The Phillies-Rockies series is all tied up at 1-1 after two hard-fought games. It seems the Phillies new strategy is not to utilize the decimated bullpen arms as evidenced by the fact Charlie Manuel decided to use three starting pitcher types during the game 2 debacle. Joe Blanton was burned for an inning and performed well while JA Happ received a line drive in the shin as way of thanks for his service.
As a result, Pedro Martinez, the wily old veteran (seriously, his changeup is by far his best pitch now), who has pitched only one start since Sept 19, is slated to pitch game 3. I guess Happ will be the first out of the bullpen if Pedro falters since the Rockies have been demonstrably worse against lefties than righties.
But today a twist emerges from the weather gods. It seems that it's snowing in Denver and gametime temperatures were expected to be close to 18F. Who would have expected that it would be colder at night at elevation? I mean, that couldn't be logical, could it?
Therefore, games 3, 4, and 5(if necessary) will be played on 3 consecutive days without a travel day over 2000 miles and 2 timezones. Mark this is in contrast to the lax and easy scheduling of the other series. Both teams have been screwed by the all-knowing (sarcasm) scheduling committee of MLB.
In addition, the fanbases of both teams have been treated poorly by the times for the games. The first two games were during the day on a weekday. The 3rd game is now at 10:07 pm EDT...on Sunday...again welcoming the cold and snow possibility, and the 4th game will most likely be on Monday during the day to allow for travel during the same day. Is this any way to treat the last two defending NL champions?
Why do you think the only fanbases that get preferential TV treatment are Boston, New York, and LA? I thought Philly was part of the so-called east coast bias, but just like the signs on I-95, they have been overlooked.
The series is split...I could see it going all 5 games. But I'm pissed at MLB for making it really difficult to watch the games for my team. All they care about is that the fans' wallets are torn and tattered at the end of the day.
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