Last year, the Phillies rolled through September and in to the playoffs on a huge wave of momentum. Everyone expected them to smash the young Rockies on their way to the NLCS and maybe even beyond. They were quickly swept by Colorado and back home before they really even knew what hit them. This year they rolled through September again to win the NL East, and again were facing a team that surged late to take the wild card. After last year's sweep, people were much more reserved about their chances.
Apparently, they learned their lesson. Today they soundly crushed the Brewers 6-2 behind two homers from Pat Burrell and advanced to their first NLCS since 1993. Just as in Games 1 and 2 in the series, the Phillies offense overwhelmed the Brewers' pitching staff. They launched four homers (Jimmy Rollins in the first,Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth in the fourth, and Burrell again in the eighth) that accounted for all six runs, with three of the homers coming off of Jeff Suppan.
Brewer fans likely have a lot of questions after this series (What if Ben Sheets was healthy? What if Dale Sveum started Yovani Gallardo in Game 4 instead of Suppan? What happened to Corey Hart?), but this Phillie team is clicking on all cylinders right now. Who would've thought they could roll to three decisive wins with Ryan Howard only racking up two hits? As with the other NLDS matchup, the team that won was simply better in the series.
