Braves Upend Phillies in Finale on 7 Late Inning Runs
|
|
|
|
|
Clouds in my coffee. That’s what that four game sweep of NL East leading Mets looks like now, 2 wins and 4 losses later. And that’s what this Kyle Kendrick 5 inning start and the Phillies 5-0 and 8-2 leads look like after the Braves scored 4 runs in the 8th inning, and another 3 in the 9th. Clouds in my coffee, after closer Brett Myers got pounded, blowing an 8-6 lead, after retiring the first two hitters he faced in the 9th inning as the Braves rallied to defeat the Phillies by a 9-8 score on leftfielder Matt Diaz’s 3 run walk-off double to rightfield which “skidded off the tip of Chris Robertson’s glove with the bases loaded.”
Clouds in my coffee. That’s what our high hopes of January and February are looking like as the curtain seems to be quickly closing and the season is getting away from the Phillies due to a bullpen which is consistent in one thing only; consistent inability to hold big leads, or any lead at all. And I don’t even drink coffee!
In this latest bullpen debacle, the Phillies not only blew this game but remained 5 games behind the Mets, blowing a chance to pick up a game on the NL East leaders who were rounded defeated, shut out by Cincinnati who salvaged the finale of their series by a 7-0 score as rookie Tom Shearn and the Reds bullpen combined for a 3 hitter and John Maine’s record dropped to 14-9 after being tagged for 6 runs on 9 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The Phils also lost ground in the NL wild card race dropping to 3 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks who defeated the San Diego Padres by a 9-6 score. The Phils are now tied for 2nd place in the wild card race with the L.A. Dodgers.
Neither Kendrick nor 15 game winner Tim Hudson were around for the final decision. Kendrick tossed 86 pitches, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits while issuing no walks and striking out 2, before getting into a none-out jam in the 6th inning and being pulled for J.C. Romero and Kane Davis who retired the side as the Phils got away with only the 2 Braves runs. Hudson was pounded for 5 runs on 11 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4.
AP Sports Writer Paul Newberry recaps the scoring for Yahoo sports;
“I’m not believing that,” said Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel… “I totally can’t believe that. I’ve never seen that — ever. It’s mind-boggling.”
Pat Burrell hit his 25th homer in the second, a two-out drive over the center-field wall that put Philadelphia ahead 5-0.
Kyle Kendrick breezed through the first five innings, allowing just three hits. The Braves finally broke through in the sixth, knocking out the rookie with three straight hits that included [Willie] Harris’ leadoff homer.
The Phillies escaped with a 5-2 lead when Aaron Rowand raced over from center to make a sliding catch on [Jeff] Francoeur’s blooper toward left, then Andruw Jones struck out against Kane Davis.
The Phillies added three more in the seventh off Oscar Villareal for an 8-2 lead. Rafael Soriano (3-3) got the win with a scoreless ninth.
Atlanta sent 10 hitters to the plate in the eighth, scoring four runs off Tom Gordon. But it looked like another frustrating finish for the Braves when Kelly Johnson popped out on a 2-0 pitch from Myers with the bases loaded, then Chipper Jones hit a lazy fly to left for the third out, slamming his bat in disgust.
Gordon blamed himself for letting the Braves back in the game.
“It’s devastating,” he said. “We need to win those kind of games. I take responsibility for it.”
The Braves’ chances looked slim when Brett Myers (3-6) retired the first two hitters in the ninth with an 8-6 lead. But Jeff Francoeur and Martin Prado hustled to beat out infield hits, and Yunel Escobar walked to load the bases.
Myers struck out Mark Teixeira to start the ninth, and Brayan Pena grounded out to first. Francoeur hit a grounder past third that shortstop Jimmy Rollins fielded in the outfield grass, giving him no chance to throw out the runner. Prado followed with a high hopper off the plate, just beating Myers’ throw to first, which pulled Ryan Howard off the bag anyway.
That brought up Diaz, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh. He went the opposite way with a liner that eluded Roberson’s lunging attempt and stuck at the base of the wall.
Roberson hit the relay man, but the throw home was up the first-base line. Escobar slid across with the winning run, thrusting his right index finger toward the stands. Diaz, who had just rounded second, pumped his fists and was mobbed by his teammates in a wild pile beside the pitcher’s mound.
“When I got it in the air, I thought I got too much,” Diaz said. “I didn’t realize how shallow he was playing.”
Manuel remained on the top step of the dugout for at least a minute, watching the celebration and subtly shaking his head. Finally, he headed for the clubhouse.
“It didn’t look good,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “But we did it.”
“It happened so fast,” Myers said. “The game got out of control: cheap hits, balls falling in.”
As if Wednesday’s loss and the Phils’ bullpen woes weren’t sufficient bad news, MLB.com’s Ken Mandel reports;
Cole Hamels acknowledged Tuesday that his return will depend on his team’s place in the standings as well as his ailing left elbow.
If the Phillies have fallen too far out of playoff contention, “I don’t think it would serve a purpose (to return),” Hamels said. “It would be too much of a risk, unless we’re going for something. The goal is to finish the season healthy, whether it’s two or three starts, but that all depends on our chances for the playoffs.”
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on this and all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
The Phillies have the day off on Thursday before heading home to start a 3 game series against the Florida Marlins followed by a 4 game set against the Colorado Rockies.
Friday’s opener against Florida is a rematch as J.D. Durbin faces Byung-Hyun Kim who went 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 10 hits as the Marlins defeated the Phillies’ on September 1 by a 12-6 score as Durbin got noone out and was chased in the first inning.
On Saturday, Adam Eaton faces the Marlins for 2nd ime in 6 days and is opposed by rookie Rick VandenHurk who was pounded for 5 runs on 6 hits in 2 1/3 inings on August 7th in his only previous appearance against the Phils.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on all of Thursday’s games, click here.
del.icio.us |
digg |
Furl |
Reddit |
YahooMyWeb |