Los Angeles at Philadelphia

The Dodgers are on the brink of elimination as the Phillies have captured a three games to one lead and look to close out the series tonight in Philadelphia. Cole Hamels will get the ball for the Phillies and, while he was piling up honors last year in the post-season, things have been considerably different this year. Hamels led the Phillies to a 5-0 mark in the post-season last year, winning nearly half of all the Phillies post-season games on their way to the World Series Title. Hamels has not been the same pitcher this season and, lately, he has taken a step back. The Phillies are just 4-8 in his last 12 trips to the mound and his last five starts have all been sub-par. The line reads 27 innings and 21 earned runs for a 7.00 ERA, he has served up five round-trippers in the process, and has not recorded more than five strikeouts in any of the games, something he topped  in each of the six starts prior to that. Vicente Padilla was a late move by the Dodgers to shore up their pitching and he has done just that as he was the starter in the only Dodger win in the series. Since coming over to the Dodgers, the blue and white are 8-2 in his ten starts with a 2.52 ERA. The Dodgers are 5-0 in his last five road starts and I'll back LA to extend the series tonight.