Game Recap:
Joe Blanton pitched ok, but errors by Ross Gload and Ryan Howard cost him as the Phillies were knocked out of first place by the Atlanta Braves.
What went right?
Raul Ibanez went 1-3 with a run scored.
Carlos Ruiz went 1-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Ben Francisco was 1-2 with an RBI.
Brad Lidge made his return from the disabled list, pitching a scoreless eighth inning while striking out one.
What went wrong?
Ross Gload batted leadoff for some reason, and went 0-3. He also had an error in the first inning that allowed another Atlanta run to score.
Ryan Howard was 0-4 and had a big error of his own that led to three runs in the third inning.
Joe Blanton pitched ok, but that wasn't enough to get the win. He allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out two.
Antonio Bastardo and Chad Durbin had their problems in the seventh inning, allowing three runs between the two of them on three hits.
Game Analysis:
Everything seemed like it was going great for the Phillies about two weeks ago, didn't it? The Phils had just come off of a 12-2 beatdown of the Pittsburgh Pirates and were 11 games over .500. They had their biggest lead of the season in the National League East, and Jimmy Rollins had just come off of the disabled list and looked just as good as he did at the start of the season. Now, the Phils have been shut out in five of their last nine games, and save for Roy Halladay's perfect game, nothing has gone right.
Today was another one of those games for the Phillies, as the Atlanta Braves passed them for first place in the National League East. It wasn't as if Joe Blanton pitched a great game, but he pitched well enough to win. It was the little things that cost the Phillies today. Errors by Ross Gload and Ryan Howard did in the Phils, and their offense showed little signs of life once again.
Blanton should have been able to get out of the first inning having just allowed a Chipper Jones home run, but Gload's error in right field allowed Troy Glaus to reach second, and Eric Hinske drove him in for an unearned run. In the third inning, Blanton retired Jones, but allowed the next two batters to reach, only to have Hinske ground a gimme double play ball to Ryan Howard. The only problem was that Howard booted the ball, which allowed Brian McCann to score and the inning to continue. Yunel Escobar singled home Hinske and Troy Glaus, and just like that, an error turned a 3-0 game into a 6-0 game, and that would be all the Braves would need today.
The offense was sluggish again today, and I'm running out of ways to talk about how bad it is right now for the Phillies at the plate. Tommy Hanson didn't have his best stuff on the mound for Atlanta today, but the Phils got themselves out of scoring situations in the first two innings with double plays from Ryan Howard and Wilson Valdez. It was typical of the way the Phillies have been at the plate lately. It's not that they're having trouble getting on base, but they're having trouble hitting once they get men on base, and that's what's doing them in. Hanson was off early today, and he walked more batters than he struck out, but the Phillies just couldn't get that big base hit until the seventh inning, and by then, it was 6-0 Atlanta. The Braves finished things off with a three run blast from Troy Glaus in the bottom of the seventh, and that was all she wrote today.
Now, the Phillies find themselves in second place for the first time in a month, and it feels a lot less fun than it did back then. This 4-9 stretch that they are on has come at a very bad time, and nothing seems to be clicking right now. Aside from Roy Halladay's perfect game, the Phillies have done very little against quality opponents, and that's a little disheartening, especially considering the Phils have won the National League the last two years. This team is still one of the best in the National League, but they're certainly not playing like it right now. Things have got to turn around, and fast. This schedule's not getting any easier.
Tomorrow, Cole Hamels (5-3, 3.82 ERA) looks for his sixth win of the season. Tim Hudson (5-1, 2.24 ERA) will be pitching for the Braves.
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