PHILLIES NEWS

On Cole Hamels bobble head day, Hamels was nearly the star of the show. Well, at least for 7 innings he was, as he allowed just 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6. The Phils meanwhile, loaded the bases in the 3rd inning and scored 3 runs on a Pat Burrell Walk, and a single by Wes Helms. Aaron Rowand then hit yet another RBI double in the 5th inning and Hamels thus, exited the game with a 4-2 lead. That lead stood until the top of 9th inning, where after getting a quick out, Antonio Alfonseca destructed, allowing 1 run and 2 hits, before Charlie Manuel yanked him from the game. Mike Zagurski replaced Alfonseca and gave up 2 more runs before getting the 2nd out of the inning. Finally Jose Mesa came in to replace Zagurski and ended the inning, but now Washington was ahead 5-4 and all seemed lost. In the bottom of the inning Carlos Ruiz and Greg Dobbs were retired easily, leaving it all up to Jimmy Rollins to keep the game alive. He did that and then some, lining a ball deep into the leftfield gap, where lefttfielder Ryan Church had it, then lost it when centerfielder Ryan Langerhans ran into his glove and knocked it lose, allowing Rollins to race into 3rd standing up. Church's throw was then muffed by SS Felipe Lopez, allowing Rollins to score and tie the game at 5, as catcher Brian Schneider failed to handle Lopez's relay through. After another 4 and 1/2 innings of dueling bullpens, and the Phils failing to capitalize on golden opportunities, Ryan Howard finally ended the marathon. In the bottom of the 14th inning with Chase Utley on first and nobody out, Howard crushed a homer off the second deck in rightfield for a 7-5 Phils victory. So the Phils improve to 52-48 with their 5th win in a row, but the Mets won today as well, so the Phils remain 5 games back. Life remains beautiful though.