Skip to main content

NLDS Game 5 Preview


In the deciding game 5 of the National League Division Series, the Cardinals and the Phillies will send their ace to the mound in hopes of advancing in the playoffs.

Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay were 1st round draft picks by the Toronto Blue Jays that went on to become Cy Young Award winners and the hurler that their teams count at crunch time. Pressure will be on each man to help carry his team to the National League Championship Series, where their squad will face the winner of the Diamondbacks/Brewers series.

The Phillies, who entered 2011 as the favorite to represent the National League in the World Series, set a franchise record with 102 wins in the regular season. They could see their dreams crushed much earlier than was anticipated.

St. Louis has been the hot club down the stretch, having won 11 of their final 15 regular season games to clinch a playoff berth.


Friday, 8:37 PM. Chris Carpenter (0-0, 12.00 ERA in 2011 postseason) vs. Roy Halladay (1-0, 3.37 ERA in 2011 postseason). In his last 10 starts, Halladay is 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA. Halladay has a 3-1 record with a 2.70 ERA in 4 career postseason starts. In 16 home starts this year, including the postseason, Halladay has a 9-3 record with a 2.56 ERA. Halladay has a 3-1 record with a 2.37 ERA in 5 career starts against St. Louis. In his last 3 starts of the regular season, Carpenter went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA, but he allowed 4 earned runs in just 3 innings against the Phillies in game two of this series last Sunday. Carpenter has a 5.33 ERA in 5 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. The three-time All-Star, Carpenter, has a 5-2 record with a 3.38 in 10 career postseason starts.


In 38 career postseason games, Lance Berkman has a .307 batting average with a .979 OPS. The six-time All-Star, Berkman, is 3-for-18 (.200 avg) in this series.

Lefty reliever Arthur Rhodes posted a 5.84 ERA in 23 regular season games after the All-Star break this year.

Albert Pujols is 7-for-17 (.412 avg) in this series. Pujols is 10-for-25 (.400 avg) in 6 games at Citizens Bank Park this year, including the postseason.

In 45 career postseason games, Carlos Ruiz has posted a .259 batting average with 4 HR and 15 RBI. Ruiz is just 1-for-15 (.071 avg) in this series.

Jimmy Rollins is 9-for-17 (.563 avg) with 6 runs scored in this year's NLDS. Rollins is batting .249 in 73 home games this year.

Placido Polanco, who went 0-for-17 against the Cardinals in the 2006 World Series for the Tigers, has gone 2-for-16 (.125 avg) in this series. Polanco has a .426 OPS in 14 career NLDS games.

__________________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook 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...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Ibanez Makes Hall of Fame History

It's every player's dream to be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For Raul Ibanez , who hasn't had the sort of career that would ensure his face would one day be cast in bronze and displayed on the Hall walls, it was necessary to find a less common way to earn a spot in the annals of baseball history. Recently, Ibanez became the very first big league player to spend the night in the plaque gallery at the storied Hall of Fame. As detailed on the National Baseball Hall of Fame's website , Ibanez accompanied his son's Little League travel team to the Hall, where they participated in the Museum's "Extra Innings Overnight", a program that allows groups to travel to Cooperstown, NY in order learn more about the great game of baseball. Ibanez's son, Raul Jr., is 11-years-old and plays baseball in Lower Merion, PA. The article on the Hall of Fame's website quoted Ibanez as being excited to see some recent Phillies milestones represent...