Check Out The Buns on that Hose-Hound

Last night I was sitting around thinking about what was going to decide this series. The more I thought about it the more I felt like this series is basically even. There are three people from each team who are going to make a difference in my decision of how this series will end...that's it.

Phillies:

Pat Burrell

Why is Pat going to need a big performance down in Tampa in order for the Phils to get off to a good start? The main reason is because no one has bulging biceps and bear rug chest hair like that. The other is in game one they are going to be facing a strong lefty and he's the only person, besides Utley, that is hitting well against them. Whens the last time they faced a dominant left-hander? No, that wasn't on his fourth consecutive three day rest start....it's Johan Santana on 9/7 in the second game of a double-header.

Pat is going to need to be that spark in the first game, he is hitting .280 against lefties this season and is the only power right handed bat in the lineup.

Besides the offense he brings, Pat is going to have to play good D in a tough dome to see fly balls. This is not the time for one of the lame jogs to fly balls, they disappear up there and you need every second to react to the ball. I can almost guarantee you that this comes up at least once while he is down in Tampa, I just hope it's not costly.

Jamie Moyer

I hate to put the stats out there, but last outing: 1.1 innings, 6 hits, 6 ER, 1 HR, 2 Ks. His outing before that he only lasted 4 innings and let up two runs on 90 pitches.

You have to wonder if his arm is tired or if he is just flustered. Either way, he needs to get over it and focus on game 3. The great thing about him not being stellar in his past two games is that historically he is going to turn it around.

If you look at his season history, he's given 5 or 6 runs three times this season, want to know what his next game was? A win for the Phillies. In Moyer's last 17 games the Phillies are 13-4, in those that were at home, 5-2.

Stats aside, Moyer needs to pitch game 3 like it's the last game he's ever going to pitch, because it might be. The Rays are going to come into Philadelphia and be shell-shocked for the first couple of innings because they're finally going to hear what 40,000+ fans that actually care about the game sound like. If Moyer can take advantage and get on a roll, watch out...could make for a good home-stand.

On a side note, doesn't Jamie Moyer look a lot like Scott Baio in that card? ( http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=scott+baio )

Cole Hamels

Cole has been amazing. He's shown everyone in the country that he is an ace, just ask the Brewers and Dodgers. He's also shown his team that despite being a 24 year old kid from California, he is a leader and a big game performer. All he's done in the playoffs is dominated two of the better hitting teams in the NL and earned the NLCS MVP. Now all he has to do is beat the best hitting team in the AL.

Cole's biggest tell on his performance is giving up the long ball. In games where he has given up 2 or more home runs, he is 0-8. The good thing about that stat is that he didn't have complete control of his change up during the first 2/3 of the season. In mid-August Cole turned a corner going 8-2 in his last 10 decisions, allowing only 6 HR's (he allowed 2 only once).

The Phillies need a big game out of their Ace and I think they're going to get it.

Interesting Stats:

The Phillies game three starter made his major league debut when the Rays' two star rookies were less than a year old. Also, Jamie Moyer will be making the first World Series start of his 22-year career.

Only three players have faced Scott Kazmir: Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. Their combined stats: 1/6, 1 K, 3 BB...

Phillies biggest strength is wearing down pitchers; be patient, make him throw strikes, wear him down boys.

The Cowboys Suck.

AND NOW THE RAYS:

David Price

Everyone who is reading this blog was watching game 7. We all saw his 97-98 mph fastball overwhelm the Red Sox. This phenoms first big time situation was a 2 on, 2 outs top of the 8th inning show in which he struck out a batter to get out of the inning (on a shitty call fyi).

The kid is still young, but he is going to be called upon to do some big things in this playoff series. I've heard this before...oh wait, it was when Maddon was the bench coach on the Angels. That's right, a kid named Frankie Rodriguez came in at 20 years old, won five post season games en route to a gold trophy with a bunch of small flags on it.

2 things are going for this kid: A) people haven't seen him in the regular season, so his pitches are going to surprise batters B) he was a stud at Vandy and pitched gem after gem in pressure situations in college...

It's going to be interesting to see how he pitches in the world series, but I have a feeling he is going to be 2008's K-Rod.

Grant Balfour

What in the hell happened to this guy? Balfour was lights out all season, posting a 1.54 ERA with a ridiculous .89 WHIP over the regular season. Then he comes in to relieve Scott Kazmir in the infamous Red Sox comeback and gives up 4 runs while only getting one out. He has only pitched in game six since then when all he did was come in, walk a guy, get a pop out and then walk a guy.

I can't believe more people haven't put an emphasis on this. He was the best set up man for the Rays all season; if he doesn't hit this hand-bike a little harder and get out of this funk, it's going to be hard for them to hand off the torch to Price.

Mr. 210

What the F bomb is going on with this guy too? He hits 9 HR's all year and then suddenly decided to start hitting for power? He's hit seven home runs in the post season including four in his last five games. Did he take a trip to see Jose Canseco? Is he finally healthy?

Who knows...the big question is can he keep it up. We know Longoria and Pena's power is legit, they've both been crushing pitches all season. BJ Upton's was hiding in 2007 (he hit 24 home runs in 2007) and apparently decided to make an appearance. Maybe Maddon told him to focus on speed more so that they could manufacture runs, maybe because it thinks it will make him a better future player to focus on whatever the hell he was focusing on this year. Either way, he is a HUGE part to their success through the ALCS, and he will be crucial in the WS.

Interesting Stat: With Devil in their name: has a .398 winning percentage (645-972), were last place 9 out of 10 years, flaunted Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff as their franchise best player,

Since omitting Devil: have won an AL East title, won a seven game series in the playoffs, set the record for Homeruns in a single series, set a franchise record for wins in a season, have one of the top five youngest average age of starters in the majors, generally don't suck anymore.

IN CLOSING

This is going to be an unbelievable series. It's going to be offensive, there are going to be a lot of HR's and some great defense. All that being said I think the bullpens, like always, are going to decide this series.

If you look the bullpens up and down, it really comes down to the Rays being in a bit of trouble. Yeah, Maddon did put Price in...who the hell else was he going to turn to? Wheeler's throwing cantaloupes to batters, J.P. Howell can' throw a fastball over 88 and Balfour doesn't know what country he's in since he let up four in Boston.

So all signs point to the Phillies winning except for their ridiculous string of bad luck.

GO PHILLIES (In six games)