PHILLIES NEWS

If the Phillies had their own awards show, tonight's contest would have won for best game of the year. From start to finish it looked like and felt like a playoff game, and with 41,000 + fans filling Citizens Bank Park it sounded like a playoff game too. Every pitch and every swing of every at bat seemed to be packed with pressure. It was one of those nights filled with raw energy where a loss would be crushing and a win would be huge, and every time you thought you knew what the story of night would be, a new story was written . It started off as a simple pitcher's duel with the starters for both teams, Kyle Lohse for the Reds and Jon Lieber for the Phils, dealing to a 3-1 Reds lead through 7 innings. At this point in the game the story was Edwin Encarnacion who had knocked in all 3 Reds runs with a 2 run homer in the 4th inning, and a solo homer in the 6th inning. However, by the end of the night his heroics would be forgotten. Entering the 8th inning down 3-1 the Phillies mounted a rally. First Jimmy Rollins hit a 2 run homer to tie the game at 3. Then a few batters later, with Chase Utley on 1st base, Pat Burrell whom I should mention knocked in the Phils 1st run of the night, tripled to score Utley for a 4-3 lead. Thus, at this point the story was the Phillies dramatic 8th inning rally, but again this rally would only prove to be a footnote to the drama to come. With the Phils ahead 4-3 in the 9th and closer Tom Gordon on in relief to close the game, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Phils would win, but it wasn't over yet. Gordon walked David Ross to begin the inning, then with one out he served up a 2 run homer to pinch hitter Javier Valentin and suddenly it was 5-4 Reds. Now of course the story was Valentin's dramatic homer and Gordon's blown save, but again there was more drama come. Down 5-4 in the 9th inning you would think the Phils might be headed for a loss, especially with the bottom of their order coming up, but they weren't done yet. Chris Coste doubled to leadoff the inning, then was lifted for pinch runner Chris Roberson. Roberson then moved up to 3rd base, when a pickoff attempt by David Ross sailed into the centerfield, and later scored to tie the game at 5 on a sac fly by Shane Victorino. Now the story was the game entering extra innings. Over the next 4 and 1/2 innings both teams had ample opportunity to go ahead and the win, but good pitching and several great defensive plays kept the game tied at 5. Then in the bottom of the 14th inning it finally happened. David Dellucci led off the inning with a single, then Chase Utley walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out for Ryan Howard. However, rather than give Howard a chance to end the game, Reds manager Jerry Narron decided to walk him to load the bases, for reliever Aaron Fultz batting for himself, because the Phillies had no one left on the bench to bat for him. Fultz went up the plate swinging and lined out to 2nd, but the bases remained loaded, now with just 1 out for Aaron Rowand. 2 pitches later Rowand line a single to right centerfield to score David Dellucci with the winning run. Yes, that was it, the story of the night, Aaron Rowand's game winning hit in the 14th inning, and a big 6-5 win for the Phils, who now trail the Reds by just 2 games in the wild card chase. Well, I don't know about you, but after this great game I can't wait to watch the Phils again tomorrow. Anyway, happy trails everyone.