The Phils fell behind early 3-1 to the San Diego Padres but came back to tie 3-3, only to see the Padres go ahead 4-3 in the 7th inning, before winning with the game by a 5-4 score with 2 runs in the 9th inning off of Padres closer and losing pitcher Trevor Hoffman (0-2, 2.21 ERA, S25).  It was Hoffman’s 2nd blown save in his last 3 chances, not including his blown save in the All Star Game.

                    

In the top of the 1st inning, the Phils hit the scoreboard first when rightfielder Bobby Abreu (8 HRs, 62 RBIs, .288 BA) singled in a run.  In the bottom of the first, the Padres quickly went up 3-1 on a 3 run homer by catcher Josh Bard (6 HRs, 25 RBIs, .379 BA) off of Phils starter Jon Lieber (3-7). 

                                         

The Phils rallied back to tie as catcher Chris Coste (1 HR, 10 RBIs, .333 BA) solo homered in the 4th inning and hit a run-scoring double in the 6th off of Padres starting pitcher Mike Thompson (3-2).

                             

In the San Diego 7th inning, rightfielder Brian Giles (6 HRs, 49 RBIs, .279 BA) put the Padres back in the lead with a run scoring ground rule double to left field.

                       

Lieber left the game after 6 2/3 innings giving up all 4 of the Padres runs as Aaron Fultz (1-0) retired the only batter he faced to end the inning.  Geoff Geary (6-0) pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Phils to pick up his 6th victory.  Thompson left the game after 6 innings as Alan Embree (3-2) and Scott Linebrink (6-2, 2.70 ERA, S1) held the Phils scoreless in the 7th and  8th innings setting the stage for the Phils’ 9th inning.

Facing closer Trevor Hoffman in the 9th, pinch hitter Shane Victorino (4 HRs, 271  BA) led off by being hit by a pitch and taking 1st base.  He advanced to 2nd base as Hoffman walked 2nd baseman Chase Utley (16 HRs, 56 RBIs, .318 BA).  Abreu then doubled to center driving in both Victorino and Utley to give the Phils and the margin of victory 5-4.  Hoffman was yanked and replaced by Jon Adkins (1-1) who intentionally walked Ryan Howard (31 HRs, 78 RBIs, .283 BA) and got centerfielder Aaron Rowand (9 HRs, 34 RBIs, .260 BA) to ground into a doubleplay, with Howard being out at 2nd base.  He then retired 3rd baseman David Bell (5 HRs, 30 RBIs, .274 BA) on a fly out to center to end the inning.

                             

Phils closer Tom Gordon (3-3, 2.06 ERA, S22) took over for Geary in the 9th and within an eye-blink the game was over on a strikeout, a fly out and a pop up, with Gordon earning a save. 

For a full recap including box score and play-by-play on Wednesday’s game, click here.

                          

Chase Utley went 2 for 4 in the game, extending his career best hitting streak to 21 games, the longest current streak in the majors.

As mentioned above, Trevor Hoffman’s blown save was, including the All Star game, his 3rd in 4 save opportunity appearances.  He, as with ANY closer who generally enters the game in the late innings, is like the hockey goaltender, the last line of defense with the game on the line.  For context as to what a save is and the Major League Rule regarding saves, click here.

                  

Hoffman’s got to reverse this unwanted streak lest he fall down a steep, slippery slope where the team gradually dreads his appearances.  Such was the case with the Phillies and closer Mitch Williams in 1993.  In ‘93, this dread got to a point where Curt Schilling would bury his face in a towel so as to not watch the predicaments Williams would work himself into.

The Phils have an open day on Thursday before heading home for a crucial, must-win 4 game series beginning Friday against the Atlanta Braves who have won 8 of their last 10 games and who have overtaken the Phils for 2nd place in the NL East by 1 game.  The Phils open on Friday with Cory Lidle (6-7) going against John Smoltz (7-5) for the Braves.

                                     

For full coverage of Thursday’s games in both leagues; previews, recaps, box scores and play-by-play coverage click here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 20th, 2006 at 5:27 am and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.