Unfinished Business

"Unfinished Business" - The motto of the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies. After finishing with baseball's best record for the first time in their 128 year history, the Phillies ended their season on a called third strike on Ryan Howard who had a 3-2 count with the tying run on second base.

"We're shocked," said Brad Lidge when asked about the loss. Shock and disappointment seemed to be the theme around the clubhouse following the game. Howard was at a loss for words, simply starring into space with his hands on his head. Shock and disappointment also was the mood around the ballpark and in every Phillies fan's heart after coming so close to another World Series appearance, which would have been their third in three years.

Juan Uribe crushed the hopes of Phils fans with his eighth inning home run off of reliever Ryan Madson into the right field seats, barely clearing the fence. That homer put the Giants up 3-2 after the Phillies scored two runs in the first and looked to be on cruise control until Oswalt got roughed up a bit in the middle of the game.

The Phillies simply did not hit with runners in scoring position in this series and in the playoffs in general. The team seemed to press a lot and looked to fall back into the slump that they fell into in the middle of the season when they were waiting weeks in between games.

As for the Giants, they will make their first World Series appearance since 2002 when they lost to the Angels in seven games. Game one will be on Wednesday night in SF. The pitching match-up is shaping up to be Tim Lincecum vs. Cliff Lee, game time is slated for 7:57.