Game Wrap NLCS Game 2: Philllies 6 Giants 1

The Giants came out flat tonight and the Phillies showed why they will be a very tough team to beat in this NLCS Championship series. Key lines:

Cody Ross- 1 for 3, HR, BB. Ross' hit yet another solo HR to account for pretty much all of the offense the Giants could muster against Roy Oswalt who pitched one of the best games he's ever had against the Giants.

Andres Torres- 0 for 4, 4 K's. Torres looks completely lost at the plate. He didn't come close to making contact in his first two AB's. He at least managed a couple of foul balls in his next two but they ended up as swings and misses for strike 3 too. Look for Torres to sit against Cole Hamels in Game 3, but he's just as lost batting LH as he is RH right now.

Aubrey Huff- 0 for 4. Huff hit the ball hard to CF in his last AB, but popped up 3 times before that.

Mike Fontenot- 0 for 2, BB. Fontenot had a very tough night on defense. He cost the Giants an unearned run in the first inning by pulling Huff off first base on what should have been an easy ground out. Later, he let a pop up drop about 3 feet in front of him down in front of the mound. There was apparently some lack of communication between him, Posey and Sanchez, but the ball was clearly Fontenot's to call for and grab. Later he dove too late for a ball that was smoked past him for a double that a good third baseman should have had. Look for Uribe at 3B in Game 3 if he's healthy enough to play, then look for Panda back at the hot corner in Game 4.

Jonathan Sanchez- 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K's. Sanchez battled his demons in the first inning. The error by Fontenot hurt, but so did the 3 BB's, although the last BB that drove in the run should have been a K on a 3-2 pitch. Ump blew the call. Give Sanchez credit though. He hung in there tough for 6 innings and got progressively stronger as the game went on. He allowed a leadoff single to Roy Oswalt in the bottom of the 7'th and was relieved right at 100 pitches. The wheels came off after the bullpen came in and poured gas on the fire. Probably best to pull him at 100 pitches and hope for a better start in Game 6 if necessary. The 100 pitches were mostly high stress pitches.

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Romo was relegated to mop up work tonight and pitched well. Maybe this was a chance to get him back on track for a more prominent role later in the series?

The loss left the Giants still in decent shape for the series having split the first two games in Philly. This game was much more must-win for the Phils than the Giants. Tomorrow is a travel day, then Matt Cain takes on Cole Hamels on Tuesday afternoon in SF. The Giants have tended to struggle more against LHP's than against RHP's and Hamels is on a role. Aside from Cody Ross, the Giants bats are cold as ice right now and they can't expect Ross to keep homering every game. The Giants need to find some offense or it won't matter how well their pitchers pitch. Sitting Torres in Game 3 would be a good start. They might even want to consider giving Huff a rest and moving Posey to first against Hamels, but I seriously doubt that will happen.

Juan Uribe was a last minute scratch due to a sore wrist he suffered sliding into 2B last night. He's scheduled for an MRI tomorrow, but the presumption seems to be that he'll be ready to play on Tuesday. This is the point in the post-season where fatigue and accumulated injuries can really make a team hit the wall. The Giants have fought back all year, and aren't quite on the mat yet, but the Philllies are going to be tough to beat, even in SF.