Phillies off and running
Offense does the job without any home runs
Jimmy Rollins said he noticed a few more smiles in the clubhouse. Ryan Howard said the team seemed more relaxed. All good things for the Phillies, who are trying to become the first National League team to repeat since Cincinnati in 1976.
“One down, 10 more to go,” Rollins said.
Following yesterday’s 5-1 win, the Phillies hold a 1-0 series lead in their NLDS matchup with Colorado. The fact that they won isn’t shocking. Most experts are predicting a sweep. It’s how the Phillies won yesterday that had many at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park scratching their heads.
The team that stroked a franchise-record 224 home runs — third-best in the majors — failed to launch any into Ashburn Alley. Instead, the Phils scrapped together five runs on 12 hits. Their fifth-inning rally was started by a Jayson Werth walk.
“You’re not going to hit a home run every game,” Howard said. “You have to find other ways to get runs home, and that’s what we did.”
The biggest blows came in the sixth when a run-scoring double by Howard was followed by an RBI triple by Werth. Both stayed in the park after toying with 24-mph wind gusts.
“I was kind of mad at myself for not hustling out of the box,” Werth said. “I didn’t think that’s where it was going to land, that’s for sure.”
What went right ...
1 NO BULL — With Cliff Lee going the distance, the Phillies leaky bullpen wasn’t exposed. Lee surrendered three hits in the first two frames, then retired 14 straight Rockies before allowing a seventh-inning double. No one even got up in the Phillies bullpen until there were two outs in the ninth.
2 BREAKING GOOD — Charlie Manuel made two key lineup adjustments. First, he moved Jayson Werth up to fifth in the order. Second, he let Carlos Ruiz catch Lee instead of his usual battery mate, Paul Bako. Werth finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Ruiz was 1-for-3 and provided a key RBI single in the fifth.
3 RUNNING AWAY WITH IT — Phils first-base coach Davy Lopes knows the Rockies are one of the worst teams at throwing runners out. That’s why he had three Phillies, including pitcher Cliff Lee, swipe bags in Game 1. Look for the Phils to stay aggressive on the base paths until the Rockies prove they can stop it.