Manuel and the Phillies were able to tiptoe through the division series against Colorado, with the unexpected bonus of two Brad Lidge saves in the final games of the series. If Manuel misstepped in Game 2 against the Rockies when he used both Happ and Blanton in a loss, he was bailed out by a Denver snowstorm that put his rotation back in order.
Well, here we are in the next round, and the stakes are higher, and the Phillies are still trying to rob the starting rotation to pay the bullpen. It's dangerous work, but Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee are convinced it is the only way this team can get to where it got in 2008.
Last night against the Dodgers, the first act played out as both starting pitchers faded in the middle of the game, with the Phillies left holding a one-run lead when the haze parted at the end of the sixth inning, and the bullpens had taken control of the evening.
Cole Hamels struggled early, settled down briefly and then gave up three runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a Manny Ramirez two-run home run that would have rattled off the San Gabriel Mountains if the left-field stands hadn't gotten in the way.
Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers' starter, gave up all five of his runs in a fifth-inning implosion that featured an NLCS-record three wild pitches and a three-run home run by Carlos Ruiz that landed in Mannywood. Whoever caught the ball in there kept it anyway.
It might be that Manuel stayed a few moments too long with Hamels, but he has to be forgiven for erring on the side of sticking with the starters. It took Chad Durbin and Happ to get Hamels out of a sixth-inning jam without forfeiting the Phils' tenuous lead.
