C.C. Who?

Even with the announcers talking about how the Phillies better get anything they can and they need to hope that Brewers ace C.C. Sabathia will be too tired to pitch a good game. Well guess what Sabathia wasn't the best pitcher on the field on this night. That distinction belongs to Phillies second half ace Brett Myers. Despite a rough first where a run scored, Myers showed his resiliency by getting a 1-2-3 doubly play with the bases loaded.

What did Sabathia do? Well he pitched himself out of trouble in the first, but right into trouble in the second inning. With the bases already loaded, Brett Myers stepped up to the plate. He had a great 9 pitch at bat against Sabathia, who ended up walking Myers in the end. Personally, I have never seen a stadium cheer so loudly for a pitcher fouling off pitches during an at bat. And when Myers drew the walk, the fans absolutely erupted. There has never been anything like it. The stadium was in a state of pandemonium. And as they always say, walks kill. Shane Victorino made that statement come true when he stepped up to the plate and took Sabathia yard to the tune of a grand slam, the first of his career. Is there any more appropriate a time for that grand slam.

Now, back to Myers. This was his night. He went seven strong innings only giving up two runs on two hits while striking out four and walking three. These numbers weren't Hamels-like, but they were most definitely enough to get the win. And isn't that the most important stat? ERA, strikeouts, earned runt, hits and walks, all that means nothing if you don't get the win. Plain and simple, Myers out pitched Sabathia and got the win.

Sabathia pitched , yet again, on three days rest. But let me say this right now, that is no excuse for why the Phillies beat him tonight. He left pitches up in the zone and missed his spots, and when any pitcher does that, they are going to get beat. The Phillies lineup is just too good and too powerful for any pitcher to not be on top of their game. The rest, or lack their of, is in no way shape or form a reason to why the Brewers lost on this night. That last statement is not directed at the Brewers or Sabathia in any way, but at the reporters and so called experts who didn't give the Phillies much of a chance tonight. I say directly to all of you who thought that we had no chance just because of Sabathia being on the mound: who won their division and who got in because they are the wild card and the Mets collapsed?

Last night saw Phillies closer Brad Lidge throw 35 pitches, give up an earned run, and had the tying runs on second and third. Tonight was a completely different story. In the eighth inning, Ryan Madson two of the four Brewers that he faced. When Prince Fielder was due up, my presidential candidate Charlie Manuel brought in J.C. Romero. It took Romero one pitch to get the most dangerous hitter in the Brewers lineup to ground out to first. And finally, the ninth inning. I must admit, i was really nervous when Lidge entered the game. Not that I thought that he would blow the save, but he's been asking for it recently. He's been making it too close for comfort. Tonight, he made it look as easy as he had in the beginning of the season. It was a one-two-three inning with each of the outfielders getting to catch one of the fly outs. This time, it only took him 12 pitches. That's a far cry from the 35 from the night before.

Now the Phillies take the series back to Milwaukee, where the ageless wonder, Jamie Moyer will take the mound for one of the most important games of his career. The Phillies could possibly sweep the series and move on to the NLCS; somewhere we haven't been since 1993. Opposing Moyer will be right-hander Dave Bush. This match-up looks to be favored towards Moyer. Moyer was 16-3 with a 3.71 era, and he has already shown that he can beat the Brewers like he did on Sept. 11. Bush was 9-10 this year with a 4.18 era and earned a no decision in the last game that he pitched against the Phillies, a game in which they lost and gave the Phillies a huge lift in momentum in not only the wild card race, but their own division race.

Should the series go to a game four, the Phillies have already announced that Cole Hamels will not be pitching that game. They haven't declared a possible starter yet, but I'd be willing to bet that it'll be Joe Blanton. This isn't a bad strategy either. You can save Cole Hamels for game 5 of the series, if need be and have Myers start the first game of the next series, or you have Moyer close this series out and Hamels start game one of the next series. Either way the Phillies look like they have set up their pitching rotation beautifully for the rest of this series and for the rest of the National League portion of the playoffs.

GO PHILLS!