Pitching Falls Apart, Phillies Can't Sweep Cardinals
By: Mike Reisman
Some nights you would like to remember, like the Phillies 8th inning comeback just two nights ago, or the 19 inning walk off earlier this year. Tonight was not one of those nights, as the Phillies famed pitching seemingly took a day off, allowing 12 runs, the most they have given up all year. To add injury to insult (yes you are reading correctly) starter Roy Oswalt was forced to leave the game after just two innings with tightness in his lower back.
The Phillies' problems would start quickly in the 1st inning when the Cardinals opened up the scoring with a Jon Jay home run, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. They wouldn't look back from there, adding 11 more runs over the course of the game, six of which would come off of Danys Baez in the 8th inning.
Speaking of Baez, now that his heroism from the 19 inning game has worn off, Baez seems just as bad, if not worse than ever. Since that game, his ERA is now 11.88, a number bad even for a little league pitcher. With Charlie Manuel refusing to sit Baez, and Baez playing poorly, the Phillies' bullpen may be in for a rocky ride until he can get his act together.
Much like the pitchers, the Phillies' hitters were unable to get the job done tonight, managing just two runs on seven hits. The lone runs would come from a Ryan Howard single and a 9th inning, almost ironic solo home run from Carlos Ruiz. The bats would give Chris Carpenter just his second win of the year, letting him dominate them for seven strikeouts over seven innings.
Of course, poor nights are expected, every now and then, but what makes this lack of offense especially bad is that the Phillies were unable to take advantage of a poor pitcher. Carpenter is someone who came into tonight's game with a pitiful 4.47 ERA, not having allowed less than two runs since mid-April, and the Phillies allowed him to come in and walk all over them. Though it may just be one of those bad games, these are the types of games that teams as good as the Phillies should win easily, or at least be competitive in.
Possibly the biggest story coming out of tonight's game was Roy Oswalt leaving after just two, weak innings on the mound with more back issues. Oswalt is almost definitely going to the DL, a move that needs to happen. It was clear in his brief outing that something was wrong, and Oswalt has said that his back feels worse than ever now. If Oswalt's back is so bad that it affects his pitching this much, the DL is the right place for him, letting him rest, recover, and hopefully get over his back problems. However, if some time on the DL doesn't help, don't be surprised if Oswalt goes through with his plan to possibly retire after the year is over.
The Phillies will come home tomorrow to start a three game series with the Oakland Athletics. Game one will start at 7:05, with Vance Worley getting his sixth start of the year.