The Rookies

The Phillies have won the Division Series, defeating the Rockies 5-4 tonight at Coors Field. There will be no gloating here; the Phillies have been here before and I am tired, but happy. This was an exhausting game, going from the highs of Victorino’s and Werth’s home runs to the lows of a Rockies’ 3-run 8th to give Colorado a 4-2 lead. The Phillies were able to answer back and win the game, thanks in part to a gigantic Howard double to tie the game and a Werth go-ahead single. Scott Eyre was able to get 2 outs against the lefty-heavy Rockies before Lidge shut the door on Troy Tulowitzki and a potential Rockies rally.

The Phillies are on their way to Los Angeles for a rematch of last year’s fantastic NLCS which gave us this mammoth blast:

And the even better quote from Matt Stairs afterwords, “When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys — there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

Looking at the great comeback Philadelphia completed, it’s tempting to look at these Phillies as a team of destiny, a team that could be the first NL squad since the Big Red Machine to win back to back championships. There are a lot of parallels for this upcoming NLCS: same opponents, same NLDS results from last year with the Phillies winning in 4 and the Dodgers sweeping their opponent as the underdog. But this is a scary Dodgers team, seemingly with the toughness and resolve that last year’s squad lacked. I’ll save a prediction until I’ve had a chance to come down from this win, sleep, and analyze it a bit deeper. But here’s what matters: LCS Baseball is back with two great match-ups, and the Phillies are apart of it.