45 year lefthander Jamie Moyer gave up 6 runs on 9 hits in three innings in his shortest outing in three years.  But shortstop Jimmy Rollins, 5 for 7 with a homer, a double, 3 stolen bases and 3 RBIs, led the Phillies comeback against oft-injured 37 year old Pedro Martinez and the porous Mets bullpen.  After the Phils tied the score in the ninth, catcher Chris Coste, who pinch-hit and replaced Carlos Ruiz, smacked a bases-loaded 1 out walk-off single to centerfield to win by an 8-7 score.

By winning, the Phils took over the NL East division lead over the Mets by 1/2 game. The 3rd place Florida Marlins suffered a heartbreaking 10-9 loss to the 4th place Braves after holding 6-3, 8-4 and 9-6 leads.  The Marlins are 6 games back and the Braves are 15 games behind.

One of the best Phillies blogs going, Phillies Nation’s Tim Malcolm succinctly describes the Phils’ comeback;

As they’ve done all season, the Phillies bullpen shut down an offense, this time for nine scoreless frames. And it was the whole bullpen — Clay Condrey for 2.1, Scott Eyre for 1.2, Chad Durbin for one, Brad Lidge for one, Ryan Madson for two, JC Romero for one, Rudy Seanez for one. The full line: 10 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K. Sparkling.

The bullpen allowed a Phillies comeback. They started off Pedro Martinez, who pitched well, but is no longer reliable to win games.  Pedro Feliz knocked home Shane Victorino with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, unlikely hero Clay Condrey led off with a double, and Jimmy Rollins smoked a two-run home run into right field. 7-3. Then Chase Utley walked, and two batters later, Ryan Howard launched a left-field homer. 7-5. We had a game.

Brian Stokes held the Phillies during the middle innings, but the Phils met a few of their best friends starting in the eighth. First:  Duaner Sanchez. A Carlos Ruiz single and change to lefties took him out for Pedro Feliciano. Lefty Greg Dobbs promptly singled, leading to a Rollins single to make it 7-6. Rollins had five straight hits to open the game…

The Phillies were erased in the eighth (thanks Pat Burrell, 0-for-7), and it was Luis Ayala’s turn to stop the Phils and end the game. It seemed certain with two quick outs, but Jayson Werth kept it alive with a single. In came Eric Bruntlett, the most unlikely candidate to bring home a run from first base. But he did — double in the gap, scoring Werth (with thanks to a bad reception by Brian Schneider). 7-7.

The Phils came up big when the Mets threatened. In the eleventh, Werth gunned David Wright, who was trying to stretch a single into a double with two outs. In the twelfth, Howard robbed Ryan Church of a hit.

All of it set up the 13th, led off by the burgeoning leader,  [Shane] Victorino. His hustle triple forced the Mets to load the bases with no outs.  Brett Myers, the eager pinch hitter, played dummy and almost won the game by walking [Myers went down on a called 3rd strike] in a genius call by Charlie Manuel. With one down, up stepped Coste, and the game finally ended.

AP sports writer Rob Maaddi amplifies on Myers’ 13th inning at bat for Yahoo sports;

Myers did his best in the batter’s box to distract Schoeneweis, digging in, bailing out and looking pitches all the way into the catcher’s mitt.

“I think the whole ballpark knew he wasn’t going to swing, but he put on a good show,” Coste said. “It was intimidating in the on-deck circle.”

To get an idea of how clutch these guys were offensively, check out the box score and play-by-play.

Here though are some glimpses;

Jimmy Rollins   : 5 for 7 — a homer, a double, 3 stolen bases, 3 RBIs
Ryan Howard    : 1 for 6 — a homer, 2 RBIs
Jayson Werth   : 3 for 5
Eric Bruntlett    : 2 for 2 — a double, 1 RBI
Clay Condrey  : 1 at bat — 1 broken-bat double
Chris Coste     : 4 for 4 — a double, the winning RBI

AP’s Rob Maaddi provides this Phillies’ trivia;

Rollins’ last five-hit game was June 16, 2005 at Seattle. He’s done it four times. … Philadelphia had a season-high six steals, including three by Rollins.

Needless to say, neither starter was a factor in the final win/loss decision.  Rudy Seanez who retired the Mets in order in the thirteenth inning was credited with his 5th win vs 3 losses.  Scott Schoeneweis, whose 2nd pitch to Coste with the sacks jammed was rifled into centerfield to win the game, was charged with the loss.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.

On Wednesday, young Kyle Kendrick is opposed by Johan Santana.  The Phillies swept the Mets in 4 games at home last August 27-30.

The Phils then hit the road for perhaps the most important 10 games of the season; 4 against the Central division leading Chicago Cubs to finish off August, followed by 3 vs the Washington Nationals and 3 in New York against the Mets.  Can lightning strike twice in the upcoming 2nd game at home with the Mets and in the 4 game series in New York in early September?

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games,  click here.

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Brett Myers pitched 7 innings giving up 9 hits while walking 3 but combined with the Phillies bullpen to shut out the Dodgers who left 13 men on base and couldn’t plate runs.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 3 and drove in 2 of the Phils’ 5 runs enroute to Monday’s 5-0 sweep win.

With the win over the Dodgers, the Phils remained 1/2 game back in the NL East division race as the Mets won their series final to split their 4 games the  Houston Astros. The 3rd place Florida Marlins, who are 5 1/2 back, and the 4th place Braves, who are 15 1/2 games back, both had Monday off.

Myers’ 7th win vs 10 losses was gritty in emerging unscathed over seven innings as 12 Dodgers reached against him.   He threw 110 pitches.

AP sportswriter Rob Maaddi describes Myers’ game for Yahoo sports;

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” [Manny] Ramirez said. “That guy is nasty.”

Myers tossed seven gritty innings… and the Philadelphia Phillies completed their first four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 23 years with a 5-0 win Monday night.

Philadelphia remained a half-game behind the NL East-leading New York Mets with its eighth victory in 10 games since losing four straight at Dodger Stadium. The Mets visit Tuesday for a two-game set.

“It means we have to go get two more,” Rollins said. “It’s no more important than the four games we have in Chicago after. Every game is the playoffs right now.”

It was the Phillies’ first four-game sweep over the Dodgers since  Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, 1985, at Los Angeles. Philadelphia had never swept the Dodgers in a four-game series at home.

Coming off his first shutout in four years, Myers (7-10) ran his scoreless innings streak to 16. He allowed nine hits, struck out eight and walked three.

J.C. Romero worked the eighth and Clay Condrey finished the 13-hitter. Only two teams have had more hits without scoring a run in a nine-inning game: The New York Giants got 14 hits in a 7-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 14, 1913, and the  Cleveland Indians had 14 hits in a 9-0 loss to the Washington Senators on July 10, 1928.

“You draw it up and the law of averages says you’re going to score some runs, but you can’t depend on that,” Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said.

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (12-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings.

Myers pitched out of jams all night. The toughest came in the seventh when Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out. But the right-hander fanned Jeff Kent and retired Ramirez on a liner to deep right to preserve a 3-0 lead.

Offensively, Rollins followed rightfielder Jayson Werth’s 2nd inning lead-off walk, 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s infield single, catcher Chris Coste’s line-out to 3rd base and Myers’ sacrifice bunt with a 2 run single off of Billingsley to put the first 2 runs on the board.

The 3rd run scored in the fifth on leftfielder Pat Burrell’s ground doubleplay after Rollins opened the inning with a double to right and went to 3rd on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s single to right. 

The final 2 Phillies runs came in the seventh inning Werth singled in Ryan Howard who had doubled to center to open the inning.  With 1 out, Werth advanced to 2nd base on Feliz’s to leftfield and scored from 2nd on Coste’s bouncer to second to cap the Phillies scoring.

Billingsley gave up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 5 and striking out 3 through six innings in losing his 10th game vs 12 wins.  He threw 107 pitches.

The Phillies successfully kept leftfielder Manny Ramirez out of the Dodgers’ offense throughout the series.  Ramirez was woeful going 2 for 14 with no RBIs as opposed to going 4 for 11 with a homer and 5 RBIs in the Dodgers’ seep of the Phils in L.A.  He was woeful this time on the bases and in the field.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.

The Mets follow the Dodgers into Philly for a brief, but important 2 games.  Two veterans hook up in Tuesday’s opener as 45 year lefthander Jamie Moyer is opposed by oft-injured 37 year old Pedro Martinez.  On Wednesday, young  Kyle Kendrick is opposed by Mets’ ace lefthander Johan Santana.  The Phillies swept the Mets in 4 games at home last August 27-30.

The Phils then hit the road for perhaps the most important 10 games of the season; 4 against the Central division leading Chicago Cubs to finish off August, followed by 3 vs the Washington Nationals and 3 in New York against the Mets.  Can lightning strike twice in the upcoming brief 2 games at home with the Mets and in the 4 game series in New York in early September?

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.

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6 Days ago on August 12th, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona watched his team blow 10-0, 12-2 and 14-10 leads to the Texas Rangers, saw DH David Ortiz’s 2 first inning 3 run homers nearly go for naught and surely must’ve wished that he had New England Patriot’s field goal kicker  Stephen Gostkowski under contract as 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis came to the plate with 2 on and 2 out in the eighth inning of a 16-16 game.

But Youkilis came through with a 3 run blast to leftfield, as good as a field goal, for his 2nd homer of the game capping a 4 run Red Sox eighth. Closer Jonathan Papelbon held off the desperate Rangers in the ninth as the BoSox came out on top by 19-17 in one of the wilder games in MLB history.

One would have to go back to some of the wilder Wrigley Field games to find its like.

The two team totals sure seemed like a football game; 36 runs, 37 hits.

25 year old Ranger converted former reliever Scott Feldman felt the brunt of a 10 run Boston bat-around explosion in the first inning.   Miraculously, Feldman was kept in the game long enough to get stung with 2 more Red Sox runs in the third.

Meanwhile, Red Sox rookie starter 29 year old Charlie Zink managed to get through four innings giving up only 2 runs before his roof caved in the fifth to the tune of 6 Ranger runs with two other relievers were charged with 2 more runs in the 8 run inning.   The pitch counts for both starters was astronomical.  Feldman tossed 90 pitches in 2 2/3 innings while Zink threw 85 in 4 1/3 innings.

The play-by-play as well as AP Sports Writer Howard Ulman’s report for Yahoo sports describes the ebb and flow of the game.

The game saw a parade of 9 relievers, 4 for Texas and 5 for Boston as Texas reliever Frank Francisco coughed up Boston’s winning 4 run eighth inning to get nailed with the loss.   2nd year lefthander Hideki Okajima was credited with the win by stopping Texas getting the final 2 outs of the seventh and going clean in the eighth.  Papelbon was credited 32nd save in 36 chances.

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Joe Blanton and the Phillies bullpen outpointed Paul Maholm and the  Pirates bullpen for 11 innings as only 6 Pirates reached base, 2 on hits and 4 on walks. But recent call-up Les Walrond was clubbed in the 12th inning while the Phils offense continued its hibernation as Pittsburgh shut them out 2-0 in Friday’s series opener.

With the loss, the Phillies 1st place lead in the NL East slipped to 1 games over the Mets and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Marlins as the Mets shut out the Marlins.  The 4th place Braves, who again defeated Arizona, are now 8 games back in the division.  It is an absolute must for the Phillies to take their mext 2 games from the Pirates lest either the Mets or Marlins overtake them.

The Phils enemic offense, scoreless for 23 straight innings, wasted a brilliant effort by Joe Blanton. Imitation, or in blogosphere — repetition is the sincerest form of flattery and Phillies Nations’ Tim Malcolm best described Blanton’s effort, the effort of the Phil’s bullpen and the ongoing mystery about the Phils’ missing offense;

…Give a huge hand to Joe Blanton. Kentucky Joe threw a one-hitter in seven innings, walking two and striking out seven. All four of his pitches were working. He spotted his fastball. He induced easy outs and got a few called strikeouts. Simply put, he was as dominant as he could’ve been.

And it’s sad. His great effort was wasted. As was Chad Durbin’s (1.1 IP, 0 ER), JC Romero’s (1.1 IP, 0 ER) and — well, even though he loaded the bases in the 10th — Brad Lidge (0.1 IP, 0 ER). The pitching was not an issue at all. By the time Les Walrond took the mound for his second inning of work, you couldn’t fault the Phils’ pitching for giving up runs. I mean, two runs against isn’t that bad.

All of the blame goes to the offense.  The middle of the order went 0-for-13. Yet again, Eric Bruntlett was a hole at the plate. When the Phils got hits and walks, they couldn’t get the runners home. Count the outcomes — Pat Burrell’s pop up to end a bases-loaded threat to possibly win it;  Chase Utley leaving seven on base; of course, the play that ended the game, with Shane Victorino being doubled up after a great diving catch by Brandon Moss.

Charlie, Isn’t it time for another meeting?   Here are some other pertinent stats from the Beerleaguer blog on the deep trance which is the current state of the Phillies’ offense;

Zero-for-nine with runners in scoring position, six hits total, 22 left stranded. A combined 2-for-36 with runners in scoring position over their last four games. A total of 17 runs in August.

The bottom-line is that the Phillies had runners on in ten of the twelve innings against both Maholm and the Pirates bullpen but couldn’t push anything home.  Those with a strong-stomach can check out the play-by-play by clicking here.  It’s too disgusting to go into.  Aside from the 0-fer-the 3, 4, and 5 hitters in the Phils’ lineup, the gapping offensive hole at 3rd base due to Pedro Feliz’s stint on the DL with lower back inflammation is beyond apparent.

Both starters left after 7 innings.  Maholm, who threw 116 pitches, gave up 5 hits while walking 3 and striking out 10.   Blanton, who threw one of the finest games of his career to date, threw 105 pitches.

But things all came down to the twelfth inning with Walrond giving up doubles to catcher Ryan Doumit and rightfielder Steve Pearce for 1 Bucs’ run and then being charged for the 2nd run when Clay Condrey gave up a single to load the bases followed by 2nd baseman Freddy Sanchez’s RBI single.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s games, click here.

On Saturday, Brett Myers is opposed by Ian Snell.  In Sunday’s final, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer tries again for his 11th win opposed by  Jason Davis.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s games, click here.

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Nearly 2 years ago, I blogged about Detroit Tigers veteran 43 year lefthander Kenny Rogers and the discoloration on his left hand exhibited in the first inning the Tigers’ 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in game 2 of the 2006 World Series.

The Cards went on to win the series by 4 games to 1, Rogers never got a 2nd start and it was never really established whether or not Rogers had a foreign substance on his left hand in the game, i.e. pine tar.

But two Hall of Famers were involved in one of the most infamous episodes in Major League Baseball history — The ‘Pine Tar Incident.’

That incident was recalled by both Hall of Famers; Kansas City Royals 3rd baseman George Brett and Goose Gossage, then closer for the New York Yankees, on Thursday, July 24, the event’s 25th anniversary.

Baseball Library describes the scene in the ninth inning at Yankee stadium;

George Brett hits an apparent 2-run home run off Rich Gossage to give the Royals a 5-4 lead with 2 outs in the 9th inning‚ only to have it taken away when Yankees manager Billy Martin‚ at the urging of coach Don Zimmer‚ points out that the pine tar on Brett’s bat handle exceeds the 17 inches allowed in the rules. As a result‚ Brett is called out for illegally batting the ball‚ giving New York a 4-3 victory. Brett goes ballistic a the Royals immediately protest‚ and AL President Lee MacPhail overrules his umpires for the first time saying that‚ while the rules should certainly be rewritten and clarified‚ the home run will stand…

The game resumed from the point of Brett’s homer on August 18th as also described by Baseball Library;

In the continuation of the “Pine Tar Game‚” Hal McRae strikes out for the last KC out and Dan Quisenberry retires the Yankees in order in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the Royals’ 5-4 victory. The conclusion takes just 12 minutes (and 16 pitches)…

MLB.com’s Mychael Urban recounts a more personal side of the event;

It happened 25 years ago, but the Hall of Fame principals involved remember it like it was yesterday.

With his Royals down a run with two outs in the ninth inning, with the most feared closer in the game on the mound, Brett hit a two-run homer off Goose Gossage.

But that’s not what Brett’s boys want to watch over and over … and over again. They want to see their old man in the most passionate display of on-field snappage ever seen.

this … this was truly epic.

“He was the maddest human being I think I’ve ever seen,” Gossage says now. “Maddest baseball player I’ve ever seen, for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone madder than George Brett at that moment in time.”

You’ve seen it on ballpark blooper reels and countless television shows counting down the biggest sports meltdowns of all-time. If it’s not atop the list, it’s at least in the top three.

“In the top three?” Gossage asks incredulously. “I’d say it’s number one, two and three combined!”

After Brett returned to the Royals dugout, Yankees manager Billy Martin asked home-plate umpire Tim McClelland to inspect the bat with which Brett had goosed the Goose. McClelland obliged, found the pine tar to be excessively illegal under baseball’s rules, turned to the Royals dugout, pointed the bat at Brett and raised his fist.

That dramatic home run? Just another out. The game was over.

But the show had just begun. Brett bounced off the dugout bench as if shot from a cannon, a ball of bug-eyed fury aimed directly at McClelland.

Never mind that McClelland was 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, protected by all sorts of ump armor and holding a large wooden stick. Brett wanted a piece of the big man, and it took the spirited efforts of several players to keep their enraged teammate from trying to get at him.

“I have no idea what I’d have done if nobody stopped me, but it wouldn’t have been pretty,” Brett concedes.

So indelible are the images of the incident, it even has its own Wikipedia page, and rarely does a day go by that Brett or Gossage or both aren’t asked about it.

“If I’ve heard the words ‘pine tar’ once, I’ve heard them nine million times,” says Brett, a 1999 Hall of Fame inductee.

Gossage, who formally joins the game’s immortals in Cooperstown this Sunday, rolls his eyes and says, “I’d like to forget it, to be honest with you, but people won’t let me.”

Truth be told, many people have long forgotten why Gossage would prefer to put it to rest. The Royals appealed McClelland’s call, and it was eventually overturned. The game was resumed on Aug. 18, with the home run back on the board, and the 5-4 lead it gave the Royals held up as the winner.

While Brett was going ballistic, Gossage says, “I was out there laughing my head off. I thought it was hilarious.”

Alas, he adds, “George got the last laugh. He hit a game-winning homer and I got a blown save and a loss.”

True, Brett says, but the homer isn’t what most people remember. It’s the sight of the maniac in powder blue bolting onto the field.

Were it not for Hal McRae, Brett notes, the enduring memory of him might be the posterior problems he suffered during the 1980 playoffs.

McRae was on-deck when the Pine Tar Incident started to unfold and heard Martin yelling for the bat. If McRae had reacted quickly enough and tossed the bat into the Royals dugout, the whole thing might never have happened.

“I’m actually thankful to Hal for that,” Brett says with a chuckle. “Otherwise I’d be known as the guy with hemorrhoids.”

Brett retired 10 years after the Pine Tar Incident, Gossage a year after Brett. But they never spoke to each other about it during their playing days. In fact, they didn’t speak at all.

“I didn’t like Brett,” Gossage admits. “I didn’t like any hitters. I had tremendous respect for him, but I couldn’t stand George Brett back then.”

“I never said a word to Goose when we were playing,” Brett confirms. “I played with him in All-Star Games, played against him in All-Star Games, played against him in Yankee Stadium, and played against him when he was with other American League teams, but I never said a word to him.”

And now?

“I love him. Love him to death,” Gossage gushed. “Greatest hitter I ever faced in his prime when I was in my prime.”

And, apparently, an awfully good sport.

                                         

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Make that 11 wins and a tie for the American League in the last 12 All Star Games as Seattle Mariners perennial All Star centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki worked his annual trash-talking magic against the National League yet again, as he’s done each All Star Game since 2001.  It took fifteen innings this time as the Americans pushed in a run on a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the fifteenth inning to edge the Nationals by a 4-3 score.

Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge got into 1 out,  bases loaded jam as Minnesota Twins 1st baseman Justin Morneau singled to shallow center,Texas Rangers 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler lined out to leftfield and Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro followed by singling to centerfield. Lidge then walked Boston Red Sox rightfielder J.D. Drew loading the bases.  Texas Ranger shortstop Michael Young then drove in Morneau with the winning run on a sacrifice fly to rightfield, with Morneau glazing his right foot onto the plate barely beating Milwaukee rightfielder Corey Hart’s throw and  Atlanta catcher Brian McCann’s tag, to end the 4 hour, 50 minute Yankee Stadium marathon.

Colorado Rockies rightfieder Matt Holliday got the National League on the board first with a fifth inninglead-off solo homer to rightfield off of L.A. Angels’ Erwin Santana.  In the sixth, the Nationals scored their 2nd run on  Houston 1st baseman Lance Berkman’s sacrifice fly to centerfield off of  Oakland A’s Justin Duchscherer after Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez singled to leftfield and went to 3rd on Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s single to right.

Boston rightfielder J.D. Drew tied up the game in the seventh with a 2 run shot to right off of Cincinnati’s Edwin Volquez.

The Nationals went ahead again in the eighth on San Diego Padres 1st baseman Adrian Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly to center scoring Astro shortstop  Miguel Tejada who had singled, stole 2nd base and took 3rd on a catcher’s throwing error.

Hanley Ramirez, Tejada and St. Louis Cardinals’ DH Albert Pujols all had 2 hits for the Nationals.  Drew and Morneau had 2 hits each for the Americans.

The Americans tied it up in their eighth inning on pinch hitter Tampa Bay 3rd baseman Evan Longoria’s ground rule double to leftfield off of Mets closer Billy Wagner scored Cleveland centerfielder Grady Sizemore who had singled to rightfield and stole 2nd base.

Then came extra innings and the Nationals eluding jams in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth innings, in spite of 3 errors by Florida 2nd baseman  Dan Uggla, 2 plays at the plate in the tenth and one in the elventh, before finally going down in the fifteenth. Lidge, who was the 11th National League pitcher used, was charged with the loss.  For play-by-play on the game,  click here. 

Suzuki, who won the 2007 All Star classic with an inside-the-park- homer and who again trash-talked the NL in the pre-game pep talk, was 1 for 3 with a harmless third inning lead-off single to rightfield off of Milwaukee’s starter Ben Sheets.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum notes these game facts for Yahoo sports;

Young got the winning hit off Trevor Hoffman in the 2006 All-Star game at Pittsburgh, and it gave the win to Tampa Bay’s  Scott Kazmir, the 12th AL pitcher.

Young’s winning fly also avoided a repeat of 2002, when the game at Milwaukee ended in a 7-7, 12-inning tie—and caused the commissioner’s office to expand the rosters.

Drew was picked as the MVP, with his two-run homer in the seventh made it 2-all. Being from Boston, he was booed when presented with his trophy.

“One of those undescribable events,” Drew said. “To be voted in by the players and to be in this position is really an honor.”

This game tied the NL’s 2-1, 15-inning victory in 1967 at Anaheim.

With the American League win, the AL has earned the home field advantage in the 2008 World Series under the recent MLB rule-change awarding home field advantage to the league winning the season’s All Star game.

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