The Phillies won a team-record 102 games this year.
It will all be for naught if they don't win one more Friday night.
That's because the Phils' bats once again went ice-cold in St. Louis last night as they fell to the Cardinals, 5-3.
And once again a lot of fingers are being pointed this morning at Phils' slugger Ryan Howard. The hero of Game 1 who won the game with three-run homer. The problem is that Howard has done almost nothing since, evoking ugly memories of how last year ended, with Howard looking at strike three to end the NLDS against the Giants.
Making matters even worse, Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa seems to be making a point of his team's ability to handle Howard, at one point even intentionally walking Hunter Pence to get to the Phils' cleanup man. Ouch!
Of course, Howard is not the only Phils' bat to be in a deep-freeze, but he's the only one making $25 million, and thus he gets the attention.
In the meantime, a great night for sports fans took on a sudden chill. I had the opportunity to host our 'Fancast' from the patio at Tip O'Leary's on West Chester Pike in Havertown. The place was packed and fans were revved for a win, especially after the Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
But that was about all they mustered.
We were joined by BIll Miller and Mario Gallo, the Delco natives who have come up with a great rally song, 'Let's Go Eat.' We played the CD between innings and the entire bar was picking up the 'Let's Go Eat' refrain. All proceeds from the CD will go to breast cancer research.
You can check out some of the videos here.
Unfortunately, the Phils took the guys' advice, taking the rest of the night off.
Now it sets up a best of one, Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
The good news is that the Phils probably have the best pitcher in baseball going to the hill for them. This is why they got Roy Halladay. They need him to come up big.
Of course this is also why they are paying Ryan Howard $25 million. Time to do the same, big guy.
Buckle your seat belts, fans. It's going to be a wild ride.
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