Skip to main content

Phillies Draw Reds in Division Series

Save all the "Red October" chatter, that you've grown accustomed to, for another time, because after all the whacky scenarios and tie breaker discussions, it'll be the originally expected opponent, the Cincinnati Reds coming to Philadelphia to open the National League Division Series on Wednesday.

Thanks to a win by Atlanta over the Phillies in Sunday's season finale, and a victory by the Giants over the Padres, the Braves won the National League Wild Card spot. A Braves loss and Padres win would have resulted in a 3-way tie and multiple play-in games to determine a National League West champion and a Wild Card entrant for the league. MLB rules dictate that the teams with the best records in their league face the Wild Card team, provided the Wild Card is not from their own division. In that case, the team with the best record would face the other division champion with the weakest record from their league. Thus, the Phillies, who own the best record in all of Major League Baseball (97-65) for the first time in their existence, will play the Central Division champion Reds (91-71), as the Phils can not meet their division rival Atlanta in the opening round of the playoffs.

Game 1 will be held at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday at 5:07 pm. The pitching match up for the series opener will be Cy Young Award candidate Roy Halladay (21-10, 2.44 ERA) vs. Edinson Volquez (4-3, 4.31 ERA). The game will mark the first ever post-season appearance by Halladay, who was acquired by the Phillies last December for three prospects. In 18 starts at Citizens Bank Park this season, Halladay posted a 12-5 record with a 2.21 ERA and a .242 batting average against. Volquez is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA and a .163 batting average against in 2 career starts against the Phillies. Volquez is coming off rehab from Tommy John surgery this year.

Game 2 will take place on Friday at 6:07 pm in Philadelphia. The pitching match up for that game with be Roy Oswalt (13-13, 2.76 ERA) vs. Bronson Arroyo (17-10, 3.88 ERA). Oswalt has been unstoppable in 10 career starts at CBP, going 9-0 with a 2.10 ERA. Arroyo has a 1-5 record with a 5.54 ERA in 8 career regular season games against Philadelphia.

The start time for game 3 on Sunday is yet to be determined. The starting pitchers for game 3 are expected to be the Phillies' Cole Hamels (12-11, 3.06 ERA) and the Reds' Johnny Cueto (12-7, 3.64 ERA).

Game 4 would be played on Monday the 11th in Cincinnati and game 5 would be played on Wednesday the 13th in Philadelphia, if necessary. No game times have been announced.

The Phillies' division title this year marks a franchise record 4 consecutive post-season berths. This will be Cincinnati's first trip to the playoffs in 15 years.

_____________________________________________________


Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...