End of Regular Season

The Phillies had an incredible month of September and ran away with the N.L. East Division title, and notched the top record in the MLB in the process. They finished the regular season with a record of 97-65, their best record since 1993, when they finished with the same record en route to winning the National League. A final day 8-7 loss to the Braves leaves the playoff matchups looking like this:

(1) Philadelphia vs. (3) Cincinnati
(2) San Francisco vs. (4) Atlanta

The Phillies play game 1 of the NLDS at home on Wednesday at 5:07 PM. They will then have a day off on Thursday, followed by game 2 on Friday at home at 6:07 PM. The remaining times of games are TBD, but game 3 will be on Sunday in Cincinnati, and games 4 and 5 (if necessary) will be on Monday in Cincinnati and Wednesday in Philadelphia, respectively.

The scheduled starters for the series are as follows:
Game 1: Roy Halladay
Game 2: Roy Oswalt
Game 3: Cole Hamels

It appears that, based on the days of rest between games, Halladay would pitch game 4 and Oswalt would pitch game 5. The pitching setup is ideal for the Phillies and I have a hard time imagining them losing this series.

Not to get ahead of myself, but just as a quick preview, Manuel's toughest decision for the NLCS would be choosing the 4th starter. It would either be Joe Blanton or Kyle Kendrick. Based on experience and bullpen ability, I expect Manuel to choose Blanton as the 4th starter and move Kendrick to the bullpen.