--LF Pat Burrell sensed he'd have a big game Sunday. One night after SS Jimmy Rollins gave him "some lip" for not moving a runner in the fourth inning Saturday night, Burrell bounded from the batting cage Sunday morning and found Rollins. "My back is all right," said Burrell, who has been nursing a strained lower back. "I worked some things out in the cage. It's my day." Maybe Burrell's confidence stemmed from knowing that veteran RHP Jeff Suppan would be on the mound for the Brewers. Burrell was 9-for-21 (.429) with three homers and eight RBIs in his career against Suppan. Burrell laced a single to right field in the second inning, and in the third, after the Brewers intentionally walked Ryan Howard, he cranked a pitch from Suppan into the left field bleachers for a 4-0 Philadelphia lead. Jayson Werth followed with a solo homer, and the Brewers were cooked. "It was so quiet," Burrell said. "That's when I knew something good was happening." Burrell added another homer in the eighth inning.
--SS Jimmy Rollins predicted last November the Phillies would win 100 games this season. It could still happen. The Phillies won 92 games in the regular season, their highest total since 1993. Add in three victories over the Brewers, they're up to 95. If they beat the Dodgers in the NLCS, the total will reach 99, and the Phillies would have a chance to reach 100 in the World Series. "I actually thought about that," Rollins said. "We can get to 103. That would be great." But Rollins never said his 100-win forecast included the postseason. "That's what's so great about (predictions)," Rollins said. "You can always adjust them." --RHP Joe Blanton allowed only three singles through six innings Sunday, hushing the Brewers offense and a boisterous crowd at sold-out Miller Park. In his first career postseason start, he retired 10 straight batters between Ryan Braun's two-out single in the first inning and J.J. Hardy's leadoff single in the fifth. And although he surrendered an innocuous solo home run to Prince Fielder in the seventh, Blanton pitched the Phils to their series-clinching 6-2 win over the Brewers with perhaps his finest performance since being acquired July 17 from the Oakland Athletics for three minor-leaguers. "That's the best I've seen him pitch," manager Charlie Manuel said after Blanton allowed one run on five hits, didn't walk a batter and fanned seven in six innings. "He really challenged the hitters. He was very aggressive. He definitely wasn't scared of nothing. He went right after their big hitters and didn't back away. He did a heck of a job."
--LHP Cole Hamels wasn't complaining about not having to start a decisive Game 5 against the Brewers on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "To be able to pitch a Game 1, it's a lot easier mentally and physically," he said. Hamels, the Phillies' ace, is slated to start Game 1 of the NLCS Thursday night against the Dodgers. Hamels tossed eight scoreless innings in the opener of the NL Division Series against the Brewers last Wednesday.
--RHP Ryan Madson gave up a run Sunday in two innings but continued to cement his status as the Phillies' primary setup man before closer Brad Lidge. In three postseason appearances, Madson has thrown four innings and allowed only one run. "He's been fabulous," pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "He probably had some struggles when he first took over that role, but I think he's really grown into it, and his confidence is at an all-time high."
BY THE NUMBERS: 15 -- Years since the Phillies have been to the NL Championship Series.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I like our chances. I think we out-hit them during the course of those eight games we played. I mean, I think we can hold our own with them. Actually, I think we can beat anybody in the National League, really, when you think about it. I liked our chances against the Cubs, the Dodgers, everybody." -- Manager Charlie Manuel on his team's matchup with the Dodgers in the NLCS.
