To be a playoff team games against opponents who are struggling must be won.  The Washington Nationals came into this game with an eleven game losing streak.  Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers needed to take the mound going for the jugular to make it twelve and he did just that by tossing a complete game shut-out against the Nats!  He was dominant in the contest by pitching ahead on nearly every batter, establishing his fast ball early in the count and then closing out the at-bats with as masterful curve ball.  Myers struck out nine batters in the contest.   It was the seventh complete game of his career.

Myers was given a lead in the third inning as Nats shortstop Anderson Hernandez threw the ball away on a taylor made double play allowing Chris Coste to score.  Coste had reached base by being hit by a pitch.  The Fightins added three more in the fifth as Greg Dobbs spanked a home run that scored Shane Victorino in front of him.  Coste followed that with a  single, went to third on a single by Jimmy Rollins and scored on a bloop double down the right field line by Jayson Werth.

The bottom half of the order came thru big in this game as all four runs were scored by the six thru eight spots in the lineup and five of the team’s nine hits came from the men in those spots,  Victorino and Coste had two hits each while Dobbs reached on a walk and had the two run bomb.  Chase Utley also had a two hit game and did so by driving the outside pitch to left field twice, a good sign as teams have been able to get him out with those pitches as he has habitually been pulling the ball on every swing.

Despite the outcome the Phillies made a few blunders in the game.  Greg Dobbs and Pat Burrell both had fielding errors and Rollins was caught attempting to steal second with runners at first and third and one out.  Chris Coste also ran into an out on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt by Myers in the seventh inning.  Against teams like the Nats these things can be overcome but perhaps not against the Dodgers and Mets who are in next.

Chatter

Phillies G.M. Pat Gillick stated on a pre-game TV show that even though the Phillies had made an offer to free agent catcher  David Ross that Ross had decided to sign instead with another club.  Gillick speculated that it was an American League team but was not specific as to who.  When querried about potentially picking up a bat off the bench Gillick stated that the team had a few feelers out but nothing seemed imminent.  Pedro Feliz did come off the D.L. before the game however Greg Dobbs still started the game at third base.  To make room for Feliz pitcher Les Walrond was optioned back to Triple A. 

Despite jumping out to an early 6 to 1 lead the Fightins fell to thier third straight defeat at the hands of the L.A. Dodgers.   Los Angeles rebounded to take a 7 to 6 victory on a Nomar Garciapara walk off home run in the ninth inning.

Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth all touched Dodger starter Brad Penny early in the game for two run home runs.  Penny was gone from the contest before the end of the third inning as he struggled with command and paid for it.  Phillies starter Joe Blanton also suffered early from a tight strike zone from the home plate umpire and actually walked in a first inning run.  Blanton would eventually settle in somewhat and pitched five innings leaving with a 6 to 4 lead.

Ryan Madson pitched two frames and held the two run lead before yielding to Chad Durbin for the eighth inning.   The usually reliable Durbin ran into trouble and was eventually touched for two runs as the Dodgers tied the contest.   In the meantime the Phillies bats were held silent by the Dodger pen as the Fightins could not muster any more runs than the original six scored off of Penny.

Clay Condrey gave up the winning home run to Nomar in the ninth inning and the Phillies were thrice beaten in Dodgerland.   The Mets thumped the Washington Nationals 12-0 earlier in the evening so the loss put the Mets and Phils in a deadlock atop the National League East.  Similiarly the Dodgers are now tied with the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West Division for the lead.   Parity is in the National League and the races should go to the wire!

Chatter

Shane Victorino did not play as he is suffering from back stiffness.  Victorino has been the most reliable hitter on the team since the All-Star break and with the offense sporadic at best the Phils can ill afford to lose any consistency.  Rumblings are that the Fightins put a claim in on Raul Ibanez whom the Mariners were attempting to pass thru waivers.  Since waiver claims are awarded to the team with the worst record first no word if any other team had claimed the outfielder.  He is a free agent next season and is highly paid so there is indeed a chance that other teams would stay away from him.

Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard appeared on Fox’s Best Damn Sports Show taping on Tuesday night and Rollins apparently stated that Phillie fans tend to be “front runners” and are not as supportive of players and teams when things are going bad.   While I tend to agree with him that we fans collectively are not the rah rah type such as those found in the baseball Mecca St. Louis I do disagree with the “front runner” theory.   J-Roll must remember that our town has very few teams that have claimed league titles in our history and in fact the Phillies are the losingest team in Major League history yet fans have continually supported the franchise and have even sold out home games close to 40 times already this season! 

I do agree with the tone of general negativity of North east coast fans not just Philly.  Talk shows thrive in our area and most often the subject is what is wrong with our teams and players rather than what accomplishments they have done for us lately.  We do not handle first place well as fans, perhaps because we have not spent alot of time there!   Give J-Roll credit for voicing what I think are the thoughts of many players though, I doubt that many would choose to play here if given options as things can indeed get rough with the boobirds and verbal abuse.  Perhaps collectively we should all just relax and realize this is a game and we are all people, doubt that will ever happen though as us fans see our dreams in folks like J-Roll and we vent our frustrations when things don’t go well.  We live the games as part of our livelihood which indeed puts alot of pressure on our players.  Hell, we had the best third basemen ever to play the game in Mike Schmidt yet it was not till late in his career that Philly fans collectively appreciated the phenom we were priviledged to watch on a daily basis.   It is a rough sports town, some can handle it but as I stated I would guess if given a choice, most would choose to play elsewhere………..it is what it is!