7th Inning Explosion Propels Phillies to Victory
By: Mike Reisman
Some things never change. The Mets always collapse, the NFL pre-season bores me to death, Brad Lidge can't consistently end games quickly, and the Phillies always find a way to overpower opponents. Tonight was a classic display of what the Phillies have been known to be about, 9 of there 12 runs coming from Utley, Howard, and Werth, the 3-4-5 hitters. Seven of the twelve runs came from the long ball another thing the Phillies have been known for. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, Brad Lidge nearly blew another win, but that's for later.
Something else you can usually count on is a not-so-great start from Joe Blanton. Granted, Joe has been impressive lately, but today Blanton went back to his normal not great pitching. Home runs got to Joe early, and in the 2nd inning he gave up two big ones. First a three run homer to Chris Iannetta, and the other, a solo shot by Dexter Fowler. The Phillies would answer back in the 4th with a Raul Ibanez RBI single, and a sac fly by Chase Utley in the 5th, making it 4-2.
The Rockies, however, would not be content with a two run lead. They would answer immediately with a Carlos Gonzalez solo home run to lead off the 5th. Seth Smith would single later in the inning, ending Joe Blanton's night, and extending the Rockies' lead to 6-2. The Phillies and Rockies would exchange runs in the 6th, the Phillies coming on a Mike Sweeney hit by pitch, and the Rockies coming on a Troy Tulowitzki infield single.
The big inning for the Phillies was the 7th. It started quickly with a Placido Polanco double, and a Chase Utley single to score him. The next batter was Ryan Howard and he would start his September on a good note with a two run shot to right, scoring Utley and making the game 7-6 still in the Rockies favor. Relief pitcher Manny Delcarmen would come in for the Rockies to try to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately he would just open the wound more, allowing a Jayson Werth home run on his first at-bat. The Rockies would get an out from Raul Ibanez, but after that the Phillies would go back to hitting. They would get runners on the corners for pinch-hitter Ben Francisco who would single, scoring Shane Victorino. However the icing on the cake to this inning would come three batters later, when Chase Utley unloaded the bases on a grand slam to top off a 9 run inning, giving the Phillies a 12-7 lead.
The Rockies, though discouraged, would fight back that same inning. They would score three runs on a pair of singles from Jonathan Herrera and Dexter Fowler, putting the game within reach at 12-10. There would be little action until the 9th. That was Lidge time. Brad would allow the first batter on base on an error by Ryan Howard. Carlos Gonzalez would single the next batter putting runners on the corners and the game winning run on base. Uh-oh. A run would score on a smart fielder's choice, retiring Gonzalez at second. Todd Helton would be walked the next batter bringing up Clint Barmes. All Barmes needed was and extra base hit to possibly score the game winning run. However Lidge would strike him out giving the Rockies one more chance to score. Luckily for the Phils, Ryan Spilborghs would ground into a fielder's choice, ending the game 12-11, Phillies win.
The game, paired with a Braves loss brought the Phillies two games away from the NL East lead. Since the Giants were idle today, they are now two games out of the wild card. So now there is exactly one month remaining until the Phillies last game, and the rest of the schedule (with the exception of the Brewers this weekend) is solely against the NL East. They will play each team in two series hoping to gain ground and hopefully win the East. If the Phillies can keep up the recent hitting, and continue to get solid pitching from their starters that East title is very much in sight. The Braves have been stumbling a little lately, and all the Phillies need is three slip-ups from them, and three wins of their own, and the Phillies could have their 4th straight NL East title. Welcome to September.