Does This Look Familiar?

Are the 2008 Brewers the 2007 Phillies?

2008 Phillies, meet your 2007 dopplegangers. A team that goes on a run down the stretch to make the playoffs for the first time in a long time? Check. Dominant starting pitcher in the regular season who loses his playoff start? Check. General "Just Happy to Be Here" Attitude? Check. High-scoring, HR-based offense that disappeared in the postseason? Check.

Phils Win 5-2.

In the playoffs, you need someone to step up besides your all stars. Enter Shane Victorino and Jason Werth. We know them well, but they're far from household names. First four times these two got to the plate resulted in 3 doubles and a Grand Slam. That's a good day.

Charlie Manuel also got props from the announcers for switching Victorino and Werth in the lineup. Werth went on to get two doubles in the game. Of course, Utley and Howard are a combined 1-8 in the series, which is keeping me up at night. Unfortunately, that's not a joke.

The Good: Victorino, Myers, Werth, Feliz. It was a righties day at the ballpark. Lidge needed only 12 pitches to record his second save of the postseason. Maybe Mitch Williams was right, and Lidge was too well rested for his pitches to be effective. Maybe Milwaukee has already given up on this series. Maybe this was the one-game quiet before the Lidge-implosion storm. I'll take it.

The Bad: Myers first inning, in which he had the bases loaded with one out and got a miracle double play ball. Wow. That could have been a lot worse. Kudos to Myers for shaking it off and pitching a good game. Myers also walked in a run, which is generally frowned upon in baseball circles.

The Hero: Shane Victorino. A Grand Slam off of the unhittable CC Sabathia in the playoffs? If you made it up, no one would believe you. Runner up to Brett Myers. 7 strong innings, gave up only 2 runs.

The Goat: CC Sabathia. He struggled with his location (and the umpire's strike zone) all day, only lasting 3 2/3 innings and throwing 98 pitches. Of course, he single-handedly got Milwaukee here. This was his fourth consecutive start in three days rest.

The Take-Away Point: This Phillies team is for real. Now, if we can only get Utley and Howard to start hitting, and if we face the Dodgers in the NLCS...