National League Championship Series: Philadelphia Phillies vs. L.A. Dodgers

Andre Ethier / Cliff Lee / Clayton Kershaw / Chase Utley

For the second straight year, the Phillies and Dodgers find themselves matched up in the National League Championship Series. The circumstances in 2009 really aren't all that different than they were a year ago. The Dodgers are coming off of an easy sweep against a favored team from the NL Central, while the Phillies are coming off of a four-game series win over the wild card. Last year, the Phillies routed the Dodgers in five games.

In this decade alone, this is the third LCS repeat. The Yankees and Red Sox played memorable back-to-back series in 2003 and 2004 while the Cardinals and Astros did the same in 2004 and 2005. The Dodgers should be heartened to know that the Red Sox and Astros both avenged losses to clinch World Series berths in the second year. Can the Dodgers continue that trend in 2009?

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Series Schedule

G1	Oct. 15	PHI 8, LAD 6 \| Box \| Mariotti \| Fletcher	8:07PM ET
G2	Oct. 16	LAD 2, PHI 1 \| Box \| Mariotti \| Fletcher	4:07PM ET
G3	Oct. 18	PHI 11, LAD 0 \| Box \| Price	8:07PM ET
G4	Oct. 19	PHI 5, LAD 4 \| Box \| Mariotti \| Price	8:07PM ET
G5	Oct. 21	PHI 10, LAD 4 \| Box \| Mariotti \| Price	8:07PM ET

No.	Dodgers	Pos	Phillies	Pos.
Lineup
1	R. Furcal	SS	J. Rollins	SS
2	A. Ethier	RF	S. Victorino	CF
3	M. Ramirez	LF	C. Utley	2B
4	M. Kemp	CF	R. Howard	1B
5	J. Loney	1B	R. Ibanez	LF
6	C. Blake	3B	J. Werth	RF
7	R. Belliard	2B	P. Feliz	3B
8	R. Martin	C	C. Ruiz	C
9	Pitcher	P	Pitcher	P
Rotation
1	R. Wolf	L	C. Lee	L
2	C. Kershaw	L	C. Hamels	L
3	V. Padilla	R	J. Blanton	R
4	C. Billingsley	R	J. Happ	L
CP	J. Broxton	R	B. Lidge	R
SU	G. Sherrill	L	R. Madson	R
SU	R. Belisario	R	S. Eyre	L

Why the Phillies Will Win

First of all, the Phillies have recent history on their side. They are the defending world champs and sport the swagger that goes along with that prestigious title. En route to that championship, they defeated these Dodgers in the NLCS.

Sure, the Dodgers took the season series (4-3, only outscoring the Phillies by one run), but that was before the Phils had Cliff Lee aboard as their staff ace. If the series goes to seven games, the Dodgers will have to deal with Lee twice. They'll also have to face Cole Hamels, who held them to a solitary run in two starts this season (0.56 ERA with 14 strikeouts and one walk), twice and owned them in the LCS last year.

The Dodgers' pitching looked pretty solid against St. Louis, but they won't have quite as easy a ride against the Phillies. Sure, the Cardinals have Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday, but the Phillies have the most stacked lineup this side of the Bronx. It was never more evident than during the Phillies' ninth-inning comeback against Huston Street to take the NLDS.

Where the Cardinals have breaks in the lineup which allow the pitcher to take a few deep breaths, the Phillies do not. The top six in the order, in particular, is the most menacing group seen in the National League in some time. Pitchers get the pleasure of facing Jimmy Rollins, then Shane Victorino, followed by Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez. Where's the break? They've got to be mistake-free in order to get through that group unscathed, and the Dodgers don't have enough to do so.

Finally, Brad Lidge's abysmal season in the closer role represented the Phillies' biggest weakness heading into the playoffs, but he has now saved consecutive games -- including a huge strikeout of Troy Tulowitzki with the tying run just 90 feet away. He'll come home oozing with confidence, and Charlie Manuel won't need to be worried about using him.

All things considered, it appears the Phils are headed to their second consecutive World Series.

-- Matt Snyder

Why the Dodgers Will Win

It's true that the Red Sox and Astros turned the tables on the Yankees and Cardinals earlier this decade, but what's more important in this series is how different the 2009 Dodgers are from their 2008 counterparts.

Last year, the Dodgers went with three starters against the Phillies. That meant that after they cut the Phils' lead down to 2-1 with a blowout win in Game 3, Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley started on short rest in Games 4 and 5. Lowe was effective but only went five innings and the bullpen blew his lead. Billingsley wasn't effective, and the series was over. This year, the Dodgers shouldn't have any problem going four deep in the rotation with Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Vincente Padilla, and Billingsley. Kershaw, and Padilla both turned in excellent starts against St. Louis in the Division Series.

Their lineup is mostly unchanged from last year, with the exception of Orlando Hudson and Ronnie Belliard combining to replace the aging Jeff Kent at second base. That's not a bad thing, though. In the three games last year that weren't started by Cole Hamels, the Dodgers scored at least five runs against the Phillies. Hamels owned the Dodgers last year, but his start against Colorado in the Division Series was shaky (seven hits and four earned runs in five innings).

Comparisons to 2008 only mean so much. The 2009 incarnation of the Dodgers are coming off of an impressive sweep of a Cardinals team that many thought would dominate the first round. They chased both Chris Carpenter and Joel Piniero early. They got big series from Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, and Manny Ramirez. Their bullpen, which was forced to work overtime in Game 1, only gave up two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven and only allowing one walk.

The regular season Dodgers finished with the best record in the National League and there's nothing that's happened in the playoffs to suggest anything to the contrary. That's why they'll continue the recent trend and flip last year's result to earn their first World Series berth in 21 years.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-13-2009 @ 10:04AM

DUDLEY said...

Yanks vs Dodgers vs Torre LAD BEATS NY Sweet Win for Torres

10-21-2009 @ 9:27PM

spicsapian said...

DUDLEY LOLOLOLOL LA FANS REALLY LIVING IN LA LA LAND...LOLOLOLOL MANEGERS DONT WIN GAMES. THE PLAYERS DO.. YOUR DODGERS ARE GOING HOME BY THE END OF THE NIGHT,,, YOUR WISH WILL NOT COME TRUE THIS YEAR...

10-13-2009 @ 12:07PM

MAC the KNIFE said...

Phillies vs Yanks, and then the Yanks go home and cry

10-13-2009 @ 8:03PM

pahudhomes said...

Phils mind as well stay in L.A....Dodgers go down. L.A. will be in the series but not the Dodgers. Good Bye Yankees. Maybe the Yankees and Dodgers can play a runner up series. The networks would love it.

10-14-2009 @ 1:33PM

SJYankee said...

In all 4 Division series the games were lost in the bullpen.
The Yanks and Dodgers respectively have the best bullpens left, so they will will their league pennants and meet in the World Series.
Torre and Mattingly back in the Bronx!!!

10-14-2009 @ 12:08AM

T said...

Going to be the Freeway series. Both L.A teams will be in the World Series, with Dodgers edging out the Angels in 6 games. Phils won't be able to deal with the Dodgers pitching, and the Yankees will have to watch their old manager from home after the Angels deal with them.

10-15-2009 @ 7:10PM

golf4jdb said...

angels have to much for the (hankies). pitching will win it all. and whoever wins in the nationals

10-16-2009 @ 3:17AM

Rick said...

Dodgers Pen wasn't enough and won't b in the rest of the games. Torre is awesome at what he does but Charlie is King at the present and don't forget it. Your only as good as your last game and the Phils keep winning. Their lineup is deadly and their rotation dam strong. We didn't have the luxury of starting our ace because of scheduling. Lee won't pitch til sunday. Phils will win. Should b a great series. Enough about the Yankees. They won a lot of games but The Fightens are the Champs and don't you forget it. The Yankees get every scheduling break in the book and will get the calls. There's some kind of allure that follows them but everyone knows when you beat them you beat the umps the league and every baseball god there is. Quit jocking the all time champs and know there's a new kid on the block and that's the Philadelphia Fighten Phillies. Randy wolf I love ya and u pitch us tough but ur going down today and so is ur teamate Manny the matted hair freak who should b fined for his posing antics. he's a showoff beyond sportsmanship. Many great hitters pose when they know they went yard but Manny is out of control. He stares in ur dugout along with it. That's too far and if he gets beaned so b it. I welcome it.

10-16-2009 @ 8:03AM

HARRY said...

The Phils just love beating up on the Dodgers. It's almost like taking candy from a baby. When they lose, they cry. Manny, WHAT A SHOWBOAT!. Hey, if you go yard, fine, don't act like an A Hole because you hit one because you are likely the one that someone will hit you. That's a fack Jack, or Manny, what ever your fool name is. The Dodgers are going DOWN. Goodbye again. Talk about pitching? Who blew the save in game one? Dodgers or Phils? Talk about the first six batters in the Phils lineup, they say it's tough to get through and where are the breaks. Well now you have Ruiz to worry about as shown by his hitting against the Rockies (RIP) and the three run yard ball in game one. Shame he didn't stand there and look into the Dodgers bench before he started to run around the bases as some people would. I guess it's just the class of the person and the team, especially since you are beating on the Dodgers and you are 'THE DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL'. Let's go down Broad Street again. Do it again for yourselves, Philadelphia, the League and "HARRY THE K". Go Phillies

10-16-2009 @ 9:01AM

celtsic said...

GO PHILLIES!!!...BEAT LA!!!

10-16-2009 @ 5:14PM

peninsulaviolin said...

would it kill ted turner to have the game available on the radio today
not everybody has cable or the day off... isn't this supposed to be america's game?

10-16-2009 @ 5:39PM

c071295 said...

This looks like a Philly sweep. Time to make changes as the kids cannot produce with runners in scoring position.

10-18-2009 @ 1:58PM

gasmanrobe said...

Whats the problem? we took one out of two and could have easily won the second but then it would have been a series.phillies are still defending champs and will win this in 5.why do the dodgers think they have momentum when they lost one of two.we acomplished what we set out to do that is to take home field advantage away.so L.A. whats the problem?phillies in five!

10-18-2009 @ 7:11PM

zinn757 said...

This shouldn't even be close,the Phil's manager had to earn his wins ,all-time that is,while Joe(I'm not ready yet,hold the game 4 10 min's) Torre,has pick great teams to coach,so stop the Joe is all that please,it's weak and annoying.

10-20-2009 @ 3:24AM

Phillies in five

10-21-2009 @ 9:34PM

im not a fan of any of these teams. but the phils are waxing that L,A ass.. torre is a great manager but its the players who win the game and its seems like its going to be philly vs nyy this year. east coast bias you west cost fans where talking about seems to be true. dodgers pitching? i guess the phillies didnt read the stats about that...

10-21-2009 @ 9:49PM

YEH DODGER PITCHING IS TOP NOTCH...LOLOLOLOLOL
YANKEES VS DODGERS? YOU WISH...LOLOLOLOL 6-2 PHILLIES END 4TH... L.A IS DONE ON BOTH SIDES..

10-22-2009 @ 6:05PM

It's time for the Phillies to repeat,the Yanks should win there ACLS. Then it will be a great match-up,maybe one of the best in the history of the game. I'm sure most of the sports writers,who never played the game will pick the Yanks,when the Phillies win too repeat,it will be a task not many nat. leg. teams can do. So Phillies show the rest of the baseball world,how a real team plays,without show-boating,sportsmenship,and gut's

10-22-2009 @ 11:42PM

kevin said...

Hey T...what was that you said...Um the Phillies will not be able to handle the Dodgers pitching..lmfao/...hmm! lets see...how many runs did they score?..was it 30 Um yeah I think so...go back to dream land pal...bet your crying now..Dodgers HA! two years in a row...put that in your pipe and smoke it clown