Philadelphia's season on the brink
Zarzour gets shelled, Philllies fall behind 3-0
October 14, 2007
Philadelphia pitcher
Andrew Zarzour seemed to be humming right along.
First inning. Three up, three down. Second inning. Three up, three down. Third inning, a leadoff single, but three up and three down right afterward to leave the runner stranded.
Then, the bottom fell out for the 7-foot-2 left-hander. Houston scored three runs in the fourth inning, then six runs in the fifth frame off Zarzour — including a grand slam from
Doug Glanville and a two-run blast by
Roosevelt Brown — to roll to a 9-2 victory in Game Three of the National League Championship Series. The win gives the Astros a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Houston has now earned commanding wins over Philadelphia’s best two pitchers. All nine runs last night were earned and charged to Zarzour. The ‘Stros battered
Josh Johnson (20 wins in the regular season) to the tune of eight earned runs en route to an 18-8 triumph in Game One a few nights ago.
The Phillies are hanging by a thread at this point. They’ll look to pitcher
Odell Jones to stop the bleeding tomorrow night in Game Four. Jones has been an up-and-down performer since coming to the Phillies from the Chicago White Sox in early May. The 23-year-old southpaw posted an 8-9 record with a 4.89 ERA during the regular season in Philadelphia.
In the American League, Detroit has won two straight since dropping the ALCS opener to the Boston Red Sox...
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Arrgg!!! I think I have cursed my team … During the season, I simmed everything. I had a routine. Sim a game, check out the box score and make adjustments if needed. Rinse, repeat. Now that we're in the NLCS, I decided to play out the games, so I could have more control of how the AI controlled pitchers, starting line-ups, etc. Well, you've seen the results ... yeesh ... this has been a nightmare series...