Another ninth inning comeback miracle

by Joseph Birmingham

Thursday August 12, 2010 

The Phillies beat the Dodgers tonight by a final score of 10-9. 

That tells very little of the whole story.  

The whole story is that the Phillies rallied from 8 runs down in the 8th inning, and managed to score 4 runs in the ninth while only collecting 1 hit.   Here is how it played out.   Polanco was hit by a pitch, then Sweeney walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd.  Werth became the second walk of the inning followed by Francisco hitting in to a fielders choice, but the Dodgers Blake committed an error on the play allowing Polanco and Sweeney to score to pull the Phillies to 9-8.  Then Ruiz stepped in and nailed the first hit of the inning, a double deep to left center scoring Werth and Francisco.

So, HBP, BB, BB, FC, E, double = 4 runs and another late inning Phillies win.

I seem to recall Lidge having some days like Broxton did tonight.  Check out his final boxscore line.    0 innings pitched, 1 hit, 4 runs, 3 earned, 2 BB, 1 HBP and the loss.

In tonight’s game,  Sweeney and Valdez  produced more than expected, Polanco remains on a tear, Ibanez finally lost his hitting streak, Werth stayed on fire as he has been since the trade rumors with a 2-4 night with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI’s. 

All these things combined for an exciting 10-9 bottom of the ninth victory.

Blanton pitched ok through 5 after a shaky first inning, but his 5.69 ERA is still an issue.

All in all I would say August has been a month of surprises for the Phillies.  Brown is a pleasant surprise, and Oswalt is looking like he is finally remembering he was the staff ace down in Houston for the better part of a decade. 

With about 6 weeks to go, the Phillies pulled back to within 2 games of the Braves but it appears the momentum may be turning their way.  If Polanco continues to hit, Howard and Victorino come off the DL and resume where they left off, and the combination of starting pitching and Lidge hold up, these Phillies have a good chance to threepeat as NL champions.

I can’t wait for tomorrow.

We go back to play the Mets and the Braves get to face the Dodgers in Atlanta.

  • Share this on Facebook
  • Post this to MySpace
  • Tweet This!
  • Share this on Technorati
  • Share this on del.icio.us
  • Digg this!
  • Share this on Reddit
  • Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon
  • Buzz up!
  • Blog this on Blogger
Filed Under Phillies

Comments

Got something to say?