Phillies vs. Brewers - The back-to-back N.L. East champs square off against a team that slid into the postseason by the hairs on their chins. But the Brewers will be the first to tell you that it doesn’t matter how you get in, as long you get in. After being ousted in the first round last year, the Phillies are a team determined to silence its critics. It’s been 26 years since the Brew Crew have seen the postseason. They come in riding an emotional high, but is this young team just happy to be there?   

 Series Breakdown: The Phillies are a solid ball club throughout, and they held strong down the stretch which shows the determination in this team. It should be noted that very little separated these two teams in the standings: Philadelphia won 92 games and the Brewers won 90. While the emotional high of the Brewers may be a factor, their bullpen will likely be a bigger factor in determining the outcome of this series. Point blank, the Brewers' bullpen gets a vote of no confidence, while the Phillies have the best closer in the game, second of course to K-Rod. Brad "Lights Out" Lidge hasn’t blown a save all season, and the Phillies have the bats in Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard to do a lot of damage. If the Phillies can get decent outings from their starting pitching they should be in good shape. As for the Brewers, they are going to act like they’ve been there before. This Brewers team is extremely young but has great talent, particularly in Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. If this team can take a page from the 2007 Rockies and ride their momentum, anything can happen in a five-game series. But realistically speaking, the Brewers would have to pitch Sabathia every game in this series to have a real chance.

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