Cole Hammels Pitches Phillies to World Series

The Philadelphia Phillies will be playing in their first World Series since 1993. Cole Hammels, the Phils ace pitcher, helped get them there by winning game five in Los Angeles on Wednesday.


John Kruk and Buck Showalter break down the Phillies victory.


Congratulations to the Phillies.

Watch The Red Sox try to avoid elimination to the Tampa Bay Rays tonight on TBS. The Rays are going for the knockout punch by starting Scott Kazmir tonight. The Red Sox counter by using Daisuke Mastuzaka, who was the starter of Game Five of last year's ALCS, when Boston was in the exact same spot, but came back to win the series.

Check Out Who Has The Best Record In Baseball? The Tampa Bay Rays!

Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton have reason to be excited.

Can You Believe It? Check Out the Baseball Standings. Who's First in the American League East? Not the Yankees or the Red Sox, but The Tampa Bay Rays. Who's first in the Major Leagues? Not Arizona. Not New York, but Tampa Bay.

The Tampa Bay Rays, have a fantastic Ace in Scott Kazmir. Kazmir still makes Mets Fans Groan, as he was infamously traded along with minor league pitcher Joselo Diaz to the Devil Rays on July 30, 2004 for Victor Zambrano and Bartolomé Fortunato. This trade was, and still is, widely criticized by the New York media and fan base given Kazmir's following success. Kazmir was in the All Star Game in 2006, and then in 2007, Kazmir led the American League in Strikeouts.

Offensively, Carlos Pena finished the 2007 season with a .282 batting average, 46 home runs and 121 RBIs. His batting average, home runs, and RBIs were career highs.

Defensively, the Rays have Third Baseman Evan Longoria, who is one of the best players in baseball. The Rays were smart to sign him to a long term contract, as he will be a star for years to come.

The Rays also have signed Troy Percival, the star closer for the Anaheim Angels in the 2002 World Series. Percival looks like he is back to the closer of old.

The Devil Rays have never had more than a seventy win season and have never finished above fourth place in the AL East. They may be well on their way to shattering both records.