[AZTarHeel]

You could hear the slightest shuffling of feet in the Philadelphia Phillies locker room. No one dared say a word.

Several pitchers just put towels over their heads and hoped the media would be gentle when they flowed in to begin their inquisition in a few minutes. Had the team tied with the best record in the National League really just gotten beat 18-8 by the Houston Astros in Game One of the NLCS?

18 runs surrendered by the Phillies. Eighteen! Good grief.

Game One was supposed to be a pitcher’s duel between two Cy Young contenders. But Philadelphia’s Josh Johnson didn’t even make it out of the second inning. He had given up four runs and five hits in the top of the first inning. The Phils struck right back, getting four runs off five hits in the bottom of the first against Astros ace Scott Williamson.
But Johnson never could right his own ship. After surrendering another four runs in the second frame, Phillies manager Tetsui Suzuki sent his Johnson to the showers. He told reliever Scott Baker (normally the No. 5 starter or a spot starter) to go eat up some innings. But the Astros chased him as well with a six-spot in the fourth inning. By that point, the score was 14-5 Houston. The Astros were en route to outscoring the NFL's Houston Texans!

The Astros ended up abusing Philadelphia pitchers to the tune of 22 hits, three homers, five doubles and a triple. The final individual stat lines were ridiculous: Doug Glanville 3-for-5, David Wright 4-for-6 with four RBIs, Adam LaRoche 4-for-5 with five RBIs, Roberto Valverde 2-for-6 with three RBIs, Lance Berkman 2-for-3 with three RBIs, etc. All that and Houston stranded another six runners in scoring position.

Worst of all, the Phillies had to burn five pitchers. Not the start that Phillies Nation had envisioned after picking up an emotional Game Five win over Arizona in the NLDS. Maybe Philadelphia players had left their drive at the ball park that night. They certainly left their pitching prowess.



If there was a silver lining, it was that Johnson only ended up throwing 53 pitches. If he can recover mentally from the shellacking, he should be pretty rested by his next start. And Philadelphia did score eight runs against Houston‘s supposedly solid staff. Despite losing by a touchdown and a field goal, hitters like Francisco Ramirez (3-for-5, three RBIs), Jorge Cantu (2-for-5) and Matt Holliday (2-for-5) had enjoyed pretty good nights at the plate. Maybe the Phils' pitching woes were a one-game anomaly? That quiet locker room could only hope.

Philadelphia will turn to No. 3 starter Lee Plunket to help turn the tide in Game Two. Then, especially if the Phils lose that one, they'll likely have to go to Andrew Zarzour on short rest in Game Three. More pressure on Big Z's shoulders. Will he be ready?