Philadelphia Phillies in tough against San Francisco Giants in game three
The Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants will meet on Tuesday 19 October in what should be a very exciting game three of the National League Championship Series.
The Phillies and the Giants currently find themselves tied 1-1 in the NLCS. Both clubs were able to get to impressive start from their pitchers in their wins. The Giants were able to push past an impressive Roy Halladay in game one, while the Phillies manoeuvred
their way past Jonathan Sanchez in game two.
The second game of the NLCS was a must win for Philadelphia, who was the home team in the Sunday 17 October match-up. After losing the opening game of the series there was a great deal of pressure on Philadelphia starter Roy Oswalt. Fortunately for the Phillies
and their fans Oswalt was able to put together an impressive performance and the Philly bats were able to get it going, earning a 6-1 victory for the home team.
As expected the series has been dominated by strong pitching performances, which is not likely to change heading into game three. The Phillies are set to put Cole Hamels on the mound, while the Giants will rely on Matt Cain to get it done at home.
Cain pitched in the second game of the National League Division Series between the Giants and the Atlanta Braves. It was the only game of the series San Francisco was unable to win, losing a close one 5-4.
Conversely, Hamels was stellar in his only post-season start to date, shutting out an impressive Cincinnati Reds side in the Phillies NLDS series. Hamels will look to maintain his dominance from the mound when he takes the ball on Tuesday 19 October.
Despite the fact that the series has been billed as a pitcher’s duel it is clear that the Giants will have to pull their game together at the plate, as the club has relied on Cody Ross’ home runs on offence. Ross has muscled three home runs in the past
two games accounting for the vast majority of the Giants offence. Meanwhile, the Phillies seem to be heating up at the plate, which is dangerous for the Giants as Philadelphia has a number of offensive weapons. A superb pitching effort from Cain may be the
only thing that will keep professional hitters such as Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, off the board, as all three managed two hits in game two.
Game three will not be the end of the excellent pitching match-ups, as Joe Blanton and Madison Bumgarner are set to take the mound in game four, giving aces Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay another day of rest before they face-off in game five.
The Phillies were the favourite coming into the NLCS and even after losing the opening game and heading into San Francisco with the series tied at 1-1 are still widely regarded as the favourite. Nevertheless, the Giants have shown some fight and did manage
to defeat the Phillies three times in the regular season.
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