Clobberin' Cody Ross does it again. (Matt Cain helped a little)

Guess who had the game-winning RBI against the Phillies.

Just because I asked, you probably got it right. It was the Ty Cobb of his generation, the legendary Cody Ross.

With Matt Cain facing Cole Hamels, the game was expected to be, and was, a pitchers' duel. The Giants had only five hits; the Phillies only three. Cain allowed only two singles over seven strong innings. He did allow runners to reach scoring position three times, but the Phillies had nothin' with runners in scoring position.

All joking aside, the Phillies have to be doin' a little nail-biting at this point. Because of the schedule, both teams have to go with their fourth starters tomorrow, and that is the one spot where the Giants have a legitimately big advantage.

The Giants' #4 man is the promising youngster Madison Bumgarner, who tore up the minors to the tune of 34-6, then put up a 3.00 ERA with the Giants in 18 starts, and just kept getting better and better as the season progressed. In his last six starts, he allowed only 5 runs in 38 innings - that's a 1.18 ERA, if you're scoring at home. He just turned 21 in August, but the kid can pitch.

The Phillies' #4 man is Joe Blanton, who hasn't pitched since Sept 29th, and ... well ... he's Joe Blanton. (4.82 ERA)

In other words, the Phillies have to be fearing that they could easily be down 3-1 before they can get Doc back on the mound, and even with Doc and the other two aces lined up, they'd be in a world of hurt. They would have to defeat Lincecum, Sanchez and Cain in succession, without losing a single game. Beating all three of those guys in succession is highly unlikely. In other words, the Phils better figure out how to win against Bumgarner.

How could this happen to a team with Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels? If you read my baseball ramblings regularly, you know that the great Braves teams of the recent past went 4-5 in nine seven-game series when they had the magnificent starting triumvirate of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. Possessing three great pitchers at the same time is a rare and marvelous blessing, but it's no guarantee of success. (And the Giants have some arms of their own. Not to mention Clobberin' Cody Ross.)