The Phillies 2010 season ended Saturday night in Game 6 of the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies were woefully deficient in their ability to score runs throughout the post-season, even in the three games they swept from the Cincinnati Reds. Against the Giants, the Phillies inability to score became pathetic ??? and some might say inexplicable!

After all, this Philadelphia team has been known as an offensive powerhouse for several seasons now. Remember, the Phillies finished first among all National League teams in runs scored in 2006, 2007, and 2009. They finished second in runs scored during 2008 and 2010. But during these six games against the Giants, the Phillies scored a total of only 18 earned runs ??? an average of 3 per game. Yes the Giants had some good pitching, but so did the Phillies. Remember, while the Phillies only scored 18 earned runs during the series, the Giants only tallied 18 earned runs against the Philadelphia pitchers. So it???s not right to say that the Phils were out-pitched by the Giants??? hurlers. In my opinion, the lack of clutch hitting and the lack of discipline at the plate killed the Phillies??? chances. How many times did they fail to advance runners? How many times did they fail to drive in base-runners in scoring position? How many strikeouts did we see from our highly-paid ???sluggers???? Too, too many!

It is unbelievable that our cleanup hitter (Ryan Howard) had NO RBIs for the series! That???s right ??? after getting 108 RBIs in 143 games during the season ??? our highest-paid hitter had ZERO for the six games. Wait, you might say, Giants??? Manager Bruce Bochy kept bringing in those nasty left-handed pitchers to baffle the Phils! Oh, but didn???t we obtain right-handed slugger Mike Sweeney to help us off the bench? Mr. Amaro said he would be a good right-handed hitter who would help the Phils against all those lefties! You remember, that guy Sweeney who has hit 215 home runs in the Major Leagues, has a lifetime batting average of .297 and has driven in 909 runs? That man Sweeney, who plays with 110% effort and is a clutch hitter who always plays his heart out? Oh ??? wait ??? a Brain Cramp ??? Charley Manuel forgot Sweeney was on the roster. He kept sending Ben Francisco up to the plate, and was rewarded with a lusty .167 batting average with 0 homers and 0 RBIs! And let???s not forget Ross Gload, 0 for 5 in his futile pinch-hit attempts. Poor Mike Sweeney waited all those years to play in post-season and never played at all in any of the six games against the Giants (he was 1-for-1 against the Reds).

Shane Victorino played though, and disappointed us with a .208 batting average. Others with poor batting averages included Chase Utley .182, Jason Werth .222, and Carlos Ruiz .167. A sorry, sorry showing???