Game Recap:
Shane Victorino made a serious case to be voted on to the All Star team, driving in the game winning run with two outs in the ninth inning to put the Phillies over the Reds.
What went right?
Shane Victorino should get your vote for the All Star team, after going 2-4 with two stolen bases, a run scored and the game winning RBI.
Ryan Howard was 1-4 with an RBI.
Jayson Werth went 1-4 with his third home run of the series.
Greg Dobbs went 2-3.
The bullpen was awesome tonight, allowing one hit in four innings of relief work.
What went wrong?
Chase Utley was 0-4.
Rodrigo Lopez looked good, but had to leave the game after just five innings with shoulder soreness. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four and walking three.
The Phillies struck out 11 times.
Game Analysis:
After last night's poor effort, the Phillies didn't exactly show much more tonight, but they did enough to win, and maybe push Shane Victorino to his first All Star team. With two outs in the ninth inning, Shane looped a single into left field that scored Pedro Feliz and gave the Phillies a good victory. Even with the win, the Phillies are still left with some questions after tonight's game.
The first and most important question is about the starting pitching. If Rodrigo Lopez is out for a period of time (and even if he isn't, he should just be a stop-gap pitcher), who is going to replace him? Apparently, the Blue Jays have put Roy Halladay on the market, and though the price tag is going to be quite steep, the Phils need to make an effort to go after him. Yes, it's probably going to cost Jason Donald and Kyle Drabek at least, but you can't get much better than Roy Halladay on the mound. Any questions about the starting pitching would be answered, and that's the kind of move that might push the Phillies back to the top of the National League again this season.
The other question is about the offense. Yes, the Phillies managed to scrape together enough runs to win tonight, but they can't score 22 runs in one game, then only manage five in the next two games put together. Jimmy Rollins is starting to hit the ball better, but it needs to be a team effort for these guys to get something started each and every night on offense. Any pitcher can win ballgames with enough runs, and that's something the Phils haven't been able to do consistently this season.
Either way, it was another good win tonight, and the Phillies retained their two game lead over the Marlins, while the Mets sit in fourth place, four and a half games back. That makes me laugh. I hate the Mets so much.
Tomorrow, Jamie Moyer (7-6, 5.72 ERA) looks to get the series win for the Phillies as he takes on Micah Owings (6-8, 4.48 ERA). Let's go Phils!
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