San Francisco @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 19, 2010 ) San Francisco 5, Philadelphia 2
After the greatest postseason pitching debut in baseball history, Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay gets his chance for an encore Saturday when the Phillies play host to the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park.
During the regular season, Halladay was everything the Phillies hoped he would be when they acquired him from Toronto in the offseason, going 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA.
But he exceeded even the most lofty expectations in his first playoff appearance Oct. 6, retiring 27 of the 28 Cincinnati Reds batters he faced in the second no-hitter in major league baseball postseason history.
Duplicating that performance - or even approaching it - might be difficult against a Giants team that has roughed up Halladay in three career starts against them, including one this year. He is 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA against San Francisco, which scored five runs on 10 hits over seven innings against him in a 5-1 win April 26 at AT&T Park.
Halladay probably will have to be much better than that to beat Giants ace Tim Lincecum, whose postseason debut was nearly as special as his counterpart's. In Game 1 of the Giants' NL Division Series against Atlanta, Lincecum struck out 14 and walked one in a two-hit shutout.
And Lincecum has fared well against the Phillies, going 2-1 with a 3.17 ERA in seven starts against them. In his only meeting with Philadelphia this year, Lincecum allowed two runs on three hits over 8 1/3 innings and struck out 11, but the bullpen squandered a three-run lead in the ninth and the Phillies won 8-7 in 11 innings.
The marquee pitching matchups continue with Philadelphia's Roy Oswalt set to go against Jonathan Sanchez in Game 2 on Sunday, and Cole Hamels scheduled to face Matt Cain in Game 3 on Tuesday.
If the Phillies have a concern going into the series, it might be their rusty bullpen. They haven't played since finishing off a sweep of the Reds on Sunday, and although they used five relievers in Game 2 on Oct. 8, no one in the bullpen has worked since then on account of Hamels' complete-game shutout in the clincher.
Getting to that bullpen might be the key for the Giants, who rallied late in Game 3 and Game 4 against the Braves.
While both teams' pitchers were dominant in the division series, their lineups left something to be desired. Both teams hit .212 during the opening round, but the Phillies did more with their opportunities, scoring 13 runs in three games compared to San Francisco's 11 runs over four games.
No player had more than three hits in the series for Philadelphia, but Shane Victorino (3-for-13, 3 RBIs) and Chase Utley (3-for-11, 1 HR, 4 RBIs) came through in clutch situations.
Rookie Buster Posey led the Giants at the plate, going 6-for-16 (.375), and outfielders Cody Ross and Pat Burrell each had a home run and three RBIs.
The teams split six games in the regular season with each team taking two of three in its home park.