Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Sorry Yankees, but Phillies are the team to beat

By Michael Rushton

It's a timeless saying, but to be the man you have to beat the man.

Guess what Yankee fans, the Phillies right now are the man.

While New York and its legion feel that they deserve to win a championship this year, whether it is because they think they have the better team or something about a near-decade title drought in the Big Apple, it is Philadelphia that has thus far successfully navigated the road of a repeat champion.

The clearing in the thick forest of adversity is within sight.

The Phillies are the first team to play in back-to-back title games since, yes, the Yankees appeared in three straight from 1999-2001. But before New York fans start pumping out their chest, remember that Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neil won't be taking the field on Wednesday night.

Who will be taking the field? How about National League Championship Series MVP Ryan Howard. No player, not even Alex Rodriguez, has been locked in this postseason more than Howard. And he didn't even need Kate Hudson to do it.

You want game-changing hits? Howard has them.

A game-winning sacrifice fly in Game 3 of the NLDS versus Colorado. How about a game-tying two-run double off of Rockies closer Huston Street in a Game 4, 5-4 victory that wrapped the series.

But Howard doesn't just save his hits for the end. The "Big Piece" set the tone in Philadelphia's 11-0 victory over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS with a first-inning triple that scored two runs. The next game, he hit a two- run homer in the first inning of Game 4, an eventual 5-4 walk-off victory for the Phillies.

That also marked his eighth straight game this postseason with a run driven in, an MLB record.

Howard hit .333 in the NLCS with two homers and eight RBI. In 26 career postseason games, the big first baseman has six homers and 24 RBI.

A-Rod? Twelve homers and 29 RBI in 48 playoff games -- 22 more than Howard.

"It's a completely different animal from the regular season," said Howard of the postseason, "and you just know that in order to get to where you want to be, you've got to step your game up and you've got to be on your A game and just go out there and get things done."

Yankees fans may think the New York's pitching staff won't have a problem shutting down Howard. But don't sleep on Philadelphia's rotation either.

The ace, Cliff Lee, won seven of his 12 starts after getting traded to the Phillies and is 2-0 in three postseason starts this year with a 0.74 earned run average.

Yes, Lee is 4-4 with a 5.02 ERA in his career versus the Yankees, but those numbers don't reflect the type of pitcher Lee has become. In his 2008 AL Cy Young Award-winning campaign, the lefty threw seven scoreless innings of six- hit ball with seven strikeouts in his lone start versus New York. He split two starts versus them this year, posting a 3.00 ERA and nine strikeouts over 12 innings.

Some have laughed at Pedro Martinez starting Game 2, but bottom line is that Martinez pitched himself into that outing by holding the Dodgers to two hits and three strikeouts over seven innings of his lone 2009 postseason outing.

"Pedro has been in the big environment," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "He's pitched about everywhere you can pitch. I don't think nothing is going to really bother him or get him upset."

Also, though he hasn't shown it this year, Cole Hamels is just one year removed from his 4-0, 1.80 ERA postseason in 2008 that netted him NLCS and World Series MVP honors.

Most importantly, the Phillies, as defending champions, have their swagger. The majority of this roster was here last year, when the Yanks were playing golf.

"For the most part it's fairly the same," Chase Utley told the Phillies' official Web site. "We have a few new pitchers. Obviously, the addition of Raul [Ibanez] is different. I think the experience that we got last year makes us a better group overall. Individually, I think we've all improved. Not necessarily statistics-wise, but mentally we're tougher than we were last year."

Sounds like a winning formula to me.

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