Phillies Sweep Reds On Way To The NLCS

Look for my NLCS preview coming later in the week on philly2philly.com

Tonight in Cincinatti, Cole Hamels pitched a complete game shutout. During the offseason Hamels saw a chiropractor, the Dali Lama, Pat Croce, former cast members of his wife's old "Survivor" crew, Rex Hudler, and anyone else who he thought could help him. Well, maybe it wasn't that many people, but whatever he did it worked. It is great to see this guy mature as a pitcher and as a person.

Cincy is the birthplace of baseball - fitting since Rolen cried like a baby about our friend Larry Bowa who only wanted to win ballgames, but did not have the personnel to do it.

Even though we hit around .200 in this series, we still scored 13 runs. The mark of a deep team that knows how to win.

Dusty Baker tied a record by taking three different National League teams to the postseason. He's a good guy who we may face again in future seasons. Like Charlie said, the Reds remind him of us about 3 years ago.

The Reds lead the league in average, homeruns, and runs during the regular season. Just think about what our performance means in consideration of that.

Shane Victorino, a red-light player, who was a difference maker on the field and at the plate in this series. Good choice in leading him off Charlie.

Chapman, the Cuban Missile, is more of a thrower at this point. Plus, as a reliever, he does not have a chance to reveal his full arsenal. But, did you notice how our hitters did get their swings against him. Pitching is a more advanced art than throwing Aroldis.

The Reds had 4 runs and 10 hits in this series.

Darren Daulton noted that the Reds payroll is about 1/2 of ours, which shows that our seasoned players have tenure. A great way of looking at it. How great it also is to see a person like Daulton back on track with his life and career. Good going Dutch.

On to face San Fran or Atlanta this coming Saturday night.