Johan Santana vs Kyle Kendrick certainly seems like a mismatch but someone forgot to tell Kendrick!  Ryan Howard spotted Kendrick an early lead in the very first inning as he belted a Santana fastball over the left field wall to score Jimmy Rollins in front of him.  Rollins had led off the game with a single.  The Mets had taken the first lead in the top half of the inning as Jose Reyes scored on a Carlos Delgado single.   In the Phillies second Jayson Werth took Santana deep with a solo home run to left field to make the count 3 to 1. 

Carlos Delgado took Kendrick deep to right field in the top of the sixth to make the count 3 to 2.  After Carlos Beltran got an infield single Charlie Manuel went to his bullpen to bring in Scott Eyre. Eyre got out of the inning with no further scoring setting up Kendrick as the potential game winner.  Eyre also pitched the seventh and did a great job as he got every batter he faced out.  Huge effort by him with the bullpen lean for the game.  Rudy Seanez attempted to hold the lead in the eighth and got two outs but Carlos Delgado took him out to left field to knot the game at three.   When Carlos Beltran squibbed an infield single Charlie came and got Seanez and brought closer Brad Lidge into the eighth inning for the first time this season.  Beltran stole second base which then prompted an intentional walk to Ryan Church to set up a confrontation with rookie Dan Murphy who lined a Lidge slider to right field for a double  to score Beltran that put the Mets in the lead.  Brian Schneider then blooped a single over third base to put the Mets up by three as both Church and Murphy scored.

Twenty three year old Andrew Carpenter, just recalled specifically for this game,  made his big league debut for the Phillies in the ninth as the bullpen was completely spent the night before.  Carpenter pitched a scoreless inning in his first outing, probably will be optioned back to Reading after the game as the team needs to bring back the extra bat!

Luis Ayala got the job done in this one for the Mets and the game was won by New York 6 to 3.  The Phillies concluded the homestand with a 7 and 2 record and take to road trailing the Mets by 1/2 game.

One thing that was pretty evident during the game, these guys don’t dislike each other as much as the fans of each team dislikes the other team!  Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado on numerous occassions were shown talking, joking and smiling with Phillies players on the base paths, seemed like a sunday afternoon recreation game at times!  Phillies announcer Gary Mathews commented that back in the day no one talked to the opponents as games were more intense.  I don’t doubt today’s players intentions to win but it is hard to bill this as a rivalry if the guys are so chummy!

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The Braves traded Mark Kotsay to the Red Sox for a minor league outfielder, would have been a nice addition for the Phils.  As noted the Phillies did make a roster move to add a pitcher for the game as the bullpen was completely spent last night, righthander Andrew Carpenter was recalled from Double A Reading and Andy Tracy was designated.  This leaves the team with only four bench players.  The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Todd Zolecki reports that the Phils have had informal talks with Jamie Moyer about returning next year.  Moyer has stated he plans on pitching again in 2009 and would like to return to Philly.  The team has also had preliminary discussions with Pat Burrell about returning as Burrell also is a free agent.  Hard to find players who actually want to play in Philly!  Got two there that do and are quality, should sign both!

The Phillies play the next ten games on the road beginning with four in Chicago where the Cubs are 49 and 19 so far this season.  They then have three in Washington and then the final three contests of the season with the Mets in New York.   The Mets take to the road for six as they play three in Florida and then three in Milwaukee.   Another telling stretch for both clubs.

Jose Reyes is a hot dog but he is a very talented player as well.  Reyes led off the game with a triple off of Phillies starter Jamie Moyer and scored on a single by Damien Easley.  Easley scored the second run of the initial Mets at bat as Fernando Tatis singled him in.  The Phillies put two runners on with one out in their half of the first but Mets starter Pedro Martinez struck out Ryan Howard on three pitches and then also k’d Shane Victorino.   Damien Easley extended the New York lead in the second inning as he belted a solo home run to left center field with two outs.

The Mets busted the game open in the third inning as Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado got back to back singles and then Fernando Tatis belted a three run home run.  Tatis skipped across the plate when he crossed it, someone is gonna get this hot dog somewhere down the road, not wise to show up opponents!   The key to the Mets success against Moyer was the approach, they laid off pitches out of the zone and forced Moyer to come in when behind in the count and then pounded him.   Even Pedro Martinez got a hit in his second at bat!  Moyer gave up six earned runs and nine hits in the three innings he worked.  He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the Phillies third at bat.

Damien Easley tripled to lead off the Mets fourth and scored the seventh New York run when David Wright grounded out to second base.  Despite being down six runs the Phillies did not play the infield in and conceded the run.  The Phillies scored a run in the bottom of the fourth as Pedro Feliz hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knock in Victorino.

Relief pitcher Clay Condrey started the Phillies fifth as he doubled down the left field line, it was Condrey’s first career extra base hit and only his third hit ever!  Jimmy Rollins then belted a Martinez hanging curve into the right field seats to plate two for the Fightins.  Chase Utley followed by drawing a walk, Ryan Howard then hit a  bomb to left field to score Utley ahead of him and make the count 7 to 5. 

The Mets loaded the bases in the sixth inning with one out but Scott Eyre was able to get Carlos Delgado to ground into a double play without allowing a score!  The two teams had already played for 2 and 1/2 hours by the middle of the sixth inning!  Pedro was pulled after five as Mets skipper Jerry Manuel went to his bullpen, first call Brian Stokes.  Jimmy Rollins singled with two outs in the sixth inning which marked the ninth consecutive plate appearance where he reached base! 

Stokes threw two shutout innings for New York and was replaced by Duaner Sanchez in the eighth. Sanchez only got one out before yielding a single to Carlos Ruiz and was lifted in favor of Pedro Feliciano.  Chris Coste greeted Feliciano with a single and Jimmy Rollins then singled to right field to score Ruiz.  Nobody booed Rollins as he reached base for the 10th consecutive time going 5 for 5 in the contest!  Feliciano did strike out Chase Utley with runners on first and third to temporarily keep the Phillies at bay.  Jerry Manuel then brought in Joe Smith to face Pat Burrell.  Smith got Burrell to fly out to left field to end the inning.

Brad Lidge pitched the ninth and buzzed Fernando Tatis with a fastball before striking him out on two low and away sliders.  Message served.  Eric Bruntlett smoked a pinch hit double with two outs in the Phillies ninth and scored Jayson Werth who had singled earlier in the inning to tie the game!  The Mets bullpen once again blew a save opportunity!  Jose Reyes saved a ninth inning loss for the Mets by making a diving stop on a grounder up the middle to throw out Ruiz and send the contest to extra frames.

This was a great game to watch but I thought it would never end!  As the stroke of midnight came and wenth the two teams had played over five hours!  Shane Victorino led off the 13th inning with a triple down the right field line to force the Mets hand.  They walked the next two hitters to load the bases.  Brett Myers was used as a pinch hitter for Rudy Seanez and was obviously told to not swing as he watched six pitches in striking out.  Chris Coste smoked a liner to center, his fourth hit of the game to score Victorino with the game winner !

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The Phillies offense struggles with pitchers who feature off speed pitches as their primary, Pedro at one point in the game sat down seven consecutive hitters spotting an 84 to 88 mph fastball but mostly working on changeups.  Jimmy Rollins was the only Phillie to solve him early as he had two hits in his first two at bats.  Pedro had five strikouts thru three innings and never broke 90 mph!  They did get to him in the fifth as they forced him to come up in the zone by laying off pitches and putting him in fastball counts.   Both these teams can hit but it sure is a chess match as to how!

The game was once again sold out, the 44th time this season which ties a Phillies club record. Carlos Ruiz made his major league debut at third base in the ninth inning as the Phillies saved Eric Bruntlett to pinch hit in the home ninth, made Charlie look like a genius, Bruntlett then played third base in the extra innings!  The Phillies carry twelve pitchers on the roster and many times are caught short with position players in late innings.

Jimmy Rollins came thru with a clutch two out hit in the Phillies second inning to give the Fightins a early two run lead.  Rollins single to left center scored Jayson Werth who had walked to lead off the inning and Pedro Feliz who had also singled.  What was key was how Rollins went with the pitch rather than trying to pull the ball.  Teams have been throwing Rollins slow, slower and slowest type of pitches and he has been lunging at the ball impatiently, if he can stay back and let his hands drive thru the ball then teams will be forced to adjust and throw fastballs again and we know he can do serious damage with those!

Jimmy Rollins drilled a hanging curve ball down the right field line in the fifth innning for a double, advanced to third on a Chase Utley single and scored on a double play ground out by Pat Burrell.  The Phillies then loaded the bases as Chad Billingsley walked two hitters around a single by Shane Victorino but could not score any additional runs. 

Rollins again went with the pitch in the sixth and smoked a fastball down the left field line which he legged into a triple.  Rollins was stranded however as the Phillies could not bring him in.  Brett Myers held the Dodgers scoreless thru seven innings stranding ten runners including pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh by striking out Jeff Kent and then getting Manny Ramirez to line out to right field.  He registered 8 strikeouts in what was once again a very effective and outstanding outing.

  The Phillies scored thier fourth run in thier half of the seventh as Ryan Howard led off with a double, advanced to third on a groundout by Victorino and scored on a single by Jayson Werth.  Pedro Feliz then followed with a single and Werth scored from second on a ground out to second base by Chris Coste as both runners took off on the pitch and Werth never stopped running around third base catching the Dodgers off guard !

J.C. Romero pitched a scoreless eighth inning but the Dodgers did put two runners on base.  Clay Condrey pitched the ninth inning to complete the series sweep as he struck out Manny during the inning with two runners aboard.  Buckle up New York, the Fightins are coming your way!

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The hitter off the bench the Phillies have been seeking may be soon available.  The Minnesota Twins acquired “Everyday” Eddie Guardado from the Texas Rangers to strengthen the bullpen, to make room for him on the roster they are expected to designate Mike Lamb for assignment.  Lamb is a left handed hitting third baseman who has struggled with the Twins.  He had good success as a part time player with Houston from 2004 to 2007 averaging about 13 home runs per year.  He is not due an inordinate amount of money this year or next and could be a fit as a lefty off the bench.

The Mets are in town for two in thier last visit to Philly this year.  Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick take the pill against the Metropolitans squaring off against Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana.  A split is the minimum need but a sweep would be great!

The Phillies offense came out of its shell for a second consecutive game as the Fightins pounded the L.A. Dodgers 9 to 2 in a nationally televised game to go up two games in this four game series.  Pat Burrell blasted his 30th home run of the season in the first inning plating three runs.  Burrell hit the ball off the left field foul pole to spot starter Cole Hamels with an early lead.    Hamels went seven strong innings giving up five hits and two runs.  He was touched for the two runs in the third inning as Russell Martin hit a two run home run.

The Phillies busted the game open in the fifth and sixth innings scoring three runs in each frame.  In the fifth Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp lost a fly ball hit by Pat Burrell in the high Philadelphia sky and the ball fell untouched for a double!  Jimmy Rollins scored on the play, Ryan Howard then smoked a double to center field to knock in two more runs.  In the sixth Burrell again figured in the scoring mix as he singled to knock in Hamels.  Shane Victorino then singled to knock in Burrell and Chase Utley.   Scott Eyre and Rudy Seanez finished out the game on the mound for the Phillies to book the win.

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Geoff Jenkins was placed on the fifteen day disabled list with a hip sprain.  Andy Tracy was recalled from Triple A to take Jenkins roster spot.  Tracy has previous major league experience as he played for the Montreal Expos and Colorado Rockies.  Tracy is a veteran player and is 35 years of age.  His primary position is first base but will serve as a left handed bat off the bench for the Fightins.  Pat Burrell had five RBI’s in the game matching his career high.  This has been a season of offensive spurts for the Fightins and hopefully this is a spurt that lasts thru the playoffs!  Sometimes playing better teams actually makes you play better yourselves and the Fightins certainly are in the midst of a challenging run with two left with the Dodgers, then two with the Mets and four with the Cubbies.  The last two games the hitters have been much more aggressive early in the count and have been successful, they are dead red fast ball hitters and if opposing pitchers try to use the heat to get ahead in the count this team can make you pay! 

Kyle Kendrick came into this game against the Dodgers having struggled in his last two starts.  Kendrick started out poorly in this one as well as he gave up a first inning home run to Andre Ethier.  Kendrick fell behind in the count to the first six batters he faced.  The key to this young pitcher though is his bulldog mentality and ability to battle thru “situations”.   Kendrick used that moxy and  settled down to give the Phillies 5 and 2/3 innings of three hit ball leaving the contest with a 3-1 lead.

Greg Maddux made his 2008 debut for the Dodgers having been recently reacquired by LA from the San Diego Padres.  Maddux held the Phillies at bay thru the first three frames but in the fourth Pat Burrell worked Maddux for a 10 pitch at bat earning a walk.  Ryan Howard then blasted his 34th home run of the season over the left field wall scoring Burrell ahead of him.  The Phillies scored thier third run in the fifth off Maddux as Greg Dobbs led off with a bunt single,  Jayson Werth followed with a line single to right field and Dobbs scored on a single up the middle by Chris Coste. 

Kendrick started the sixth inning and got two outs before the next two hitters reached.  Charlie Manuel went to the pen and brought in Chad Durbin who was able to end the inning with no runs scoring.  The Fightins busted loose in the home sixth as Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino singled, Burrell reached third on Victorino’s hit.  Jayson Werth then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Burrell.  Greg Dobbs followed with his second single of the game and then Chris Coste sent Maddux to the showers as he smoked a three run home run to left field!  I don’t know why Coste was in the minors and/or independent ball so long as this man can flat out hit!

Chase Utley hit his 31st home run of the season in the seventh inning to make the score 8 to 1.  Ryan Madson came in to pitch the eighth setting the Dodgers down in order.  Scott Eyre pitched the ninth for the Phillies to close out the game.  The Mets shut out Houston behind Johan Santana so the Phillies remained 2 and 1/2 games behind in the N.L. Eastern Division race.

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Geoff Jenkins started the game in right field but pulled up lame after legging out an infield hit and was replaced by Werth.  Jenkins will get an MRI tommorrow for a possible quad strain or hip flexor issue.  Dobbs once again got the start at third base as Charlie played the hot hand, wise move the way the team has been struggling offensively.  Chris Coste matched his career high for RBI’s in a game with four.  Jimmy Rollins continued to struggle at the plate and fans continued to let him know about it.  Rollins at one point was riding a 3 for 38 streak.  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports speculates the FIghtins might entertain moving Ryan Howard in the offseason if Matt Holliday could be obtained.  He thinks in that scenario that Pat Burrell would be resigned to play first base……..food for thought but personally I would want Howard to be a Phillie for a long long time!

TIm Redding of the Washington Nationals came into this contest already having shut out the Phillies twice this season.  Redding is a right handed replicate of Jamie Moyer in that he changes speeds, sinks the ball and generally frustrates hitters into getting themselves out.  Phillies starter Moyer and Redding matched craftiness thru five frames as both veterans limited thier opponents to one hit and no runs.

The Nationals broke thru the scoreless tie in the sixth inning as Anderson Hernandez and Christian Guzman led off the inning with singles.  Moyer then struck out Ryan Zimmerman looking and coaxed Lastings Milledge to hit a ground ball to third that appeared to be a perfect double play.  Chase Utley however threw away the relay throw from second to first allowing Hernandez to score.   The Phillies bounced back in the bottom of the sixth as Jayson Werth doubled to right center field with two outs and was plated by Chase Utley who singled to left center. 

The Nationals re-took the lead in the seventh as Anderson Hernandez hit a two out infield single to plate Austin Kearns.  The hit ended Moyer’s evening as the crafty left hander once again gave the team a very good effort yielding only five hits and one earned run thru six and two thirds innings.  Chad Durbin came on to get the last out as Christian Guzman’s bat exploded on a ground out to first, the barrell went into the stands along the first base side and hit a fan, baseball needs to act on these bats else someone is going to get seriously hurt!  Fortunately this time it did not appear to be serious.

Shane Victorino was in the middle of stirring up the offense once again in the home seventh as he dribbled a ball behind the pitcher that the Nats third sacker tried to throw him out on and tossed errantly down the right field line.  Victorino ended up on third with a single as Ryan Zimmerman was credited with the two base throwing error.  Pinch hitter  extraordinaire Greg Dobbs then knocked in Victorino with a ground out to second base.   On the very next pitch  Carlos Ruiz belted a home run to left center field to put the FIghtins in the lead for the first time.  It was only Ruiz’s third bomb of the year. 

Ryan Madson came in to pitch the eighth and gave up broken bat singles to Zimmerman and Milledge as the first two hitters he faced.  Ron Belliard bunted both runners up with a sacrifice.  Jesus Flores then hit an infield single up the middle to tie the game and Austin Kearns then followed with a single to put the Nats ahead.  The Phillies bullpen has been great this year but Madson is one that still causes me concern when he is called on.  It appears to me that often his pitches are flat and on those occasions he gets hit.  J.C. Romero came in to strike out two hitters and end the inning.

Jayson Werth led off the Phillies eighth with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Chase Utley.  Ryan Howard then struck out for the third time in the game as he looked thoroughly confused in his at bat.  The opportunity was squandered as Pat Burrell grounded into a double play.  The more I watch, even the optimist I try to be, the more I doubt this offense will ever come out of thier funk, they have not adjusted to the steady diet of breaking balls they get early in counts and when opposing pitchers pop a fastball it often catches them off guard and they are either late or hit weak ground balls.   This team really needs a guy who is a professional hitter in this lineup, one that is steady at the plate, of course all teams need that!

Clay Condrey had the bases loaded against him in the ninth but was able to pitch out of it with no runs setting the stage for last at bat heroics.  Shane Victorino, our steadiest hitter, led off the ninth with a single up the middle off of Joel Hanrahan.  Victorino then stole second base on a very close play.  The Nats thought they had him but the TV replay showed him safe as the throw was taken in front of the bag and Shane got his hand in before the tag.  There was no joy in Phillyville however as Hanrahan retired the next three batters to end the Washington twelve game losing streak.

This was a tough game to lose as the Phillies now face the Dodgers, Mets and Cubs in thier next ten games.  It is make or break time and this loss may have prompted the breaking point, hope not but with the offense struggling the way it is this team may have hit the wall.  The next ten will be key in defining the season as success or failure.

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David Ross signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox and will be the backup there to Jason Veritak who has struggled this season offensively.  The Phillies inquired about Aubrey Huff from the Orioles but he is due big money next season and Baltimore is unwilling to eat any  portion of the contract.  Kevin Millar might be  a bench option as he has also cleared waivers with no claims made.  Ryan Howard looks to be in the same funk he was early on this season as he continually swings over balls that when hitting well he crushes.  Rollins hit into tough luck alot in this series as he smashed a few “at em” balls but I do notice that he is pulling just about everything rather than going with the pitch and hit quite a few ground balls to second base on outside pitches.  Rollins was booed every time he made an out by the Phillie “genius” fans in attendance.

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!

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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!

As good as Kyle Kendrick was in his last start he was equally as bad in this one.  A sinker ball pitcher lives and dies with location, if down in the zone ground balls are the theme and success can be had.  However, if up in the zone hard hit flys usually occur and runs for the opponents are many!

Kendrick got torched for seven runs on nine hits in only 3 and 1/3 innings including six in the second inning.   Casey Blake took him out to deep center field.   Les Walrond followed Kendrick and had his best stint as a Phillie as he went 2 and 2/3rds innings allowing only two hits and no runs.  Clay Condrey threw the final two frames for the FIghtins and gave up one run on five hits.

Despite being down by six early the Phillies battled back in typical Fightin fashion as they scored six runs to make it a contest.  Ryan Howard knocked in two runs to reach the 100 RBI count once again! Chase Utley appears to be heating up again as he had three hits in the game while Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins had two hits each.  Rollins had another triple in this one, his third in four games.

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Both the Mets and Marlins also lost so the two game lead in the division stands for one more day.  Manny was Manny again as he delayed the start of one inning and finally took the field with a different color glove than what he had started the game with, guess he had to go hunt for it!  Some of his antics do not make any sense whatsover.

The offensive drought ended in the Phillies first at bat as team leader Jimmy Rollins led off the home first with a triple to deep right.  Shane Victorino then plated Rollins with a double to right field.  Ryan Howard capped the first inning scoring with an RBI single to score Victorino.

Brett Myers made that lead stand up thru seven frames as he limited the Bucs to four hits.  The only run he allowed came in the fourth frame.  Nate McClouth doubled to right field to score Doug Meintkiewcz.   The Phillies scored their third run of the game in the home seventh as Rollins again tripled to right field, his fourth hit of the game!  Victorino again knocked in his top of the order partner with a single to left field this time.  When these two are making things happen the Fightins are tough to beat!  The leadoff tandem had six hits in the game between them.

Myers pitched into the eighth inning and recorded two outs but was touched for a double by Chris Gomez and was lifted in favor of J.C. Romero who came in to end the inning.  Myers was not happy about being lifted and voiced his opinion openly on the mound to the skipper Charlie Manuel.  Manuel confronted Myers in the dugout and the TV cameras caught the brief nose to nose “discussion”.   Myers is a competitor but Skipper Manuel has proven he is in control of this ship and will take no guff from his players.  As you might tell I am a Charlie Manuel fan and incidents like this are why.  He handled it promptly and put it to rest.  In my opinion he is an excellent manager simply by the way he handles his people.  Players are not encumbered on this team but there is one boss and he will not be shown up!

Jayson Werth led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple off the right field wall.  Greg Dobbs singled him in for the fourth run of the game.  Dobbs was two for three in game, he was lifted for pinch hitter Eric Bruntlett who stayed in the game to play third base in the ninth.

Chad Durbin pitched the ninth inning as Brad Lidge was given the night off.  Durbin gave up a run but was able to finish and earn the first save of his career.   I know from experience that closing a game is a bit harder than pitching the set up innings!  Good job Chad in ultimately coming thru!

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The team officially retired number 36 in honor of Robin Roberts before the game.  Roberts is a Hall of Famer and was the ace of the 1950 Whiz kids that went to the World Series.   Jamie Moyer takes the hill tommorrow, the 46 year old plans on being back with the team next season to honor his contract, in fact when asked by a reporter he stated he would not rule out playing till 50!  John Russell, the Pirates skipper, who caught Moyer when they were teammates in Texas thinks he possibly could !

The offensive woes continued for the Fightins as Pittsburgh right hander Paul Maholm held the team scoreless thru seven frames on five hits.  Maholm mixed his pitches well,  in particular spotting a nasty hook to keep the hitters off balance.  He struck out the side in the sixth in the midst of a streak of five straight k’s!  Maholm matched his career high of ten strikeouts in the contest.  Maholm was lifted in the top of the eighth for a pinch hitter.

Joe Blanton was even more stingy as he limited the Bucs to only one hit thru seven frames while racking up seven punch outs himself.  He pitched down in the zone the whole game and had only one ball hit hard off of him to the outfield, a line out to right by Brandon Moss who came to the Bucs in the three way Manny deal before the deadline from the BoSox.  Big Joe was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh and deserved a much better fate than a no decision.

Super dependable right hander Chad Durbin pitched a perfect eighth for the Fightins setting the game up for late inning heroics.  Pat Burrell came oh so close to delivering in the home eighth as he crushed a ball to left………… Harry the K started the “outta here” call but the wind was swirling in hard from left and knocked the ball down big time to reduce it to just a fly ball caught on the track!

Durbin got the first out in the ninth and then was lifted in favor of left hander J.C. Romero.  Romero kept the bullpen perfection in tact as he ended the inning on two groundouts. The Phillies continued their scoreless drought in the ninth to send the game into extra innings.  Romero got the first two Pirates in the tenth and then  Brad Lidge was called upon to enter the game and promptly  gave up a check swing single to .161 hitting outfielder Steve Pearce.  He then walked Juan Bautista and Luis Rivas to load the bases!  Lidge then got ex-Phil Jason Michaels to pop up to the catcher to end the inning……… not a thrill ride I wanted to take!

Carlos Ruiz led off the Phillies tenth with a five pitch walk.   Ruiz advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jimmy Rollins and went to third on a ground out to first by Victorino.  With no left handers left in his bullpen Bucco skipper John Russell chose to give both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard intentional walks to load the bases.  Pat Burrell, given a second chance at heroism, failed once more as he popped up to first to end the inning!

The Pirates busted through in the 12th as Ryan Doumit doubled to lead off the inning.  He scored on a double down the left field line by Mendoza line breaker Steve Pearce.  Les Walrond gave up the lead run in his second inning of work in the contest.  He was replaced by Clay Condrey with one out in the frame and two men on.  Condrey gave up the second run with two outs on consecutive infield singles before working out of the inning.

The Phillies did not go quietly in the final at bat by putting two runners on but Craig Hansen still earned his first save of the season for Pittsburgh as Brandon Moss robbed Chase Utley on a diving catch in left field and then doubled Shane Victorino off first base as he thought the ball was thru.  The Fightins have not scored now in 23 consecutive innings as they have been shut out twice in a row.   The Mets defeated the Marlins earlier in the evening so the division lead shrinks to a mere one game.

Chatter

It seems as if Tom Gordon may require season ending Tommy John surgery after his consultation with the team physician.  Gordon will seek a second opinion before deciding on the course of action.  He is forty years young and this type of surgery takes most a couple of years to come back from.  Gordon already had Tommy John surgery early on in his career.  I wish Flash all the best as he is a true warrior who has pitched in pain the past two seasons with no complaints enduring the boo birds as well when things did not go well.   J.A. Happ was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley to make room for newly acquired Scott Eyre.  Happ was “hugely disappointed” he said but understood the move.  He should be back in September at the least when rosters expand.