The Philadelphia Phillies lost the first game of their series with San Diego, falling to the Padres 4-3. Their record drops to 36-41.
- Cliff Lee did his best to throw the team on his back once again, dominating the Padres over eight scoreless innings. However, he tried to go for the complete game shutout, and was lifted after allowing the first two runners to reach.
- Lee was in a jam in the seventh inning, starting out the frame with runners and first and third. However, the ace bared down and got himself out of the inning without allowing a run, calmly forcing Jesus Guzman to fly out, Yasmani Grandal to strike out, and Pedro Ciriano to line out.
- Jonathan Papelbon blew yet another save, allowing his inherited runners to score on a single from Kyle Blanks, and later allowing Blanks to score on a passed ball.
- Justin De Fratus lost the game after giving up a single to Kyle Blanks with the bases loaded in the 10th.
- Carlos Ruiz had his best offensive game of the season, going 3-4 and driving in a run in the second inning. Unfortunately, Ruiz also let a ball get away from him in the ninth inning that brought home the tying run.
- Jimmy Rollins hit home the team’s second run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
- Chase Utley went 2-5 with a solo homer in the eighth.
- John Mayberry got the start in centerfield, and went 3-4 with a double.
- Kevin Frandsen started at first base to give Ryan Howard a night off, but went 0-4.
- Domonic Brown hit out of the cleanup spot, and went 1-5 with a single. Brown has not homered since June 8th, and is batting just .216 in his last 10 games.
- Michael Young remained in the three-hole and went 0-5, including a strikeout with a runner at third and one out in the 10th inning.
Final Thoughts
Good teams find ways to win games, and bad teams find ways to lose them.
The Philadelphia Phillies got an excellent start from their ace, who carried them through eight scoreless innings. They had a three-run lead going into the ninth inning. They couldn’t finish the job. They flushed another winnable game down the drain.
Cliff Lee can go out there and cover up this team’s flaws for eight innings, but the minute he runs out of gas and gets removed from the game, the warts of this team come out.
They’ve got a lineup that hasn’t had any kind of explosiveness since Domonic Brown came back down Earth, and they can’t tack on enough runs to put a game out of reach.
They’ve got a wretched bullpen, stocked with injured (Mike Adams), inexperienced (Justin De Fratus), and ineffective pitchers (Jonathan Papelbon).
Put it all together, and you have a team that’s five games below .500.
If Crapelbon keeps this $#!T up, his trade value’s going to plummet! Only in Philly, do they find ways to lose, like this! What a bunch of turds….. WOW!
Awful just awful. Looks like paps is trying desperately to stay in philly
The Fat Lady is gargling again and warming up her Voice
2 brutal loses Sat vs Mets and last night vs Padres sandwiched between a blow out to Mets Sunday.. This 2013 Season is slipping way quickly and even out of the 2nd Wildcard Spot where Phils have 5-6 Teams to have to leap-Frog over
They are on pace to win approx 75 Fames the way they are playing as their
Bullpen & Team Defense has been brutal.. It’s a damn shame for their Starter’s have actually pitched well enough to have more wins and be in better Pisition
Seems like as soon as Papelbon opened up his big mouth and called out Teammates 10 days ago, his Pitching has been terrible.. They have zero chance with the way he’s been Pitching lately and have no real options at the Closer/late innings..
The Fat lady, sang her encore, & is on a beach drinking umbrella drinks! It’s over! We have not 1 reliable BP pitcher! We have no power! No discipline! No energy! No smarts! An ancient, shot lineup! The next Darryl Strawberry/ Barry Bonds clone, is back down to Earth, as I said! An imbecilic FO, GM, & scouting staff, & a manager with no answers & a team tuning him out! Please, Middleton, buy out the other owners, & clean house, from Monty- the Batboy! It’s officially an embarrassment, to be a fan, & the team is infuriating & unwatchable!!!!