Phillies Edged by Braves as Offense Silent
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Centerfielder Shane Victorino took a collar, his hitting streak coming to a screeching halt at 11 games. 2nd baseman Chase Utley and 1st baseman Ryan Howard each had 2 hits but the offense could only muster 2 runs on 6 hits. Lefthander Cole Hamels fared well in his rematch with Mike Hampton aside from his crucial error; an errant third inning pick-off attempt which cost a run as the Braves edged the Phillies by 3-2 in Tuesday’s game 2.
The Phillies lost a game off their first place lead and are now 1 1/2 games ahead in the NL East with their win Monday as Johan Santana pitched the Mets to a win over the NL Central Division Champs, the Chicago Cubs. The 3rd place Marlins remained 7 1/2 games off the pace in the division with their loss to the Nationals. The Mets lead over the Brewers remained a game in NL Wildcard race as the Brewers had the day off. The Marlins are in 4th place tie with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild card chase 6 games back.
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston recaps the game for Yahoo sports;
The Braves led 1-0 on [Kelly] Johnson’s RBI single to center in the first.
The Phillies made it 1-1 in the second when [Pedro] Feliz poked an RBI single to right. But again, they wasted another prime scoring opportunity when Victorino grounded into a double play an at bat earlier.
Hamels (14-10) was shaky early and the power pitcher committed a throwing error that led to an unearned run in the third inning.
Hamels’ blunder in the third cost him an unearned run.
Johnson led off the third with a single that smacked off the “Phillies” on Howard’s jersey and got away from the first baseman. He moved to second on a single. Johnson tried to steal third and Hamels would have easily nailed him, but the pitcher’s wild throw went into foul territory for an error and Atlanta went up 2-1.
“I think that’s not why I’m a professional quarterback,” Hamels said.
While Hamels stumbled defensively, Hampton had some nifty help in the third to get bailed out of a jam and keep a 2-1 lead.
Chase Utley doubled with two outs [in the Phillies’ third inning], Jayson Werth reached on an error and Howard walked to load the bases. [Pat] Burrell, who hit a three-run homer in Monday’s win, hit a foul pop and hard-charging third baseman Martin Prado made a fantastic catch over the railing in front of Atlanta’s dugout.
Hamels—who struck out seven in seven innings—settled down and retired 10 straight to keep the Phillies in the game. But [Casey] Kotchman’s second homer with the Braves (he hit 12 for Los Angeles) in the sixth inning made it 3-1.
The Phillies twice had serious shots at big innings against the oft-injured Hampton (3-3). They left the bases loaded in the third and ran themselves out of a rally in the sixth to lose for only the second time in 12 games.
Hampton pitched out of a pair of jams and allowed only two runs in six innings to win for the first time since Aug. 16, against San Francisco. Kelly Johnson extended his career-best hitting streak to 21 games.
“It was the best cutter I’ve had this year,” Hampton said. “It felt good to have a quality pitch working.”
Philadelphia trailed 3-1 in the sixth when Ryan Howard led off with a liner to the right-field corner that scooted away from Jeff Francoeur and resulted in a triple. Pat Burrell followed with a double off the center field wall just a couple of bat lengths away from the 409-foot sign to make it 3-2.
The fans went wild and whipped around their towels, hopeful their enthusiasm would help spur the Phillies to take the lead.
Instead, Burrell was caught between second and third on a grounder to short and tagged out. Shane Victorino, who reached on the fielders’ choice, was caught stealing second, and Pedro Feliz grounded out to end the inning.
“We’re in the same mood,” Howard said. “There isn’t any reason to panic.”
That was all for Hampton, who allowed six hits and two runs in his best attempt at playing pennant race spoiler.
“He shows you that he still can pitch,” Manuel said.
Mike Gonzalez worked the ninth for his 14th save. He was the last of three Atlanta relievers—and none of them allowed a hit over three scoreless innings.
Notes: The Phillies ended their club-record streak of consecutive games with a homer at 18.
The Phillies offense needs to get over Tuesday’s off-game and move forward. I saw a comment on one the blogs that noted that as quickly as this team heats up, that’s how quickly they can freeze over. Brett Myers needs a career outing on Wednesday and the offense needs to come through, the big bats need to produce yet again in the clutch for this club to make the Division title happen.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.
In Wednesday’s must-win final Brett Myers faces 2nd year lefthander Jo-Jo Reyes who was pounded in his previous start against the Phils in late July.
After the Braves, the Phillies finish out the regular season by entertaining the Washington Nationals for the final 3 games.
Important to note: After spliting the first 2 games of the series, the Mets throw on-again, off-again Oliver Perez against Cubs’ ace Carlos Zambrano on Wednesday and an over-the-hill Pedro Martinez against Rich Harden on Thursday . Then they have to play their final 3 games against the Marlins with the Milwaukee Brewers breathing down the Mets’ throats for the wild card spot as the NL East race reaches its climax.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.
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