Major League Baseball

Cam Inman: Tony La Russa says San Francisco Giants have 'legitimate shot' against Philadelphia

Published Oct. 13, 2010 10:13 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Giants can upset the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. Envision it happening in five games.

The quicker, the better. Or would you prefer the Giants facing Phillies ace Roy Halladay and that deep Phillies lineup more often?

Agreeing with that quick-exit strategy is Tony La Russa, who's back at his Alamo home after his 15th (and possibly final) season as the St. Louis Cardinals manager.

"The Giants have a legitimate shot," said La Russa, whose Cardinals split their season series with both the Giants and Phillies.

The Phillies are legitimate, too, of course. They are the two-time defending National League champs. They swept the Cincinnati Reds to open the playoffs. They have home-field advantage for the NLCS that opens Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

So what will it take to get the Phillies to pass the National League torch -- to Team Torture? A confluence of beard-scratching events, that's what.

The No. 1 attraction in this matchup is pitching. It is undoubtedly the Giants' strength, and it equalizes the Phillies' remarkable rotation.

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez are ascending at the opportune time to cancel out the Phillies' Big Three of Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Plus, Madison Bumgarner gives the Giants a Fab Four, and he should trump the Phillies' fourth starter, ex-Athletic Joe Blanton.

Game 1 should be epic -- it pits Lincecum vs. Halladay. Both are coming off historic postseason debuts: Halladay a no-hitter and Lincecum a two-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts.

"Each matchup is going to be classic," La Russa said. "There is no drop-off. Well, those guys (Halladay and Lincecum) have the Cy Youngs, so there is just little a bit of drop-off."

The starters will steal the spotlight, but the bullpens likely will decide the outcomes. La Russa likes manager Bruce Bochy's ability to handle pitchers and considers that in the Giants' favor.

"If these games are really about pitching -- it's hard to imagine, but if somebody gets four runs in a game, that'd be a hell of a day -- then anything can happen," La Russa said.

The Phillies offense is expected to prove superior to the Giants' unheralded but streaky bats. La Russa quipped that the Phillies "have no heart of the lineup" because it's so deep and talented. That said, he noted how the Giants are "taking a lot of tough at-bats and can create problems."

Both lineups own .212 batting averages this postseason. Maybe it is a fair fight. The Phillies bats were hot in September. Then came their playoff-opening sweep, and only one home run was hit, by star second baseman Chase Utley.

Against Lincecum, Utley is 2 for 20 lifetime. Against Cain, Utley is 7 for 15 with three home runs. Bay Area product Jimmy Rollins is 6 for 10 vs. Cain.

Twist the statistics however you please. A bloop single, a hanging breaking ball or an umpire's blown call can be the difference in a pitching-dominated series. Ask the Braves, eliminated 3-1 by the Giants in games all decided by one run.

The Giants can't rely on the Phillies being as error-prone as the Braves. But catcher Buster Posey's all-around excellence is reliable. Some may think Cody Ross was the Giants' Division Series MVP. Nah, it was Posey, for his catching, for going 6 for 16 (.375) and for making magic happen on the basepaths (three runs, .444 on-base percentage).

The Giants' path to the World Series is decorated with intangibles: rally thongs, black beards, Duane Kuiper's call sign of " Giants baseball: torture." Throw in a couple ex-Phillies in Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand for this series, and who knows?

As La Russa drove from St. Louis to California last week in his SUV, he listened to ballgames on satellite radio, including the Giants'.

Said La Russa: "The Giants have been tested. They were tested up to the last day of the (regular) season, and they won that test. They had a tough series with the Braves, and they emerged. They have a lot of competitive toughness."

That sounds like a trait all underdogs need to succeed.

Contact Cam Inman at cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com . Follow him at Twitter.com/CamInman .

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball