With the game tied 4-4 at the end of the 9th inning, the Phillies and Giants went into extra innings last night. JC Romero came into the game to pitch and gave up a leadoff homerun to one time Phillie Aaron Rowand. Romero struggled but got through the rest of the inning without allowing any more runners to cross.
The Phillies came up in the bottom of the 10th inning down by 1 run. Jayson Werth struck out swinging to get things started. Then Chase Utley, who had already hit a two-run homerun in the 1st inning, came up and singled. Ryan Howard then struck out to take his stat line to 0-5 with 3 strikeouts and 5 men left on base. He argued the call and got ejected accordingly. Good game, Ryan. So with 2 outs, and one man on, Pat “the bat” Burrell stepped into the batter’s box. Burrell saw 5 straight fastballs from Giants pitcher Brian Wilson. The result of those 5 pitches was a full count. So with a full count and 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, with a runner on, down by 1, Wilson fed Burrell yet another fastball. Burrell launched it into the leftfield bleachers for a walkoff, game winning homer. Phils win 6-5.
Utley, Feliz, and Burrell each homered in the game. Burrell’s 2-run game winner put him in a tie for the league lead in RBIs. Chase Utley has now reached base safely in 29 out of 30 games this season.
JC Romero got the win even though he allowed the homer to Rowand. Kyle Kendrick, who started the game, pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, and striking out 6 without walking any. Ryan Madson gave up the other SF run. Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge combined for scoreless 8th and 9th innings.
The Phillies take on the Giants at 7:05 tonight. Brett Myers (2-2, 5.11) takes on Matt Cain (1-2, 4.41). Chase Utley is 4-9 lifetime against Cain with 2 homeruns. I don’t want to make any implications, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he continues his amazing beginning of the season.
