Sorry for the delay on this one. My Internet decided to crap out last night, and I was drunk...really drunk. Plus, I just finished an eight hour shift at work, so this is the first time I've had to put this up.
Game Recap:
After Brad Lidge blew his second save of the season, the Phillies scored four times in the top of the 12th inning to get past the Nationals last night.
What went right?
Raul Ibanez went 4-6 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Pedro Feliz went 4-5 with two walks and two RBI.
Carlos Ruiz continued his recent hot streak, going 3-6 with two RBI.
Aside from Brad Lidge, the bullpen pitched six shutout innings.
Ryan Howard broke out of a week long homerless drought with a three run shot in the seventh inning that put the Phillies on top, but...
What went wrong?
...Brad Lidge blew his second save of the season, giving up two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Joe Blanton didn't have his control and only lasted five innings. He allowed four runs, walked six and struck out five.
Chase Utley went 0-3 with two walks, making him 0 for his last five games.
Game Analysis:
There's winning, and then there's winning ugly. That's what the Phillies did last night, as they had to hop on the comeback train twice against the Nationals. The only problem was that they shouldn't have had to play any longer than the ninth inning.
I've been saying this for about a week now, but I don't know what's wrong with Brad Lidge. Maybe this is some Bizzaro-World impostor or something, but he just hasn't looked right at all this season. He needs to pick things up, stop allowing runs and just get back on track. The Phillies need him to pitch like he did last year, or they're just going to end up like the Mets were the last two seasons, and no one I know wants that...except the Mets fans.
Joe Blanton was also a problem, as he only lasted five innings. Of course, he did manage to keep the Phillies in the game, which is all you can expect from your fourth starter, so it wasn't all bad. He definitely didn't have his control last night, and it cost him. Six walks in five innings isn't good for anything, especially the night before a doubleheader when you need your bullpen to be rested and ready. Considering how much the Phillies have had to use theirs, something like what Blanton did isn't going to help. I know he's not going to win the Cy Young Award, but in a game like that, against one of the worst teams in baseball, he should be able to go at least seven innings. Sure, the Phillies won, but still, it could have been better.
That being said, I've got to take my hat off for the back end of the lineup right now. Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz have just been on fire lately, and without them, the Phils wouldn't have won last night. If this is Bizzaro-World Carlos Ruiz, I'd like to keep him, thank you very much. The same thing goes with Feliz. He's gathered six walks in the past week, and he had none before that for the entire month of May, and I'm liking what I'm seeing out of him. Last year, it pained me to see him in the lineup every day, especially when the Phils had Greg Dobbs sitting on the bench. Now, Dobbs can stay there, because Feliz is back to full strength and actually looks like a solid third baseman.
Like I said at the start, it was an ugly win, but what matters is that it was a win. I'm not going to go into starters for game one of the doubleheader, since it's already over. That recap is coming shortly.
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