NLCS: Phillies Beat Padres to Move One Win From World Series
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Just in time for Opening Day, the Phillies will host, once again, the New York Yankees in the opening round of the National League Championship Series.
This time, however, it’s the New York Mets that will be making history.
The Mets, in their third consecutive trip to the playoffs, will play the Philadelphia Phillies for the right to play in the World Series for the first time in their 108-year history.
The Mets will be looking to avoid what was for them, a repeat of last year in which they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in five straight games.
“I thought the Mets were fantastic. I thought they came hard at us early,” said Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. “I’ve got the best record in my career against Pittsburgh. There was a lot of focus there from a lot of people at the Yankees.
I’m going to try to play as well as I did last year.”
Hitting for the cycle
After winning Game One of the National League Wild Card Playoff, the Phillies found themselves down by two games in the Divisional Series, and facing elimination in extra innings in a two-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. Phillies 1.2.7 hits per home run. Phillies average, a mere.217.
In the first game of that series, Chase Utley hit his fourth homers in the divisional series, and they included two long home runs.
Utley said, “it was just a matter of time to get them there”
As Utley said, he is looking for more of this. In his three seasons with Philadelphia, the three long ball home runs he has hit have been enough to move him into fourth place on the Phillies’ all-time home run list. Utley is also in the running for the major league home run record and needs just one more to pass Cal Ripken Jr.’s mark of 7,214 home runs.
“I hit it in front of my name and the way they scored them,” said Utley. “When you hit like that, you hit for a reason.”
The two homers, which came in consecutive at-bats, helped to