Series: National League Division Series

Colorado Rockies (90-73) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (89-73)

Location: Coors Field - Denver Colorado

                  Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dates:          Game 1 - Wednesday, Oct. 3rd (3:00 ET) @ Philadelphia

                     Game 2 - Thursday, Oct. 4th (3:00 ET) @ Philadelphia

                     Game 3 - Saturday, Oct. 6th (9:30 ET) @ Colorado

If necessary: Game 4 - Sunday, Oct. 7th (10:00) @ Colorado

If necessary: Game 5 - Tuesday, Oct. 9th (6:30 ET) @ Philadelphia

Winner advances to National League Championship Series vs. Chicago Cubs or Arizona Diamondbacks

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Welcome! Come one, come all, to the most surprising and utterly shocking Division Series matchup in Major League history! The Philidelphia Phillies, who squeaked into the playoffs with the help of one of the most dramatic comebacks in regular season history to win the NL East, face off against the Colorado Rockies, who can say the same thing about the NL Wild Card.

Projected Starting Lineup

Colorado Rockies:

                                               G       HR     RBI    BA     OBP   SLG

C   Yorvit Torrealba     113    8    47  .255  .323  .376

1B  Todd Helton          154   17    91  .320  .434  .494

2B  Kazuo Matsui         104    4    37  .288  .342  .405

3B  Garrett Atkins       157   25   111  .301  .367  .486

SS  Troy Tulowitzki      155   24    99  .291  .359  .479

LF  Matt Holliday        158   36   137  .340  .405  .607

CF  Willy Taveras         97    2    24  .320  .367  .382

RF  Brad Hawpe           152    9   116  .291  .387  .539

Philadelphia Phillies:

                                               G       HR     RBI    BA     OBP   SLG

C   Carlos Ruiz          115    6    54  .259  .340  .396 

1B  Ryan Howard          144   47   136  .268  .392  .584 

2B  Chase Utley          132   22   103  .332  .410  .566 

3B  Abraham Nunez        136    0    16  .234  .318  .282

SS  Jimmy Rollins        162   30    94  .296  .344  .531 

LF  Pat Burrell          155   30    97  .256  .400  .502   

CF  Aaron Rowand         161   27    89  .309  .374  .515 

What is it that each of these teams bring to the table in this 2007 MLB postseason? Well, first of all, both are carrying scalding hot streaks that are (almost) solely responsible for the World Series dreams of both teams. Colorado is currently on a miracle run, winning 14 of their last 15 games to win the Wild Card in dramatic and controversial fashion in an epic 13 inning one game playoff over the Padres.

The Rockies, while on an insane winning streak, do not have the numbers to back it up. While their lineup has been hitting at an astonishing .298 clip in the months of September and October, their pitching has been far from brilliant. None of their starters have a sub-4 ERA, and their best pitcher, Jeff Francis, is 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA. The bullpen has been farily stable; closer Brian Fuentes has a 3.08 ERA and no name Manuel Corpas has a 2.08 after 78 appearances. Overall, it's looking like the Rockies hitting is going to have to produce excessively to beat the Phillies in this series.

Now the Phillies. The Phils have a lineup of stars and a rotation of disappointments. Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins (162 games played this year), Chase Utley, and Aaron Rowand have been putting up monster numbers and are only expected to continue into the playoffs. The have both speed in Rollins, Shane Victorino, and Utley and power in Howard, Utley, Rowand, Rollins, and Pat Burrel. As a whole, the Phils probably have as much pure talent in their lineup as any team still standing. Their pitching is where they fall off a little bit, though. Cole Hamels has been brilliant and Kyle Kendrick has been a pleasant surprise, but after that there is about a ERA dropoff of about 2 runs. Kyle Lohse and Jon Lieber are hovering around 4.75, while Jamie Moyer's is over 5.00. Heck, Adam Eaton has bee so bad that he is being left off the NLDS roster.

The clear cut key to both teams is the pitching. Both teams have power lineups, but weak pitching rotations. Look for a strong show from the bats in this electrifying series.

Cardsox' prediction:  Rockies in 5 games