After the Phillies swept the Reds in the NLDS, champagne and beer flowed. However, despite all the hoopla, the team wasn’t clicking on all cylinders in the opening round.
The Phillies hit just .212 during the series and managed just 13 runs; only seven were earned. The Phillies hit just one home run. Can the Phillies snap out of their offensive slumber against the Giants’ impressive array of arms?
“The way you guys [the media] talk about the last series and the Giants, I shouldn’t even bring a bat with me when I come to the plate,” Shane Victorino quipped. “I think we’ll be fine. If we ever get our offense going this is going to be a fun little run for us. This is a whole different series.”
Jayson Werth believes the Phillies’ bats are overdue to break out. “We’ll be facing some very good pitching, but I think that you can’t hold down this offense forever,” he said. “We have guys that can hit from top to bottom.”
Werth is speaking from experience. When the Phillies were down to their last strike with a 4-1 deficit against the Giants in San Francisco early in the season, he hit a bases-clearing double against closer Brian Wilson to fuel a victory.
“We’ve gotten some hits against them,” Werth said. “We’re going to try and get it going again.”
