For the second straight game, it looked as though the Phillies offense would be unable to produce enough runs to defeat the Cubs. However, the team managed to rally late in the game to steal the second game of the series.
Cliff Lee struggled early, but was still able to produce a quality outing. The All-Star put the Phillies behind early by giving up a two-run homerun to Starlin Castro. The lefthander was able to work his out of several tight spots throughout the evening. He finished the night lasting six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, and struck out six.
The sources of the recent problems with the offense are Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The two most important pieces of the lineup have been ice cold as of late. The team has had contributions from unlikely sources such as John Mayberry Jr. and Michael Martinez lately to help offset the lack of production from their offensive stars.
Utley and Howard will naturally go through periods of ineffectiveness from time to time as all players do, but when they do go through slumps they dramatically dilute the potency of an already inconsistent offense.
Utley had just one hit in his last 15 at-bats. He had driven in just two runs since June 23rd. His batting averaged dipped from .287 to .263 in the last two weeks. He broke out of his RBI drought in the eighth inning with a two-run double to tie the game off of Chicago lefthander Sean Marshall.
The Phillies then took advantage of a couple of breaks they received in the top of the ninth inning to take the lead. Ben Francisco was able to come up with a pinch hit single because of how deep the Chicago outfielders were playing. Jimmy Rollins reached base next after hitting a line drive off of the glove of Aramis Ramirez. The next batter, Michael Martinez, delivered a weak base-hit that fell into a good spot in right field, allowing two runs to score.
Antonio Bastardo closed the door in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete the come-from-behind victory. He struck out the side, recording his seventh save in seven opportunities.
Player Of The Game: Cliff Lee
Lee wasn’t at his best in this game, and put the team behind early. However, his performance was critical to setting up the team for a win. After the Cubs got the early lead, they had several chances to break the game open, but the former Cy Young Award winner didn’t allow Chicago to gain anymore ground. He kept the game close, setting the stage for the offense to capitalize on their late opportunities.
I would trade 2B C Utley to SD Padres for Closer Heath Bell and OF Ludwick
then move Martinez to 2B and sign him to a 10 year Contract
Cliff Lee, since his fantastic run in June is really getting away with belt-high Pitches.. He is getting the ball up too much too often, He’s given up a lot of Homers as it is, but he was very fortunate tonight to only give up 2 Runs.. Check out that Cubs batting line-up.. most of their everyday line-up have some pretty good batting averages. One thing abotu Lee which I admire, he keeps coming and never quits or gets too high or too low..Him and Halladay are a treat to watch and it’s rubbed off on Hamels too just to keep battling and keep you focus on the job, batter, situation at hand…
paulman,
you’re dumb comments force me to ask you how old you are. 12? if you traded utley, i’d kill you. i seriously don’t know if you’re kidding. thats why i’m asking you to never comment on this site again
Eagles, he is joking. He’s being sarcastic, as always. He’s getting the rise out of you, that he was looking for. Good job Paul. LMFAO!!!
Another game where this offense made me lose my dinner. Something has to give. Amaro make some f^@king moves. I’m tired of sweating out these games. I’m going to need nerve medication or lithium by the end of the year. WTF!!!!
Dd, opt for the meds or learn to chill. The phillies goal right now is make the playoffs. That’s it. Their pitching will do the rest. If you can drop the negadelphia bit for 2 seconds you’d see that we’re in great shape.
Who cares…they wont.And how many moves does Paul come up with a day?FYI…he picked the Braves the last two years.
They should stand pat…get an arm for as little as possible …Stutes and Bastardo are beign used alot and there young.Dont need em breaking down come p-offs.Stutes looked great last night and Bastardo is filthy.Starter?i dunno.
We’re gonna have nights like that dude.We’re the best team in baseball and everyone wants to show there fans and us they’re gonna fight us.Look at how bad teams play against us.
Go Phills…2oclocker…blogorama Birdbrains?
Schill, I here ya brother. I know I get too emotional sometimes. I don’t know about them being in great shape, but an added bat to an on going growing process with this team, could chill me out a little. I just really highly dislike Amaro on many levels, & I let it cloud my fandom & love for the Phils.
Im not completely sold on Michael Martinez just yet but I think with work he can be a good player some day almost like a poor mans Jose Reyes. Im also excited to see Roy Oswalt looking healthy and a lot of guys a writing him off already when the start of the season he was LIGHTS OUT I think they would really like him back in the lineup so if there is something out there they can offer Vance Worley in a package.
DD – yeah, you’ve done a great job at making your hate for amaro clear – but man, he’s a GM. Can you honestly think of a situation where any fan should like ANY GM? They’re slimy business people – by definition. Period. Nobody should waste any time considering whether they like or dislike a GM. How do you feel about car salesmen or scalpers? They’re just business guys who we have to live with. Hey, personally, I’m happy with the Phillies roster. Very. I’d like more bats, (like every other baseball fan in the history of the the world). But Holliday, Lee, Oswalt….. that’s WAY more than any fan can ask for in my opinion.
Reports about Oswalt’s availalbility is maybe a mid-late August return at the earliest ..Come playoff time he will probably be used out of the Bullpen as I see the Phils going with Halladay/Lee/Hamels & probably Worley as the 4th Pitcher with the way he’s pitching and use Kendrick and Oswalt out of the buillpen, rain delay, extra inning games, etc,etc ..
the offense got timely hits and won the game. they did not come to life. there were some TERRIBLE AB’s yesterday. DD, if that game last night made you lose your dinner than you need to listen on the radio instead. lol What in the world did Amaro do to you because your hatred for this man sounds personal in many ways.
They didn’t steal anything. They won an exciting game on thei own merits. Bastardo should be rookie of the year!
Wow, great post bige. That is the bottom line. It a mazes me that some just cannot see that. This guy denny bitchens sounds like a cubs or mets fan
Is Bastardo considered a “Rookie”, didn’t he pitch a little bit late last year..
RR, I worked for the Phils for 15 years. Although Amaro, never did anything personally to me, he was always an arrogant, silver spoon fed, pr!@k, with the attitude of a sense of entitlement, because of Montgomery & Giles loyalty to his father & family. He gets all this unwarranted high praise & credit for this team, when Gillick, Wade & Arbuckle are the architects. Since he has taken over, he has done nothing to better this offensive lineup, & it has worsened every year since he has taken over. His signings & contract extensions were bad & suspect at best. He over reacted & overpaid contracts. His planning for the aging & injury proned nucleus was piss poor. Everyone calls him a genius for the pitching staff. WRONG. They signed here because we won 2008 WS, their teams sucked, & the owners gave alot of $$$ & flexibility to sign them. Has nothing to do with him being a genius GM. A crash test dummy could do his job. The Lee signing was a make up for his original f^@kup.
Amaro, is lucky that Bastardo, Stutes & Madson surprisingly stepped up, because his BP is a disgusting disaster. Lidge & Contreras have been disasters. Baez & Herndon should have been outright released. Romero should have never been resigned. Carpenter, Perez, Zugurski, & the rest of the AAA journeymen slop they keep running out there, should never see the light of day in the majors again. Pure wastes of garbage.