Running Diary: NLDS Game 1

The first playoff game in the history of Citizens Bank Park? The first playoff game period for the Phillies in fourteen years? The potential for a great pitching duel? I only had one thing on my mind: Running Diary.

I have to say that TBS has done an exceptional job so far with their coverage. I generally really hate Fox’s coverage of all sports, regardless of the announcers. But TBS has been pretty good. They even started off with a bad-ass montage at the beginning of their pregame show. “Twenty-two have fallen. But eight remain standing, and they play for one championship.” I’m ready to go.

2:50 - Just wanted to mention this, but the Braves studio team has Frank Thomas and Cal Ripken. Brilliant. Why don’t more networks (ESPN, we’re looking in your direction) get significant players to be their analysts? ESPN has Eric Young and John Kruk, and for their GM role they have Steve Phillips, the guy who ruined the Mets and traded away Scott Kazmir. Why not get legitimate people like The Big Hurt and The Iron Man? Can’t they provide a better perspective than mediocre players? If nothing else, can’t they at least fake it better?

2:56 - The guys wonder if you can overstate the value of a home crowd, and they switch to a shot of the Bank. The place looks great, and the fans look rowdy. Then they talk about how great the Philly crowd has been down the stretch, and how they expect it to be louder today. This is going to start going to our heads if they keep it up. I’m just not used to this kind of press.

3:00 - Another great montage brings us live to Philadelphia, where Don Orsillo and Joe Simpson are ready to call the action. I’ve never heard of either of them, I won’t lie.

3:05 - It’s really time to stop showing that Kenny Lofton DHL commercial. Not only is it about the trade deadline, which has long since passed, but Lofton actually GOT traded and is playing on a team that is in the playoffs. Film something new.

3:07 - As they give the lineups, I can’t help but think that Phillies fans are going to say playing Wes Helms is a mistake. I don’t like him either, but he’s a righty against a lefty, and he’s 6-9 with two homers against Jeff Francis. It’s the right play.

3:09 - Matsui grounds out to Rollins for the first out, and the crowd gets to chant MVP at Rollins for the first time. I get the feeling that the Rockies fans will have an answer when this series moves to Colorado.

3:11 - Hamels strikes out Tulowitzki, but boy are they making Cole throw pitches. The boos rain down as Matt Holliday steps to the plate.

3:13 - Howard tags Holliday awkwardly, but the Phils start it with a 1-2-3 inning. Putting up early runs is going to be a huge part of this series for either team, so we’ll see what the Phils can do here in Game 1.

3:18 - Rollins strikes out after being up 3-0 in the count. Not a great start.

3:20 - Victorino and Utley go down on a pair of 3-pitch K’s, and that’ll do it. Ouch.

3:23 - Todd Helton triples to open up the second inning. Hamels doesn’t look all that sharp. Even in the first inning, guys were fouling a lot of balls off, instead of swinging and missing like you see when Cole is on. This could be bad.

3:25 - Atkins lines a double into left, 1-0 Rockies. Hamels’ curve is catching an awful lot of the plate.

3:28 - Ryan Spilborghs comes to bat. This team has a bunch of annoying names to spell. No more running diaries after today.

3:29 - Hamels walks Spilborghs on four pitches. What in the world is wrong with Cole?

3:30 - Another crazy name, Yorvit Torrealba singles into center. 2-0 Rockies. The bleeding has to stop here.

3:35 - Hamels walks Matsui to load the bases. That will invite a visit from Rich Dubee.

3:38 - Hamels walks another one, this one drives in a run. And not only that, but now Holliday gets to bat with the bases loaded. That’s a bad situation.

3:39 - Holliday hits a rocket, but it’s foul. Grand Slam distance though. Don’t throw that one again.

3:40 - Pitch number forty in the INNING coming up for Hamels.

3:40 - Hamels gets Holliday to strike out, but it’s 3-0 Rockies. Yeah, it’s only three runs, but with the number of Pitches Hamels has already thrown, Kyle Lohse could find his way into this game sooner rather than later.

3:48 - Aaron Rowand becomes the first Phillie not to strike out. He grounded out softly to short. And he was down 0-2 anyway.

3:50 - Pat Burrell draws a walk. I mean…at least it’s a base runner. Or, in Pat’s case, a base walker.

3:52 - Career numbers, so what? Helms pops out and the inning is over.

3:59 - Hamels gets the 1-2-3 inning, just what the doctor ordered.

4:04 - Cole breaks up the no-no with two outs in the bottom of the third. Doesn’t that mean someone else should actually be able to get a hit? No? How about not strike out?

4:05 - Alright, maybe the strikeout was a better way to go. Rollins grounds into the around-the-horn double play, and the inning is over. The Phillies are playing one of those games again. The ones where they look asleep. My guess is the Rockies only put up another run or two, and the Phils get one in the sixth and one in the eighth just to tease us before giving up two more in the top of the ninth to lose 6-2.

4:11 - Hamels gets Jeff Francis for another 1-2-3 inning. He’s settling in nicely, but he’s still up around 80 pitches already. If he can go six, it would be a monumental effort.

4:12 - Our first Sonic commercial of the day. All I can say is this: Does anyone in the Philly area know where a Sonic is? I keep seeing commercials, and everything looks so good. Where are they? And if they aren’t around, why do they spend so much in advertising here?

4:18 - Howard strikes out, and the Phillies go down in order again. That’s seven strikeouts for Francis so far, for those of you scoring at home.

4:23 - Helms makes a brilliant diving stop to get Hamels another 1-2-3 inning, this one on just six pitches. The good news is that this game is settling down. The bad news is that the Phils are the team that needs to get something going.

4:27 - Well, there’s a start. Rowand goes deep to get the Phillies on the board. 3-1 Rockies.

4:29 - Pat Burrell waited a long time to get to the playoffs. That home run had to feel SO good. I know it felt good watching it. The Phils go back to back, an it’s 3-2 Rockies.

4:31 - I know that Helms just made an out, but it was a screamer to left. All I’m going to say is that Jeff Francis looks rattled. Burrell’s homer was a cheap one, and opposing pitchers tend to hate giving those up. I know John Smoltz has always found it unpleasant. The Phils are taking some really good swings now.

4:32 - Ruiz singles to left, and he’s a one out baserunner. Here come the Phils bats. Maybe they won’t sleep their way through this game after all. Hamels should bunt Carlos over here.

4:33 - Hamels pops up the bunt, two outs.

4:35 - Francis has thrown 20 pitches this inning. This should really help take the pressure off. At least it’s a one-run game now. And as I type this, Ruiz takes off and steals second. I said coming into this series that baserunning would be a huge advantage for the Phillies. Joe Simpson tells me that Torrealba has only thrown out 2 of his last 32 baserunners. You can run on these guys.

4:36 - Rollins draws a walk, so now it’s first and second with two outs. The Phils would love to take the lead here and take all the wind out of Colorado’s sails. Shane Victorino has had two pitiful at-bats so far. He’s taken his sunglasses off for this at-bat, which is a nice start. Now if we could just get him to ditch that little league helmet with the flaps on both sides.

4:38 - Victorino grounds out to end the inning, but we have ourselves a ballgame now. Let’s see how Cole reacts.

4:43 - Cole starts it with a strikeout of Todd Helton. Not bad.

4:45 - Hamels gets another strikeout for the third out of the inning. He has now retired 13 in a row, and the Phils offense gets to go right back at it.

4:49 - Chase Utley strikes out for the third time in three at-bats, and he’s looked ugly doing it. The top four guys in this lineup have been dreadful, and they need to step it up.

4:51 - Howard pops out on one of the ugliest swings I’ve ever seen. But look on the bright side. At least he made contact.

4:52 - Rowand flies out, and it’s a 1-2-3 inning for Francis. Three innings to go, and we look like we’ve got a good one on our hands.

4:57 - Spilborghs walks to start the inning. Cole is over 110 pitches. Why is he even still in there?

4:59 - Jeff Francis is going to hit for himself and pitch in the seventh after Torreabla flew out to right. This is an interesting decision, considering the Phillies are seeing him better.

5:00 - Francis grounds out to Utley, but the runner moves to second.

5:01 - That will be all for Cole Hamels. His final line is 6.2 inings, 3 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts. He threw 115 pitches, 72 for strikes. He really just had one awful inning, and he leaves trailing by one run, the one he walked in. It’s the first time since June he’s walked more than two in a game. But he recovered gracefully.

5:03 - Tom Gordon is into the game to try to get the Phils out of this inning. Spilborghs is at second, and they really can’t let him score.

5:05 - Flash strikes out Matsui, inning over. This sets up perfectly for the Phillies. Romero will come in for the eighth for the lefties, and then you’d have Myers for the bottom of the order in the ninth. All the Phillies have to do now is take the lead, which is easier said than done. Oh, and there’s the part where Gordon and Romero actually have to get everyone out. I know they’ve been good, but Holliday and Helton can flat out rake.

5:09 - Clint Hurdle waited until the start of the inning to take out Francis. What a jerk. He does this all the time, and it’s annoying. First, he let Francis bat. That’s just weird. Second, why wait until the beginning of the inning to take a guy out? It’s the equivalent of a coach waiting until the field goal is already good to call a timeout, a recent trend in the NFL. It’s obnoxious, and I hate it.

5:11 - LaTroy Hawkins comes in to pitch, and Burrell pops out on the first pitch. That forces my father into the following: “Why in the world would you swing at the first pitch from a reliever? Shouldn’t you wait to see what he’s got? Isn’t that just common sense?” Amen.

5:13 - Greg Dobbs comes on to pinch hit for Helms. So much for numbers, Helms didn’t help out at all today. He made a nice play defensively, but he was worthless again at the plate.

5:16 - Dobbs is having a good at-bat, fouling off pitches. Meanwhile, the Phanatic is putting the hex on Hawkins.

5:17 - Dobbs draws a walk with one out, and the Phils are going to use Michael Bourn to pinch-run. Think he’s stealing?

5:19 - Ruiz is buried in an 0-2 count, and that might prevent Bourn from running. Personally, I’d still send him.

5:20 - Ruiz gets the count back to 2-2 before grounding into the inning-ending double play. And we move to the eighth.

5:23 - Gordon stays in the game to go after Tulowitzki.

5:24 - Gordon blows him away with a fastball.

5:24 - Holliday takes Gordon deep, and I mean deep to left center. That was a bomb. 4-2 Rockies.

5:28 - Romero gets Helton right away. Regardless of what happens in this game, that’s a good sign for the rest of this series. Those two will meet again.

5:29 - Jimmy Rollins make a ridiculous play at short to get Garrett Atkins. But the lead is back up to two.

5:31 - This is sort of boring for a running diary. The announcers aren’t say stupid things for me to make fun of…what kind of network is this?

5:33 - Tadahito Iguchi comes out to pinch-hit for the start of the eighth against Brian Fuentes. The Phils need a baserunner in the worst way.

5:34 - And Iguchi walks. Now the top of the order comes up with a chance to redeem themselves for how terrible they have been up to this point.

5:36 - Rollins is 3-1 now, and the crowd is ready for something electric.

5:37 - Of course, Rollins pops up what might have been ball four. So if you’re keeping track, Holliday has a huge home run and Jimmy is 0 for 3.

5:39 - Victorino grounds to short, but he beats the relay throw to keep the inning alive for Chase. This is the first of what will probably be many matchups between Utley and Fuentes throughout this series.

5:40 - Utley flinched and backed away at a called strike on the outside corner. What’s wrong with him today? Also, Victorino looks runner-ish, to borrow a term from Richie Ashburn. Why would he run with two outs, down by two?

5:41 - Utley strikes out for the fourth time in four at-bats. Wow. Just wow.

5:44 - Brett Myers comes on to pitch the ninth. It’s real simple: He needs to keep the deficit at two. And it would be best for him if he could do it with a 1-2-3 inning, because he has the bottom of the order up right now.

5:45 - Speaking of which, Brad Hawpe is gone on strikes.

5:46 - Spilborghs is caught looking at a curveball. People were worried about Myers, and the fact that his emotions can get the best of him. He looks as comfortable as could be out there right now.

5:47 - Joe Simpson makes the point that Myers would be more amped up and his emotions would be more of a factor if it was a save situation and the crowd was going nuts. Touche.

5:48 - Torrealba gets an infield hit, and that will bring on Cory Sullivan to pinch-hit. The Phillies really don’t want the top of this order to come back up.

5:49 - Well, so much for that. Sullivan singles to center (say that quickly), and that will turn the lineup over.

5:51 - Myers strikes out Matsui for one of the more interesting “Strike out the side” innings I’ve ever seen. And we go to the bottom of the ninth. I hope the Phils come back. Not just because I want them to win, and not just because it would probably be good for business. I really can’t stand the Rockies’ uniforms. I hate any baseball team that wears the sleeveless shirts over top of another shirt. I just hate it. Like Lou Brown says in Major League, “We wear caps and sleeves in this league, son.”

5:54 - Ryan Howard will lead it off in the ninth. He’s a mere 0-3 today.

5:55 - Howard goes down on strikes again. He’s still striking out way too much. In the words of Tom Hanks, “That’s something that I’d like you to work on before next season.”

5:57 - Rowand grounds out to second, and it looks like the Phillies are going to go down fast and quiet. Not only that, but Nunez is due up behind Burrell because of all the switches. So now even if Burrell reaches, Nunez would come up as the tying run. They can’t pinch-hit, he’s the last third baseman on the roster. They could always use Coste or Werth, but that doesn’t make it a good idea.

5:58 - Burrell takes a pitch low for strike two. I’m sorry, but that pitch just isn’t a strike. I’ve been watching this game pretty intently, and I can honestly tell you I have no idea what a strike is today. It’s not why the Phillies are going to lose, but it certainly didn’t help.

6:01 - And just after hour number three of this catastrophe, Burrell pops out to center to end the ballgame. The Phillies offense was miserable today, and if you look at the top four guys in the order, it’s probably enough to make you cry.