After being rained out on Tuesday, on Wednesday Phillies lefthander Randy Wolf (3-0) faced Houston’s veteran lefthander Andy Pettite (13-13) in a pitchers duel where they each gave up 2 runs in 6 innings of work.  In the end, Houston scored 3 runs in the 9th inning while the Phils scored only 1 in the bottom of the 9th as the Astros won by a 5-3 score.

The Astros went up early on Wolf with a run in 1st on 1st baseman Lance Berkman’s (37 HRs, 116 RBIs, .308 BA) RBI double and a run in the 4th on an RBI single by catcher Brian Ausmus (2 HRs, 34 RBIs).

The Phils got a run back in the 5th inning catcher Carlos Ruiz’s (2 HRs, 4 RBIs) solo shot and drew even in the 6th inning as rightfielder Jeff Conine (9 HRs, 53 RBIs, .265 BA) forced in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder with the bases loaded.  Both runs were given up by starter Pettite. 

Although both Wolf and Pettite pitched fine ballgames, neither was in on the final decision.  Wolf was replaced to start the 7th inning and Pettite was pulled when he ran into 1 out trouble giving up 2 consecutive basehits.

The score remained knotted a 2-2 through the 7th and 8th innings as each bullpen shut down the opposition.

Phils reliever and losing pitcher Ryan Madison (10-9) retired the Astros in order in the 8th but ran into deep trouble in the 9th loading the bases with 1 out on 2 singles and a walk.  He then managed to strike out 2nd baseman Craig Biggio (18 HRs, 50 RBIs) for the 2nd out.  But then Berkman cleared the bases with a 3 run double and Houston took a 5-2 lead.  Madison was yanked and replaced by Fabio Castro (0-0, 1.86 ERA) who got the final out.

In the bottom of the 9th, with 2 on and 1 out, shortstop  Jimmy Rollins (19 hrs, 66 RBIs, .281 BA) singled driving in a run but was out trying to stretch it to a double.  Centerfielder Shane Victorino (6 HRs, 40 RBIs, .294 BA) ended the game by grounding out to first.

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

The Phils now head to Florida for a pivotal 4 game series with the hot Marlins who are fresh off of rookie pitcher  Anibal Sanchez’s (7-2, 2.89 ERA) 2-0 no hit victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In Thursday’s opener, Jon Lieber (6-9) goes for the Phils vs Josh Johnson (12-6, 2.99 ERA) for the Marlins.

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

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 4:25 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.