Torturous end for Philly's high hopes

FROM KEITH GROLLER

PHILADELPHIA — At least Joe Carter's shot off Mitch Williams delivered sudden death.

Exactly 17 years to the day that Carter ended the 1993 World Series with his three-run home run in the Skydome, another Phillies season came to a crashing end on a late Saturday night and in a Game 6.

This Phillies season, one filled with such -- as Harry the K sings on that video board -- high hopes, ended in a slow, painful, torturous battle on this Saturday night.

The official time of death was 11:38 p.m. and fittingly it came with, Ryan Howard, a symbol of the Phillies' offensive futility in the clutch during this National League Championship Series, looking at a called third strike for the final one.

Ballgame over. Series over. Season over for your 2010 Philadelphia Phillies.

So much for that third straight World Series appearance. So much for seeing their old buddy Cliff again.

"Torture!" "Torture!" shouted about 50 rowdy Giants fans on the concourse level of Citizens Bank Park about a half-hour after the game ended.

Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper earlier dubbed San Fran "Team Torture" for all of the tight, dramatic, one-run games they play.

The same moniker could have also been applied to the Phillies, especially in this three-hour, 41-minute marathon that was merely agony in the making.

Some would say this was an appropriate final scene for a team that seemed to have it all, especially in the pitching department, and yet never quite equaled the sum of its parts.

This one will fester for awhile, and there will be a lot of angst expressed over the airwaves in the days to come; at least until Andy Reid makes another coaching blunder.

Not since the Orioles partied at the Vet at the end of the 1983 World Series had a baseball playoff series ended so sadly in south Philly.

Thanks to his eighth inning home run, Juan Uribe will join Carter as one of the biggest postseason villains in Philly sports history.

But really, the Phillies only had to look in the mirror for why they will be cleaning out their clubhouse on Sunday and the Giants will be hosting Cliff Lee and the Rangers on Wednesday night.

They were just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Game 6 and left 11 on base.

They were 8-for-45 (.178 average) with runners in scoring position during the series and hit just .216 as a team with just three home runs -- two by Jayson Werth who played his heart out in what may have been his final game as a Phillie.

The effort was there. The results were not.

In the final game, Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez had no control with his pitches or his temper and was gone before recording an out in the third, and still the Phils could do nothing against five relievers – well, at least three and starters Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum who were pitching on short rest.

"I know our guys and I know we can hit better than that," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel in the understatement of the year.

"We definitely got to improve on it next year, and come back and hit like we can. We're capable of putting up more runs and having higher on-base percentage and the whole works. Our numbers are down."

Manuel noted the brilliant pitching – headed by the big three – that the Phillies will feature in 2011.

"I see a big future," he said.

Unfortunately, on this night, fans could only see Howard looking at that last pitch and a season of such promise punched out by home plate umpire Tom Hallion after that final pitch from Brian Wilson.

Howard tied a NLCS record with 12 strikeouts in the series.

Manuel said he wasn't the same since he was out for several weeks with a sprained ankle.

"After Ryan got hurt, he didn't find his swing," Manuel said. "I feel like I know that he's a better hitter than what we saw at the end of the year."

Manuel then said something like he though at some point Howard would make someone pay for all of the tough at-bats he had.

In the end, though, he was the one who was left owing the fans one more big hit.

Only the silence of Howard's bat came instead and it produced a most silent night.

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