Game Recap:
The Mets kept the Phillies from clinching the National League East at home for the fourth straight season, as Carlos Beltran hit two home runs and Cole Hamels got knocked out of the game in the fourth inning. Even with the loss, the magic number to clinch dropped to one, and the Phillies clinched at least a playoff spot.
What went right?
Chase Utley was 1-4 with a three run home run.
Raul Ibanez was 2-4.
Wilson freaking Valdez went 1-3 and scored a run.
Jimmy Rollins made his return in a pinch hitting appearance, but grounded out. At least he's back.
What went wrong?
Carlos Ruiz was 0-4, and hit into an inning ending double play in the fourth inning.
Cole Hamels had his worst outing in a while, lasting only four innings while giving up five runs on nine hits. He walked three and struck out two.
Ryan Madson didn't record an out in the ninth inning, but allowed two runs on a home run by Carlos Beltran.
The Phillies left nine men on base.
The Phillies didn't get to clinch the National League East at home this season.
Game Analysis:
This one is going to be short tonight. Simply put, the Phillies, despite losing their second straight game to the Mets, managed to clinch a playoff birth for the fourth straight season. Where they're going to land in the National League isn't decided yet, but they've got themselves another trip to the postseason. Now, the Phils didn't look like a playoff team today against New York, but now all they have to do to clinch the National League East is win one more game.
For the first time in a long time, Cole Hamels looked rough on the mound. He only lasted four innings, and looked nothing like the man that shut down the Braves over seven innings this past Monday. Instead, Hamels gave up two home runs and nine hits, and couldn't make it into the fifth inning. To be fair, this looked more like a single bump in the road than anything serious, and Hamels has never fared well against the Mets in his entire career. The Mets haven't exactly owned him, but he's just never really found a way to beat them. Either he pitches well and the offense can't do anything, or he pitches poorly, like he did today. Even with this loss, Hamels should bounce back back, and he's only got one more start left during the regular season anyway. It's probably going to be a short one, but that's not the point right now.
The offense does still need to get their act together. They drove Pat Misch out of the game in the fourth inning with a three run outburst, but after that they couldn't do anything else. The Mets made some nice plays to keep the Phils from tying the game at any point, but you can't just point at those and say that they made all the difference. Teams need to be able to drive in runs in clutch situations, and over the last two games, the Phillies haven't been able to do that. Again, to be fair, the Mets pretty much shut the Phillies down at the plate this season. Remember, New York shut the Phils out for an entire series earlier this year, but when you get nine hits in a game, along with three walks, you should be able to get more than three runs. Even so, the bats will start to warm up again, especially with Jimmy Rollins looking like he's going to be back for the last week of the regular season.
No matter the result today, the Phillies still managed to get into the playoffs again. It wasn't the way that they wanted to do it, but this team will take it any way that they can. Since their low point of the season, the Phils have gone 45-17. It's impressive, but they're not done yet. They still have six more games to play during the regular season, and then the real fun begins again.
Tomorrow, the Phillies start their last road trip of the year with a series down in Washington. Roy Halladay (20-10, 2.53 ERA) will try and lock up the division for the Phillies as he goes against John Lannan (8-7, 4.58 ERA).
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