The Phils gets snake bit once again by Mother Nature and the Nats, as they lose in extra-innings on a walk-off bases loaded hit by the pitch, 5-4.
The Phils lose the use of another starter because of another long rain delay before losing to the Nats in 10 innings, thanks to a walk-off bases loaded hit by the pitch, 5-4.
The Nats took the lead in the first as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Ryan Zimmerman hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Ian Desmond, who had started off the game for the Nats with a double, then went to third on Rick Ankiel’s single, giving the Nats a 1-0 lead. The Nats then added to their lead as, with once again runners on the corners, as Ankiel would go to third on Michael Morse’s single, and now with two men out, Danny Espiniosa hits an RBI single, knocking in Ankiel, giving the Nats a 2-0 lead, while sending Morse up to second base. The Phils then tied the game up at two-all as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Carlos Ruiz hits a two-run home run, his fifth home run of the season, knocking in Raul Ibanez, who had earlier reached base on an infield single. The Phils took the lead in the third as, with one man out, Chase Utley hits a solo home run, his ninth home run of the year, giving the Phils a 3-2 lead. In the top of the sixth, the game would be delayed by rain for over an hour, causing both clubs to remove their starters, Roy Halladay for the Phils and Chien-Ming Wang for the Nats. In the bottom of the sixth, the Nats would tie the game up at three-all as Espinosa hits a lead-off home run, his eighteenth home run of the season. The Phils would retake the lead in the ninth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Michael Martinez hits an RBI single, knocking in Ibanez, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Ruiz’s single, giving the Phils a 4-3 lead, while sending Ruiz, who had just singled, up to second base. The Nats would retie the game up at four-all in their half of the ninth as, with two men out, Desmond hits a solo home run, his fifth home run of the season. The Nats would win the game in the tenth as, with the bases loaded, via a Zimmerman double, an intentional walk of Morse, and a single by Jayson Werth, which moved both runners up a base, and with one man out, as Brad Lidge struck out, swinging, Espinosa, for the inning’s first out, Jonny Gomes, with a 1-0 count, is hit by the next pitch, forcing in Zimmerson, giving the Nats a 5-4 walk-off win.
Roy Halladay gets a no-decision, thanks to the hour plus rain delay, as he went five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits, as he struck out five. Michael Schwimer, making his major league debut, blew his first save opportunity of the year as he pitched three innings, giving up a run on two hits, while striking out four. Antonio Bastardo committed his first blown save of the season as he pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit, as he struck out the side. Brad Lidge (0-1, 2.25) took the lost as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up a run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter, while he struck out one. Chien-Ming Weng also received a no-decision, thanks to the long rain delay, as he pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk, while he struck out four. Tom Gorzelanny pitched a third of an inning, getting out the only man that he would face. Todd Coffey and Tyler Clippard would combine for two scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Clippard), while striking out one (Coffey) batter between them. Drew Storen pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Sean Burnett (4-5, 4.63) gets the win as he pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter.
The Phils had eight hits in the ballgame, with Shane Victorino (Singles) and Carlos Ruiz (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs) both leading the team with two hits each. Chase Utley (Home Run, RBI), Ryan Howard (Single), Raul Ibanez (Single) and Michael Martinez (Single, RBI), had the other four Phils’ hits.
The Phils (81-44, 1st) will start a three games series with the Mets (60-66, 4th), starting with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park, and will begin at 7:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (13-7, 2.82), who is coming off a win against the D-backs on August 17, as he went seven strong innings, giving up just two runs on three hits and two walks, while striking out seven, in the Phils’ 9-2 rout. He will be going for his fourth straight win, while hoping to give the bullpen a rest, after the way it was messed up thanks to the rains of the previous four days. The Mets will counter with Dillon Gee (11-4, 3.92), who is coming off a win against the Padres on August 17, as he went six and two-thirds innings, giving up a run on five hits and four walks, while striking out five, in the Mets’ 7-3 win. He will be trying to confound the Phils. The Phils will be out to take last weekend’s embarrassment out on the Mets.
Phillies Red Pinstripes 
The Phils really must miss Lidge a lot right now. Their bullpen has let them down the last few games. I think it’s a bit of a concern for the Phillies, and Madson needs to be at the top of his game in order for Philly to be successful in October.
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Actually, this is the result of mom nature fooling around with the Phils, as the team was involved in three rain delays in four days, in which two starters had their starts shorten (Worley and Halladay), one pushed behind (Oswalt) and one pushed ahead (Kendrick), which in the long run messed with the bullpen (which, by the way, was well rested until those four days) as the starters were not going into, at the very least, six innings, thus forcing Uncle Charly to use his bullpen a lot more than he normally would. So, I’m not worrying about the guys in the pen. Especially since there is little to no rain in the forecast for the next week, since the games will be played in Philly. And since that is going to happen, that crap with the pen will not be happening again any time soon.