LA, Here We Come!

Pat "The Bat" Burrell powered the Phillies to a 6-2 win in today's game. The Phillies will play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Burrell smacked two homers in the game, including a three-run bomb in the third inning, which gave the Phillies a fairly comfortable lead early in the game. Starter Joe Blanton looked like C.C. Sabathia, pitching six innings and only allowing a solo shot from Prince Fielder.

Jimmy Rollins got things started early for the Phillies, homering on the sixth pitch of the game from Jeff Suppan. Rollins pulled a nice line drive over the right field fence to silence the crowd in the first inning. Jayson Werth also homered for the Phils.

Going into this game, I thought the Phillies would lose. Joe Blanton isn't exactly the definition of a solid starter, and the Phillies offense has been asleep through the first three games. I thought it would come down to a game five showdown between Cole Hamels and C.C. But Joe Blanton brought his "A" game and the Phillies offense finally unloaded on the Brew Crew.

The Phillies will be playing the Dodgers in the NLCS, which starts on Thursday. The Phils will have home field advantage because they finished with a better record that the Dodgers. Truly, I don't think the Dodgers are a very talented team. The Cubs killed themselves in that series. The Dodgers just got lucky that they were playing the cursed Cubs.

The Phillies really need to unload on the Dodger starters early because their bullpen is pretty good. Derek Lowe and Chad Billingsley are their best starters. Lowe is old but clutch in the playoffs, and Billingsley is young and inexperienced. Jonothan Broxton and Takashi Saito form a good one-two pitch in the 'pen. The Phillies swept these guys in Citizens Bank Park the last time they met.

The Phillies better not pitch to Manny Ramirez. He is by far the most dangerous hitter LA has, and is very good in the playoffs. He hit two home runs in three games against good Cubs' pitching.

I like the Phillies to win this series in six games. That's my prediction.