to drop. By the time the game ends, it could be in the mid-60s or even lower.
Winds will start off coming in from right-center, and could be still gusting in the 15-20 MPH range early before dying off and becoming negligible during the game.
The Phillies can close out the NLCS and take home their sixth NL Pennant tonight when they send young ace Cole Hamels to the mound in Los Angeles with a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers. Joe Torre and LA look to extend their season at least one more game behind another young hurler in Chad Billingsley. Philadelphia is drawing the chalk at -115 to -120, with a first pitch slated for 8:22 p.m. (ET) on FOX.
The Phillies are just a game away from reaching the World Series, and maybe, just maybe we should’ve seen this coming all along given the rather consistent gaps between Philadelphia’s previous NL pennants, or blown NL flags.
Thanks to a Matt Stairs pinch blast on Monday to give the Phils a 7-5 win and 3-1 lead in the NLCS, they can wrap it all up in Game 5 tonight in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in an 8:22 p.m. (ET) first pitch on FOX. Stairs’ 2-run shot off the bench capped a four-run eighth inning for Philadelphia in Game 4 to rally them past LA.
It was the Whiz Kids version of the Phils that took the 1950 Senior Circuit title with Richie Ashburn pacing the offense and Robin Roberts leading the mound. Then 14 years later, 1964, the team blew a shot at the NL title, squandering a lead of 6½ games with less than two weeks left in the regular season.
The franchise had some chances in the mid-to-late 70s but fell in division series matchups to the Reds and Dodgers. Finally in 1980, they put it all together and won the whole shebang. The Phils were right back in the World Series three years later in a bit of an anomaly for them to win two NL flags so close together. But 13 years after their 1980 win, they surprised a lot of people by winning the NL Pennant before losing in seven to the Blue Jays, thanks to Joe Carter’s Game 7 blast.
Now, 15 years after that Series loss, the Phillies find themselves one game away from taking the NL flag. And if they continue with this trend, we should see them back in the same spot again sometime around 2021-2023.
Cole Hamels (2-0, 1.20 postseason) will get the ball Wednesday night to try and deliver Charlie Manuel and the Phillies to the Promised Land while Joe Torre and the Dodgers will depend on Chad Billingsley (1-1, 8.00) to keep their season going.
This will be Hamels’ fourth start vs. LA this season, with the Phillies 2-1 in the previous three, all of which have seen the floppy-haired lefty pitch well. In all three of his previous starts, counting Game 1 of this NLCS, Hamels has worked seven innings and allowed two earned runs. The only homer he has served up to the Dodgers this year was by LA backstop Russell Martin back in August in what turned out to be a 9-2 Philadelphia home win. He had never faced Los Angeles before this season.
The Phillies shelled Billingsley in Game 2 back east last Friday, touching the LA righty for eight runs (seven earned) and eight hits before knocking him off the mound in the third inning. Philadelphia starter Bret Myers delivered a pair of run-scoring singles against Billingsley, with Shane Victorino’s triple off reliever Chan Ho Park sealing the deal in the decisive third frame. That marked the second time this season the Phillies hung a loss on the 24-year old, and swelled his career ERA against them to 6.63 in four career outings (20.1 IP).
Mike Winters will have the call behind the plate in what could be the decisive game, and comes into this one off a season in which he went 19-12 in favor of the home team in his 31 plate assignments. Winters was 14-16-1 on the Over/Under with an average of 8.94 runs per game.
The total is listed at 7½ across the board, and the one game at that mark Winters worked this year cashed the Under tickets. He did not work any games started by Billingsley or Hamels this season.
Hamels and the Phils are favorites in the -115 to -120 range and it should be very nice weather around Chavez Ravine for the first pitch scheduled for 5:22 p.m. Pacific. The weatherman is calling for temps to reach the mid-80s this afternoon in the LA area, so look for something in the low-80s about game time and cooling down fairly quick once the sun begins to drop. By the time the game ends, it could be in the mid-60s or even lower.
Winds will start off coming in from right-center, and could be still gusting in the 15-20 MPH range early before dying off and becoming negligible during the game.