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Hamels gets ball in Game One again for Phillies

Oct 1, 2008 - 10:31 AM National League Division Series Game One

Milwaukee at Philadelphia 3:05 p.m. EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The last trip the Milwaukee Brewers made to Philadelphia led to their manager being fired and nearly ended their playoff dreams.

They hope to emerge with a different result when they open a best-of-five National League Division Series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

Philadelphia captured a four-game sweep September 11-15, resulting in the abrupt dismissal of Brewers manager Ned Yost. Milwaukee went on to lose four of its next five under interim manager Dale Sveum before closing the season by winning six of seven to beat out the New York Mets by one game in the NL wild-card race.

"Obviously it's a different scenario.," Sveum said. "(CC) Sabathia didn't pitch in either of those games, four games when we were here, and neither did Yovani (Gallardo), a guy they haven't seen yet. And obviously Sabathia is CC whether you've seen him or not. So that's water under the bridge so to speak, what happened last time. This is a whole 'nother ball game so to speak."

Gallardo (0-0, 1.88 ERA) gets the start for the Brewers, his second since missing nearly five months with a torn ligament in his right knee. The righthander allowed one run, three hits and a pair of walks while striking out seven in four innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 25.

He faces off against a lineup that is a bit more potent, led by NL Most Valuable Player candidate Ryan Howard.

Howard led all of baseball during the regular season with 48 home runs and 146 RBI, including 11 and 32 in the month of September. The Phillies tied for second with the Mets (799) in runs scored, trailing only the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs (855).

"Obviously he's done some things in a month that sometimes take a guy a lifetime to do" Sveum said. "He's been unbelievable for a month. And two weeks ago he had a heck of a series against us here."

Philadelphia, which won 13 of 16 down the stretch, captured the NL East crown last season with a similar run of 13 of 17 to end the 2007 campaign. This year, however, the pitching staff is set to do what last year's Phillies squad could not, win a postseason game, let alone a series.

The Phillies ranked 12th in runs-allowed last season, but climbed to third in the NL this season behind a pair of southpaws on opposite ends of their careers. While ageless wonder Jamie Moyer, 45, leads the team in wins with 16, it's young gun Cole Hamels that gets the start in Game One.

"They can definitely hurt you with the long ball," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "And I think we've basically got a game plan, and Cole's got his plan, and we know how to go about it."

Hamels (14-10, 3.09) will look to repeat his performance against the Brewers on September 13. The 24-year-old pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits. He also walked three and struck out four.

Philadelphia and Hamels, who started Game One against the Colorado Rockies last year, will look for a different result than when they were swept by the eventual NL Champions. They will need everyone to advance, including Pat Burrell who left Tuesday's practice with soreness in his lower back and will be evaluated prior to the opener.

"I think this year it's trying to keep the same routine that I've had throughout the year, just because I knew I was going to be in this same place from the beginning of spring training, because that was our ultimate goal to go to the playoffs," Hamels said.

Milwaukee did not punch its playoff ticket until Sunday, when Ryan Braun lifted a two-run, eighth-inning homer against the Chicago Cubs to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory. The win, coupled with the New York Mets' 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins, capped off a hectic end to an up-and-down season.

"This year has been kind of an emotional roller coaster for us the end of the series (against Philadelphia) was about as low as we got as a team," Braun said. "But, again, we responded well to adversity. I think we played much better down the stretch. I think the last week for us was basically a playoff atmosphere."