DENVER AP) — Chase Utley ducked near second base. The rest of the Philadelphia Phillies never flinched. Ryan Howard hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth inning and scored on Jayson Werth's single as Philadelphia rallied past the Colorado Rockies 5-4 in Game 4 on Monday to reach the NL championship series.
Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy juggled his lineup again, flip-flopping Garrett Atkins and Yorvit Torrealba for Game 4 of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Phillies. The weather warmed considerably Monday after a cold front moved out of Colorado, with a gametime temperature of 48 degrees. Game 3 was played in the mid-20s with a first-pitch reading of 35 degrees, tied for the coldest…
Shane Victorino joked about Chase Utley's single off his right knee that put the Philadelphia Phillies on the cusp of advancing to the NL championship series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the other clubhouse, it was no joking matter. Utley's check-swing, ninth-inning single that actually hit him in the batter's box and should have been ruled a foul ball played a key role Sunday…
Baseball fans in Los Angeles and New York may be thrilled their teams swept into the league championship series — but for broadcaster TBS, the fun may be over all too soon. Three-nothing sweeps by the Dodgers, Angels and Yankees in best-of-five division series trimmed the number of playoff games that Time Warner Inc.'s TBS could sell to advertisers.
CC Sabathia was superb, A.J. Burnett followed suit and Andy Pettitte added to his resume of postseason success. While everyone was talking about Alex Rodriguez's breakthrough playoff performance, the New York Yankees got three strong starts in a row during their first-round sweep of Minnesota. And that sort of pitching is probably the key to building a run through October.
Between frosty breaths on the mound, Brad Lidge warmed to the challenge and erased a season of frustration. Philadelphia's beleaguered closer stranded runners at first and second on a bitterly cold Sunday night when he retired Troy Tulowitzki on a flyball for the final out, preserving the Phillies' 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 3 of their NL playoff series.
