The Phillies were able to outlast the Pirates last night to win 6-5. With 1 out in the bottom of the 4th inning, I thought that Adam Eaton and the Phillies were going to roll through the rest of the game. Boy was I wrong. Eaton proceeded to give up a homerun to Jason Bay, then 3 doubles, and was pulled after he pitched around the #8 batter to get to the pitcher with a force out in play. Chad Durbin came in to finish out the inning. What was a 6-0 lead was now a 6-3 lead and Eaton long gone.
Durbin gave up 2 more runs in the 5th inning, and that’s also when the Phillies offense got ice cold. After the 2 runs in the fourth inning, the team combined to get only 2 hits the rest of the game, and one of those was Durbin’s first ever Major League hit. Luckily for the team, relievers Tom Gordon, JC Romero, and Brad Lidge all pitched scoreless innings and preserved the victory. Gordon earned the victory and Lidge got another save by striking out 2 in the 9th.
Jayson Werth was the only Phillie to go deep in this game. He ended up 2-4 with the homerun, 2 runs, and 2 RBI. Chris Coste was my MVP of the game going 3-5 with a double and three RBI. Brad Harman also got his first Major League hit with an RBI double in the 4th inning. He came around to score on a single by Werth.
Harman got the start at 2nd because Chase Utley played 1st base. Ryan Howard has been absolutely awful at the plate, and has finally been sat down to get the point across, although he did strike out when he pinch hit for the pitcher again! At this pace he could close in on 275 Ks this season. I don’t care how hard he hits in when he makes contact if that is only 1-10 times. That’s 2 times every 5 games.
