The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their three-game losing streak on Saturday night, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1. Their record improves to 17-21.
- Cliff Lee set the stage for the victory with another brilliant performance. Lee fired seven scoreless innings, scattering six hits with two walks. The ace pitched out of several tough situations, including a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the seventh inning. Lee was able to bear down and get Will Nieves to ground out to short.
- Antonio Bastardo was asked to pitch the eighth inning with Mike Adams unavailable. The lefty was only able to record one out, and also gave up a hit and a walk. Bastardo has been struggling as of late.
- With no other reliable bullpen options available, Charlie Manuel asked Jonathan Papelbon to record a five-out save. The closer gave up a run on a sacrifice fly to Cody Ross and struck out Miguel Montero looking to complete the eighth inning. Papelbon then ran into trouble in the ninth, putting runners at second and third with one out, but he was able to finish the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
- When the Phillies acquired Ben Revere, they envisioned the centerfielder giving them a Juan Pierre-type offensive presence that could get on base and be a guy who sets the table for the other hitters. Revere played his way out of the lead-off role, but he gave the team a quality performance at the plate tonight, which the fit the mold of what the team thought he could be. Revere went 2-3 with a walk, and came around to score both of the team’s runs.
- Revere’s game wasn’t perfect though. He missed an opportunity to break the game open, grounding out with the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
- Jimmy Rollins went 2-3 with a walk, and drove in two runs.
- Domonic Brown hit an RBI single in the eighth inning.
- Ryan Howard went 0-5, struck out four times, and left five runners on base.
- Delmon Young went 1-2 and worked out two walks.
Final Thoughts
It doesn’t exactly come as a shock, but Charlie Manuel has absolutely no faith in any of the arms in his bullpen that don’t belong to Jonathan Papelbon or Mike Adams.
Manuel’s decision to ask Papelbon for a five-out save speaks volumes about how disappointing some of the guys in this bullpen have been.
Phillippe Aumont was supposed to be a powerful young arm that would be able to pitch in the seventh or eighth inning, and spell Adams in a situation like this.
A couple of years ago, Manuel would have been comfortable putting Chad Durbin into a situation like this if he had to. This year, he wants no part of Durbin in a close situation.
Putting Papelbon into the eighth inning also shows how desperate Manuel may be getting. With his team five games below .500, each game takes on greater meaning. Charlie knows his club can’t afford to get buried in the standings, so even though its still only May, he’s pulling out all of the stops in order to win every game that he can.
Denny, how did Revere go 2-2, if he grounded out in the 8th. I think you meant 2-3, with a walk. Proofread my Brother! LOL!
Haha yeah it happens every now and then…fixed!
Well, Phils won today 4 – 2 when the ‘Big Piece of….’ actually drove in the winning run in the 10th…Phils offense putrid for eight innings, then came alive a bit in the 9th.
Charlie Manuel said: “Well, we haven’t been hittin’ this whole series, but, at the same time, Ryan got a big hit for us in the 10th…Baseball’s a funny game like that.’
Reporter : ‘Charlie, did you hesitate at all bringing in Papelbon tonight after he worked two innings yesterday?’
Charlie: ‘Well, I kinda look at it this way: Yeah, Papelbon worked last night, but, at the same time, he said he felt good…I coulda brought in one of the other guys, but they’ve been struggling a little bit, but they’ll snap out of it…I felt it was important to win…Baseball’s a funny game like that’.