Phillies make more history with sweep of Reds

FROM THE MORNING CALL

CINCINNATI — It was a situation that Brad Lidge was ready for.

Except Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee already had just the man for the job.

Cole Hamels struck out ex-Phillie Scott Rolen in the bottom of the ninth inning on a 95 mph fastball to give the Phillies' a 2-0 win over the Reds in Game 3 of the NLDS on Sunday at Great American Ball Park and propel them into the NLCS for the third consecutive year.


"If there's a guy on our pitching staff that should be out there in that moment, it's him," Dubee said. "He's a guy that, to me, has evolved into one of the best left-handers in our league. He's grown so much mentally, and with the addition of the cutter and the curveball and the consistency… he's really developed into a monster as a pitcher."

The victory gave the Phillies a series sweep, something no team in club history had ever done, and it came just four days after Roy Halladay became only the second pitcher in baseball history to throw a no-hitter in the postseason.

"I feel like it's an incredible time to be in this organization," Lidge said.

The Phillies, who also made three straight trips to the NLCS from 1976-78, open play against either the Giants or Braves on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. San Francisco leads that series 2-1.

Yes, the Phillies are pumped to be making history. Yes, they're psyched to be moving on.

But they want more.

"The season is not validated until we win the World Series," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "We've been here before. We've been on the other side of the losing the World Series and it doesn't really matter what you do if you don't win it all. The only way to validate the season for Roy, little Roy [Oswalt], Cole and everybody else that contributed this year is to win the World Series.

Hamels' remarkable success at Great American Ball Park, which on Sunday was filled with the most fans in the stadium's eight-year history (44, 599), continued.

The left-hander's fastball had even more zip than usual -- he hit 96 mph when he struck out Rolen looking in the first -- and his change-up was almost untouchable. He struck out nine, didn't walk anyone and gave up five hits in the complete-game shutout. At one point, he retired 10 in a row.

"It was something where it's special, but I know there's a lot more special moments out there," he said.

"I just relish the chance to go out and win. It doesn't matter if it's a Game 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7. It's going out there and doing your job and being able to help your teammates out."

He is now 4-0 lifetime with a career 1.25 ERA at Great American Ball Park, the same place he made his career debut and threw his first complete game back in 2007.

On Sunday, he stunned the heart of the Reds' order.

MVP candidate Joey Votto, Rolen and Jonny Gomes, the Reds' three- though five-hole hitters, went a combined 1-for-11 with five strikeouts against Hamels.

From the second to the sixth innings, Hamels allowed only two baserunners, neither of whom got into scoring position. He is only the second pitcher in Phillies history to throw a shutout (Curt Schilling, Halladay)

The Phillies managed to sweep the Reds even though the offense was anything but explosive.

In the first two games, the Phillies were just 13-for-64 (.203) with only two extra-base hits. Although they swung the bat a little better on Sunday -- they were 8-for-35 (.229) with Chase Utley hitting his team's first home run in the series -- many of their runs in the series were handed to them by the Reds.

During the regular season, Cincinnati made only 72 errors, tying them for fewest in the National League. Yet in these three NLDS games, the Reds committed seven errors, which led to six of the Phillies' 13 runs in the series being unearned, including the Phils' first run Sunday.

Placido Polanco hit a one-out single in the first and moved to third on Ryan Howard's base hit.

Jayson Werth then hit a grounder to Orlando Cabrera. But the shortstop's throw was high, pulling Votto off the bag and allowing Polanco to put the Phillies out front, 1-0.

The Phillies' second run came in the fifth when Utley hit an 0-1 pitch out in right-center field. A few seconds later, the umpires gathered together and went to review the play to see if a fan had interfered. One minute, 13 seconds later they returned and ruled it a home run.

DINGERS: Rollins walked twice in the series. In last year's NLCS and NLDS, he didn't walk at all. … Utley now has 10 postseason home runs, giving him the franchise lead for postseason homers. He had been tied with Jayson Werth. … The Reds 11 hits in the series are the fewest hits allowed in a division series sicne the Yankees allowed nine in 1998.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/baseball/phillies/mc-phillies-gamer-1010-20101010,0,3665243.story