Phillies Flash Their Old Way, But Will It Carry Over?

On Friday night Philadelphia sports fans saw the worst and the best of the Phillies.

For 8 innings, the Phillies were playing the same uninspired baseball that they have been playing since the end of May. Joe Blanton put the team in a 4-0 hole after just 2 innings. He gave up two more before being pulled in the 6th inning, and then showed a lack of class by tipping his cap to the fans as he was rightfully booed off the field.

The rest of the team wasn’t much better. The Phillies continued to struggle with fundamentals, making little to no effort to work the pitch counts, and also making errors in the field. Thanks to the Phillies impatience, Cincinnati starter Mike Leake threw only 83 pitches entering the 9th inning.

Then all of a sudden in the bottom of the 9th, the bad Phillies of 2010 turned into the good Phillies of 2008 and 2009.

One of this team’s trademarks over the past three seasons has been the comeback. But this season, the Phillies were just 1-35 when trailing after the 8th inning. This time, something clicked, and they got the biggest comeback in memory.

One hit led to another, and almost everyone in the lineup played a part in the 6 run 9th inning. The surge featured contributions from both starters and bench players. Much maligned Greg Dobbs continued his resurgence with a 3 run HR. That was followed up by a 2 run shot by recently recalled Cody Ransom. Finally, the game was capped off in the 10th by a walk-off HR by Ryan Howard, his first in three years.

I told you yesterday that the Phillies’ Superstars are going to have to lead the way and that’s exactly what Howard did.¬† He hit the home run to left center which is what happens when¬† he get red-hot.¬† Nobody can pitch to Howard when he starts stepping into that outside pitch and taking it the other way.

Can this be the game that finally sets the team in the right direction? Or is it just another flash in the pan?  Throughout this slump, the Phillies have teased everyone by playing well for short bursts, but have followed those good efforts up by going right back into the tank.

Time is running out for this team, and the time to force the issue is upon them. For this to carry over, the Phillies need to stay sharp in all aspects of the game. The starting pitchers must do better than Blanton did tonight. His performance was unacceptable at this point of the season.

The lineup needs to be patient and take what the other team gives them instead of trying to hit everything out of the park. And Charlie Manuel needs to keep the bench active so that when called upon, they can be in a better position to produce.