Phillies Sweep Dodgers With the Help of Their Offense
By: Mike Reisman
A win is a win. What the score is, how long it took, or how a team wins a game, is totally irrelevant as long as that team has more runs than their opponent at the end of the game. The Phillies have certainly learned that this year, winning with their pitching staff of aces against weak-hitting teams, and picking up their bats and overpowering teams when necessary. The latter of the two statements has been especially true lately, as five of the last six times the Phillies have scored five runs (including today) their opponent has challenged them, by coming within three runs of the Phillies. The Phillies have reacted to the challenge of other teams scoring runs, especially today, making a six run comeback over a mere three innings.
The Phillies came into the game today looking to sweep the Dodgers, team they beat in consecutive years to reach the World Series, and finish their road-trip 9-1. The only thing standing in their way was a Dodgers team featuring Matt Kemp, and the Phillies young pitcher Vance Worley. Despite his incredible 2.35 ERA coming into the game, Worley struggled, allowing five runs in the first inning. The Dodgers would add a run in the 3rd, and send the rookie packing just one inning later, giving Vance Worley six earned runs over four innings with six strikeouts and three walks.
The Phillies wouldn't be beaten easily though, scoring three 4th inning runs with the help of a Hunter Pence home run, and a Vance Worley single. They would continue to chip away at the lead with two runs in the 5th, pulling within a run. The Dodgers would push the lead back to two runs in their half of the 5th, but the Phillies would take the lead on a Ryan Howard two run home run after Chase Utley tied the game with a single.
Antonio Bastardo and Ryan Madson helped close the game, capping the Phillies best 10 game road-trip in franchise history. Today's 9-8 win, showed that the Phillies are easily the best team in the National League, if not all of the majors. They proved that they're not just a team that can out-pitch any major league team, but they can also out-hit many teams if necessary. This incredible road trip the Phillies have put together caps off a tiring 20 games in 20 days, exemplifying even further how special this Phillies team is.
Possibly the only negative of today's of today's game was Vance Worley's poor performance. Worley lasted just four innings, his second shortest start of the season. Worley has been great so far, even putting himself in contention for NL Rookie of the Year, however, lately he has been vulnerable to big games. This is the second time in three starts for Worley that he has allowed four or more runs, and since July 26th, Worley's ERA has risen 0.83 points, a significant amount for just two weeks. Whether Worley is the incredible pitcher we have seen, or the not-so-incredible pitcher we have seen, it's evident that only time will tell, and that it won't be possible to judge Worley's true value for some time.