In Pitchers Duel, Rollins Comes up Big
By: Mike Reisman
Today there were no doubts why Roy Halladay was chosen as an All-Star.
Through the first nine innings of tonights game (thats right, the first nine innings), Halladay and his counterpart rookie Travis Wood had a remarkable 17 strikeouts, a single walk, and a mere six hits. However the best stat came from Wood. Wood had a perfect game through 8+ innings of work. The perfect game was broken up by a Carlos Ruiz double, which was also the Phillies only hit of the first nine. Unfortunately as well as both players pitched, neither could get the win.
Going into extras, both pitchers were replaced, the Phillies going with Brad Lidge and the Reds going with Nick Masset. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Lidge has not had a good year, and today definitely showed it. Lidge gave up an early hit and before you knew it, the Reds had runners on second and third with only one out. After striking one out and walking one, the bases were loaded for Brandon Phillips. And Lidge got him.
Now it was the Phillies turn. After a Jayson Werth single, Masset was quickly replaced by Bill Bray who quickly put the Phillies down stranding the team's second base runner of the day. Jose Contreras got two strikeouts and made quick work of the Reds giving the Phills another chance.
They took full advantage of that chance.
After Carlos Ruiz started off the inning by doubling, Wilson Valdez was intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second with still nobody out. That set up Jimmy Rollins. With a 1-0 count, Rollins got his first hit of the day to drive home Ruiz and end the game.
The game marked the first time in Phillies history that the team had three consecutive extra inning games that all ended in walk-off wins. Not only did this series give the Phillies three wins but also confidence. Knowing that the team can come from behind and win in extras will be a huge momentum boost going into the All-Star break. Hopefully for the Phillies, the rest wont stop the momentum.
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