The advantages of staying up late

I've seen my fair share of last-second shockers in sports (all on television, of course.) Fact is, I've also seen my fair share of last-second letdowns in sports. But ever since I went to sleep during the fourth quarter of the 2006 BCS National Championship game, I've never been able to walk away from a game. It paid off last week when the Phils fought back against the Rockies, and, surprise, surprise, it paid off again last night. For a fantastic video of last night's greatness, head over to The Fightins, and enjoy J-Roll's two ribbies that won the Phillies game four with our hometown announcers.

Nobody has won back-to-back World Series titles since the Yankees pulled off three in a row from 1998-2000, but with an offense as potent as the Philli

es' has been, we could be seeing it again. The Phillies get Game 5 at home, and Game 6 (if needed) would put Cliff Lee back on the hill in red pinstripes. If that doesn't spell "victory" for the Phillies, they don't deserve to go back to the Fall Classic. Anyway, with all the good that came last night, let us not forget that there were problems for our FIghtin' Phils. I point to none more obvious than the one below:

During the game, I witnessed an online argument about the abilities of Ryan Howard and Manny Ramirez in postseason play. The side arguing for Manny Ramirez (in my opinion) won during the eighth inning, when Howard struck out swinging with Shane Victorino in scoring position. Hey, I understand, we've gotten used to the big guy striking out, and I also understand that he's grown up quite a bit at the plate. However, he looked extremely impatient last night against George Sherrill, a guy who he should be getting solid hits against.

Ryan Howard is a machine. He can hit home runs like nobody else in baseball. But he needs to learn that the answer isn't always the long ball, and that it is okay to get a single and tie the game. He went out there last night trying to kill every pitch thrown his way, and he got burned. Howard needs to settle down, and wait for his pitch. The Phils had a great opportunity to tie it in the eighth inning, and it got squandered away by impatience from the middle of the order. Thankfully, Rollins pulled it off in the ninth, but next time, it should be done an inning sooner.

Tomorrow night, get ready to celebrate. Let's show the Dodgers the real Vicente Padilla, and put 'em away early. Go Phils!