Big Win Puts Phillies Ahead in Wild Card
By: Mike Reisman
Today was a big day for the Phillies in more ways than one. They started a series with the Giants and Chase Utley returned. Now I wish I could tell you that Utley came back, went 4-4 and helped engineer the game winning rally in the 9th. Unfortunately none of that happened. Actually, Utley went 0-5, but that did not matter as the Phillies had a monster 8th inning to win 9-3. This win gave then Phillies sole possession of the wild card lead. Unfortunately the Braves won so the Phills are still 2.5 games out of the NL East.
Roy Oswalt started the game poorly giving up a run on a double play to former Oriole Aubrey Huff. The next at-bat was somewhat of a slap in the face to the Phillies, as Pat Burrell sent a pitch deep and gone giving the Giants a quick 2-0 lead. Oswalt would settle down after that, striking out seven after the homer. Oswalt's counterpart Zito started strong, as he held the Phillies scoreless through 4.2 innings. However when he gave up a run, it was a big one.
The scoring was created after Carlos Ruiz fought off pitch after pitch to eventually force a walk, putting runners on first and second with only one out. After a sac bunt by Roy Oswalt moved runners over to second and third, Jimmy Rollins delivered a critical 2 RBI single to tie the game up at two.
The Phillies would score again in the 6th to go up one run. The Giants pulled Zito at that point, ending his game, and silencing the Phillies bats... for a little. Jose Guillen would hit a solo shot to tie the game again, and it would stay that way until the 8th.
The Phillies would start their half of the 8th by loading the bases without any outs. Next Carlos Ruiz would deliver a huge double scoring two runs that would eventually be the go-ahead runs. Rollins would add a run with a single, and two more runs would score, one on a balk and one on an error. The Phillies would end up scoring 5 runs in the 8th giving them a 9-3 lead. The game would end with the same score.
Tonight's game was critical for the Phillies as it not only gave the Phillies a wild card lead, but also kept them in the running for the NL East. Since the Braves won tonight, a loss would have dropped the Phillies to 3.5 out, which seems a lot worse than 2.5. At least for now, the Phillies are still within striking distance, and as long as they keep winning, the Braves have to lose eventually. Tomorrow Joe Blanton starts for the Phillies, which could end badly for the Phillies, as Blanton is easily the weakest link in the Phillies rotation. The one good part about tomorrow's match-up is that Matt Cain in his career is 0-2 against the Phillies. Let's pray that stat holds up.