SPORTS BETTING

• NLCS Playoff Update

  Posted on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT by GetChalk

  
  

  The Philadelphia Phillies have the Los Angeles Dodgers on the ropes after taking a 3-1 series lead with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night.
   
  Now, thanks to the 2-3-2 series format, the Phillies have an opportunity to land the knockout punch and return to the World Series for the second consecutive year at home at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night.
   
  Game 4's tightly-contested battle came on the heels of an 11-0 blowout win by Philadelphia in Game 3 of the NLDS. Monday night, the Dodgers came back from two runs down early in the ballgame to take a 4-3 lead into the later innings. Los Angeles weathered the pressing Phillies until the final inning when shortstop and leadoff man Jimmie Rollins knocked a two-run double off L.A. closer Jonathan Broxton. Up until that hit, Rollins was just 3-for-18 for the series but finished the night with two hits and two RBI in five at-bats.
   
  The top of the order did the damage Monday night with all five of the Phillies' hits coming from the first four bats in the lineup. Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard, who opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning, all picked up hits and continued their hot hitting for the postseason. Howard is batting .385 versus Los Angeles in the NLCS with two home runs and eight RBI. Victorino and Utley are hitting .333 and .267, respectively, and have combined for 14 total bases and four RBI this series.
   
  Los Angeles' offense showed more fight in Game 4, registering eight hits but leaving 14 runners on base while cashing just three earned runs. The Dodgers were able to get to Philadelphia starter Joe Blanton for four runs on six hits in the first six innings but were locked down by the Phillies bullpen, which leaked just two hits in the final four innings of the game.
   
  The bottom of the Dodgers' order is doing the most damage in the NLCS. Second baseman Ronnie Belliard and catcher Russell Martin are both leading the way with a .333 batting average but have just one RBI between them. Los Angeles desperately needs their leadoff and power bats to pick up the pace while facing elimination for the remainder of this series.
   
  Matt Kemp, Manny Ramirez, and Andre Ethier are all batting below .300 for the NLCS and have totaled just four RBI and one home run between them. As a team, the Dodgers are just 30-for-129 against the Phillies and are averaging only 3.5 runs per game this postseason. The problems at the plate get worse on the road, where Los Angeles posts a .211 batting average and an on-base percentage of .577 for a total of nine runs in three away playoff games.
   
  The Dodgers will hand the ball to Vicente Padilla for Game 5 on Wednesday. The right-handed starter is coming off a gem in Game 2 of the NLCS in which he went more than seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits – outdueling veteran and former Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez for the Dodgers' lone win of the series. Padilla has been red-hot in the later half of the season and hasn't lost since joining the Los Angeles staff from the Texas Rangers at the end of August. He's 4-0 on the road with a 2.32 ERA.
   
  The Phillies will go with reigning World Series MVP Cole Hamels, who is far from his lights-out form of last October. The hard-throwing lefty has given up eight runs in just over 10 innings of work this postseason for a hefty ERA just south of 7.00. He took the mound in Game 1 of the NLCS, pitching 5 1-3 innings while giving up four runs on eight hits including two home runs in Los Angeles. Hamels is 7-6 with a 3.92 ERA at home this season.
   
  Monday's game played over the 8.5-run total, making it the third time this series the over has paid out. These teams boasts an over/under record of 5-5-1 in their 11 meetings this season.