After a 4 1/2 hour rain delay in D.C., the Phillies wild card chances began “slip-sliddin’ away” due to an inert, enemic offense in Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.

The loss left the Phils trailing  the L.A. Dodgers by two games back in the NL wild-card race with only three games remaining to be played.

While the Phillies were losing to the Nationals, losing 2 of 3 in their series, the Dodgers were engaged in a wild game with the Colorado Rockies which the Dodgers finally won 19-11 for their fourth straight win.  As things stand on Friday, any combination of Dodger wins or Phils losses totalling 2 jetison’s the Phils and leaves the Dodgers in possession of the NL wild card berth.

Both starters, losing pitcher Jon Lieber (9-11) for the Phillies and lefthander Mike O’Connor (4-8) for the Nationals pitched well for 5 1/3 and 5 innings respectively.   Lieber’s line was 3 runs, 7 hits and 2 strikeouts plus 1 homer allowed, while O’Connor, who was not in on the final decision, gave up 1 run, 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 3.

The Nationals got on the board 1st in the 2nd inning on a solo homer by rightfielder Ryan Church (9 HRs, 33 RBIs, .265 BA) who has roughed up Phillies pitching throughout this series. 

The Phils knotted the score, with 2 outs in the 5th inning, as O’Connor walked 3rd baseman Abraham Nunez (2 HRs, 29 RBIs) and pitcher Lieber followed with a basehit to left centerfield. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins (25 HRs, 82 RBIs, .279 BA) reached on 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s (20 HRs, 109 RBIs, .289 BA) fielding error as Nunez scored and Lieber took second base.   However, centerfielder Shane Victorino (6 HRs, 43 RBIs, .281 BA) fouled out to the 1st baseman to end the inning.  

In the 6th, the Nationals scored the winning runs as they loaded the bases with none out.  Lieber then retired 1st baseman Jose Vidro (7 HRs, 47 RBIs, .287 BA) on a line out to the second base.  Manuel then went to lefthanded reliever Aaron Fultz (3-1) to face catcher Brian Schneider (4 HRs, 55 RBIs) who has also killed the Phillies during this series.  Schneider came through again, this time with a 2 run single to right field.  Both runs were charged to Lieber.   Fultz then retired the next 2 hitters to end the inning.

From there, both bullpens took over shut down the opposition as it was lights out for the Phillies from here.  Washington’s lefthanded reliever Billy Traber (4-3), who pitched the 6th inning was awarded the win.  Reliever Jon Rauch (4-4, 3.32 ERA, S2) pitched the 9th inning and was awarded the save.

The Phils left 4 on base and could have used some of the runners that they stranded in the previous 2 games.

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

The Phillies now find themselves in a precarious position regarding the wild card berth in trailing the Dodgers by 2 games as they arrive in Florida for the final 3 games of the season with the Marlins.  They MUST sweep the Marlins and hope for a least 1 Dodger loss in order to gain the NL wild card berth. 

The Phils open the series with late season acquisition, lefthander Jamie Moyer (10-14) who has already won 2 games against the Marlins in September.  The Marlins counter with Brian Moehler (7-10) who has gone 1-1 against the Phils in September, the more recent game being the 8-6 Phils win 6 days ago.

For full coverage of all of Friday’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 Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 7:50 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.