7/4/13
It only took one inning for the Phillies to win the first
game of this three game series against the Pirates. The sixth inning told the
outcome of the game. The Phillies scored three while the Pirates scored one in
that frame. Last night was the second game of this series. John Lannan and Jeff
Locke took the mound for their respective teams. Locke has been one of the
great surprises for the Pirates as he has had a great first half of the season.
He’s won seven games and has only one loss. His ERA is a microscopic 2.06. He
could have some all-star consideration too if he keeps up this great pitching.
Lannan had a solid start in his last game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and
got his first win of the season. At the same time, his offense helped him out
dearly as he was given a 15 run lead to work with. The Phillies were without
Ryan Howard as he has to rest his ailing knee. John Mayberry got the start at
first base hitting sixth in the lineup. Domonic Brown will take Howard’s spot
in the lineup and hit fourth. Travis Snyder and Garrett Jones are both out of
the lineup. Gaby Sanchez will replace Jones at first base. Jose Tabata, fresh
off the 15-Day disabled list, will take over in right field for Snyder. Brandon
Cumpton, the starting pitcher last night for the Pirates, was demoted to the
minors to make room for Tabata on the Major League roster. Will either team
score more than three runs in this game or will pitching be the theme of this game
as it was in the previous game?
In a stunning turn of events, there were more than three
runs scored not by one team, but by both teams. Russell Martin had two RBI’s in
this game, but the big blow was Pedro Alvarez’s three run homerun in the fifth
inning that made it a 4-1 game. The Pirates scored their final run on a wild
pitch. Ben Revere started the scoring for the Phillies in the fourth inning by
looping an RBI single into left field. Kevin Frandsen got a pinch RBI single in
the sixth inning. Also in the sixth, Michael Young was safe on an error by
Jordy Mercer to make it a 4-3 game. The Phillies had a glimmer of hope in the
ninth inning when Domonic Brown hit a two run homerun to make the game 6-5.
However, that glimmer of hope faded when Delmon Young struck out to end the
ballgame. The Pirates got back in the win column with a 6-5 win.
Lannan had a terrible game. He had to battle his way to
pitch five innings. He never had a 1-2-3 inning and he was not sharp with his
pitches. Even though through the first four innings were clean zeroes, he was
bound to have one bad inning. It happened in the fifth because the Pirates’
hitters were seeing him a second time in the game. They knew what pitches
Lannan was going to throw and how fast or slow his pitches were. Phillippe
Aumont was atrocious. He relieved Lannan in the sixth inning and opened the
floodgates when it was a 4-3 game. He put two runners on base and recorded one
out. Jake Diekman was great, aside from that wild pitch he threw that
ultimately decided the game. Getting five strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings is very
impressive. Joe Savery was pretty good too as he stranded one guy on base in
the eighth inning.
Locke pitched an OK, but not a good game. He pitched easily
through the Phillies hitters during the first go-round. When they saw Locke the
second time around, they got on base more often and scored a run. They could
have scored two runs off of Locke, but Lannan is slow, did a terrible slide
into home plate, and was called out. The Pirates bullpen didn’t look as
dominant as it has been all season. Justin Wilson allowed two inherited runners
to score. Jeanmar Gomez and Mark Melancon pitched clean innings in the seventh
and eighth inning. Jason Grilli almost blew the game when Brown crushed his two
run homerun into right field.
Overall, the Phillies kept fighting, but it was not enough
to make up for their blunders in this game. The bullpen will obviously be a
reason of why the Phillies lose games. The breaks simply didn’t go right for
the Phillies. There’s nothing else to say about this game. However, there is
one thing I will say about this Phillies team; and that is they can compete
with some of the top teams in the National League.
Is it too early to
talk about the Phillies being buyers or sellers? Sound off and stay tuned until
next time…
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