Dugout may start calling Rick White to congratulate him if the relievers can ever record another out
September 26
2006
The
magical ride through September hit a bump in the road last night as the
Phillies fell for the first time in six games. For all they've
accomplished, they haven't done anything yet except put themselves right
into the middle of a dogfight. For every dramatic three run homer off the
bat of Chris Coste, Nomar is waiting in the wings to deliver another walkoff
blast for the Dodgers. The Phillies are doing everything they can to write
themselves a storybook ending. But this story isn't over.
A baseball game is so long that the missed opportunities are glaring in
every loss. Two pop ups with that bases loaded stymied the offense last
night. Those things will happen, and given the pixie dust the Phils have
been throwing around for the last two weeks they were due to have a couple
of breaks go against them. The thing to worry about is still the bullpen.
The hitters are going to hit. Not every night or in every situation, but
enough and consistently enough that over a span of games they are always
going to be the strength of the team. For most of this season the bullpen
was also a strength of this team, but by this point the disastrous starting
pitching of Madson and Floyd at the beginning of the season has taken it's
toll. Who is the guy that comes in out of the pen for the Phillies that
makes you feel comfortable at this point? For me it's nobody. I'd like to
believe that Geary and Smith and Gordon are still solid. Geary has already
given so much and couldn't get it done last night. Smith has been great,
but we've seen so little of him and he struggled last night for the first
time. Gordon is old and has had a great season, but he seems to be just
barely hanging on as well. The last time we saw him Manuel brought him in
to pitch the ninth with a four-run lead, which may be a good indication that
Charlie himself isn't feeling so comfortable with the guys out there at this
point.
There is good news, though. Lots of it. If the Phillies have shown you
anything this month it's that they're going to fight for every inch. More
important than that, they're just good. And they're not the only flawed
team around, there's 15 others in their league. For every walkoff grand
slam from Garciaparra there's an error by Furcal or a ball just out of the
reach of Lofton just waiting to happen. The Phillies are going to need more
from their pen to get it done this season, but they're going to need more
from everyone else, too. There's a long way to go and the only teams
playing are the imperfect ones.
The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros last night, falling 5-4 to drop to
82-74 on the year. The Padres won last night while the Dodgers were idle,
which extends the San Diego lead in the NL West to two games. The Phillies
move into a tie with the Dodgers in the Wild Card hunt. Each team has six
games to play.
Randy Wolf got the start for the Phillies and went 5 2/3 innings, allowing
two runs on four hits and four walks. He allowed two extra-base hits, a
double and a home run, and struck out five.
Wolf got Willy
Tavares and Morgan Ensberg to ground out to start the first before Lance
Berkman walked. Wolf struck out Luke Scott to end the inning.
In the second,
Chris Burke led off with a line out to second. Wolf struck out Jason Lane
and Eric Bruntlett to end the inning.
Humberto Quintero
led off the third with a double and Chris Sampson bunted him to third.
Taveras grounded to short for the second out of the inning, but Ensberg
walked to put runners on first and third with two down for Berkman. Berkman
grounded to third to end the inning.
Wolf set Houston
down 1-2-3 in the fourth.
In the fifth, he
got Bruntlett to ground to short for the first out of the inning. Quintero
walked and went to second on a single by pinch-hitter Charlton Jimerson.
Wolf hit Taveres with a pitch to load the bases with one down, and Ensberg
hit a sac fly to right that scored Quintero and put Houston up 1-0. Berkman
was walked intentionally to load the bases again, and Wolf got Luke Scott to
pop to third to end the inning.
Wolf started the
sixth with a 2-1 lead. Burke popped to second for the first out, but Lane
tied the game at 2-2 with a solo home run. Bruntlett crushed a ball to deep
center, but Victorino tracked it down for the second out. Quintero followed
with a single and that was it for Wolf. Ryan Madson came in to pitch to the
pinch-hitter Craig Biggio and struck him out to end the inning.
Rick White started
the seventh with the Phillies up 4-2. He got Taveras to start the inning
but Ensberg followed with a walk. Matt Smith came on to pitch to the
switch-hitter Berkman, and Smith struck him out for the second out of the
inning. Smith walked both Scott and Burke to load the bases, and with the
righty Lane due up Manuel called on Geoff Geary. Lefty Orlando Palmeiro hit
for Lane and singled to left, driving in two to tie the game at 4-4.
Burrell's throw hit a sliding Scott and Geary, backing up Lieberthal, made a
diving stop to keep the runners from advancing further. Burrell was given
an error as the throw allowed Burke to go to third. With two down and
runners on first and third, lefty Mike Lamb hit for Bruntlett. Geary just
couldn't put Lamb away. After the count went 2-2 Lamb fouled off five
straight pitches. On the 11th pitch of the at-bat he hit a ground ball
in-between first and second. Utley made a diving stop but couldn't get the
handle. Lamb was safe as Burke scored from third to put Houston up 5-4.
Aubrey Huff pinch-hit for Quintero and Manuel called on Fultz to pitch to
Huff. Fultz walked him on four pitches to load the bases with two down. Righty Adam Everett pinch hit for
the Astros and Fultz got him to pop to second
to finally end the inning.
Fultz returned for
the eighth. He struck out Tavares to start the inning. Ensberg followed
with an infield single to deep short. Berkman lined to right for the second
out of the inning. Fultz struck out Scott to end the inning.
Clay Condrey
pitched the ninth and got the first two before Lamb singled. Hector Gimenez
pinch-hit for Qualls and struck out to end the inning.
The Astros started
28-year-old righty Chris Sampson, not Matt Albers. The Phillies lineup
against Sampson went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5)
Dellucci (6) Burrell (7) Lieberthal (8) Nunez. Three lefties in a row.
Burrell sixth when he should be fifth.
The Phils went
1-2-3 in the first.
With two outs in
the second, Burrell blooped a single into right. Lieberthal popped to
second to end the inning.
The Phillies went
1-2-3 in the third.
Victorino and
Utley went down to start the fourth before Howard singled to center.
Dellucci followed with a single and Burrell walked, loading the bases for
Lieberthal. Lieberthal popped up to the catcher in foul territory to end
the inning.
Nunez and Wolf
struck out to start the fifth with the Phillies down 1-0. Rollins singled
and Victorino sent him to second with another single. Utley walked to load
the bases and Howard hit a two-run single that put the Phils on top at 2-1.
With lefty Wandy Rodriguez on the hill for the Astros, Conine pinch-hit for
Dellucci and the Astros brought in righty Fernando Nieve to pitch to Conine.
Conine walked, loading the bases for Burrell. Burrell popped to shallow
right to end the inning.
Nunez singled with
one out in the sixth. Randall Simon was next, pinch-hitting for Madson, and
he flew to left for the second out of the inning. Rollins was next and he
homered to right, putting the Phillies up 4-2. Victorino flew out to left
to end the inning.
The Phillies were
down 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh and went 1-2-3.
Burrell led off
the eighth with a walk and Michael Bourn pinch-ran for him. Lieberthal
bunted Bourn to second.
Rollins led off
the ninth with a ball well hit to left, but Luke Scott tracked it down for
the first out. Victorino popped into center for the second out and Utley
followed with a ball into just about the same spot in center to end the
game.
Rollins was 2-for-5 with his 25th home run of the year. He has homered in
three straight games and has at least two hits in six games in a row.
18-for-his-last-30 with three doubles and four home runs (and no walks).
Victorino was 1-for-5 with a single. 1-for-his-last-10.
Utley was 0-for-4 with a walk.
Howard 2-for-4 with two RBI. 421/575/868 in September after hitting
348/464/750 in August.
Dellucci was 1-for-2 with a single. Conine was 0-for-1 with a walk.
Burrell was 1-for-2 with two walks.
Lieberthal was 0-for-3 and left four men on base.
Nunez was 1-for-4. He has two extra-base hits in his last 58 at-bats.
Brett Myers faces Ramon Ortiz tonight.