A Brewers victory in Game 4 would send the series back to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday for Game 5, which would feature Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels and Brewers lefthander CC Sabathia, who would be pitching on full rest for the first time since Sept. 16.
But the Phils hope righthander Joe Blanton prevents that scenario when he pitches on Sunday. The Brewers are counting on righthander Jeff Suppan to make it happen.
The Phillies liked their chance to clinch the series and advance to the NL Championship Series tonight because they had lefthander Jamie Moyer on the mound. He had clinched the last two National League East championships for them. He was 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA in five career starts in the postseason. He was 9-1 with a 3.28 ERA in his final 16 starts in the regular season.
But Moyer struggled and his teammates could not hit until it was too late.
The Phillies thought they had come within two runs in the ninth, but umpires ruled that Shane Victorino obstructed Brewers second baseman Craig Counsell on a double play. Ryan Howard, who had scored, had to return to third and Greg Dobbs had to return to second.
Carlos Ruiz bounced out to Brewers closer Salomon Torres, who had a 12.46 ERA in his last 10 appearances, to end the game.
But the game started poorly for the Phillies, too. Moyer walked Mike Cameron on four pitches and walked Bill Hill after a nine-pitch at-bat to put runners on first and second with no outs in the bottom of the first inning. It appeared that home plate umpire Brian Runge squeezed Moyer on a few pitches, but Moyer could not do anything about that.
He could only try to minimize the damage.
Moyer allowed two runs to score, handing the Brewers a 2-0 lead, but just as important, he threw 34 pitches. The 45-year-old lefthander threw 28 more in the second inning as his pitch count hit 64.
