PHILADELPHIA — Maybe Jimmy Rollins should stick to playing shortstop. Nostradamus he ain’t.
The Phillies are not going to win the World Series in five games, as Rollins predicted, or even six games.
They wake up this morning on the brink of the offseason after a 7-4 Game 4 loss last night.
They trail the Yankees 3-1 in the Series and now need to win three in a row to repeat as champions.
“We’re down, but you know what, we’re still breathing,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
This is an unusual position for the Phillies. They have not played an elimination game in two years.
In fact, before last night, the Phillies had not trailed in a postseason series during the last two years. They now find themselves in a win-or-go-home game for the first time since the 2007 NLDS with Colorado.
The Phillies have been a resilient bunch, with late-inning comebacks and winning the division at the end of 2007 and 2008 after trailing the Mets.
“I think we take a lot of pride on being resilient and the way we bounce back,” Manuel said. “I know that we’re going to come out and play (tonight) to win. I know that. I’ve seen us go through it before.
“We’ve blown 22 games from the seventh inning on or something this year. That’s got to tell you something about the resilience of our team.”
It doesn’t take much to send a jolt of panic through this city’s tortured sports fans, and Phillies losses in three straight games has done the trick.
The players swear there’s nothing to worry about.
“I don’t think that will be too difficult for us,” Chase Utley said. “We play like a team. We play like every game is our last game. That’s not going to change how we go out and play.”
Last night they lost the game in the ninth inning with an uncharacteristic defensive lapse. The Phillies played a defensive shift against Mark Teixeira, batting left-handed, and when Johnny Damon stole second base third baseman Pedro Feliz had to cover second. That left no one at third. Damon continued on to the empty base, putting himself 90 feet from scoring the winning run, which he did on Alex Rodriguez’s double.
Rollins predicted a five-game victory in the Series so the Phillies could win it at Citizens Bank Park. Now they hope to return to The Bronx to keep their season alive.
“We’ve been in that situation every year, backs against the wall,” Rollins said, referring to the regular season.
“It’s a familiar spot for us. We usually do pretty good, come out swinging and find a way to get it done. We have a game tomorrow. We have to find a way to get it done.”