Up Against It

The Phillies found themselves in an unenviable position Wednesday night after Juan Uribe, one of the starting offensive linemen for the San Francisco Giants, popped a game winning sac fly in the bottom of the ninth to win Game 4. Down 3-1 in the LCS, and looking like a team whose resolve had been zapped by the clutch performances of an energetic, confident Giants team, the Phillies looked all but done. However, just like the middle of the season when they fell to 7 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, I couldn't give up on them. I thought, why not? Why couldn't they beat the Giants 3 games in a row? All it would take was one win in San Fran, and they could bring it back to Philly with what will be an absolutely insane crowd for Game 6 (and hopefully 7). Sure enough, they did what they had to do. Roy Halladay, groin injury and all, gutted it out to lead the Phillies to a 4-2 victory in what was essentially the biggest start of his career with the season on the line.

The Giants had a chance to end it at home, but they didn't. Now, the Phillies have momentum. They still have Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. They still have a lineup who CAN heat it up at any moment and light up the scoreboard, even though they've struggled. But who says they can't turn it on at any moment? If the Phillies win Game 6, you can bet those Giants players will be sweating. They don't want this to come down to a Game 7 in Philadelphia. Watching the Phillies on the field after the game last night, I saw a team that's ticked off that this series has even gotten to this point, and is ready to take care of business at the Bank. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit in a series sounds like an extremely unlikely task, but something inside tells me the Phils might have what it takes to pull this one out.