After registering just 1 hit last night the Phils were glad to face anyone other than Dice K as they took the field today in the rubber match of their series with Red Sox. Unfortunately, the man they got to face today was knuckle baller Tim Wakefield and he like Dice K was on his game. They hit a lot of balls hard just like last night, but a hard hit 65 mph knuckle ball is like a popped up 95 mph heater. Thus, there were a lot of long loud outs for the Phils as they scuffled through another 8 scoreless innings. Meanwhile Roy Halladay got roughed for pretty much the first time this season, allowing 7 runs on 8 hits in just 5 and 2/3rd's innings. It wasn't all his fault as the Phils committed two major blunders in the field contributing to 3 of the 7 runs, but it also wasn't Hallday's best night either. He allowed a homerun and walked 2 batters while only striking out 1, giving him more walks than strikeouts in game for the first time all season.
Ultimately though, I wouldn't blame Roy as much as the defense. If not for those errors the Phils might have actually had a chance in this one. In fact they did rally for 3 runs in the 9th, on Raul Ibanez' s RBI double and Ross Gload's 2 run homer, but it was too little too late. Maybe if those errors had not occured and Gload's homer had cut the lead to 5-3 instead of 8-3 then they would have been able to continue the rally long enough to win, but instead Shane Victorino popped up to end the disappointing 8-3 loss. Now this game might have given you reason to panic but I am still not tworried. The Phils have never been great in interleague play. The past 2 seasons combined they had just 2 wins in interleague play and yet they still advanced back to the world series. Why should this season be any different. Moreover, the Red Sox have historically had Halladay's number. In his career Roy is just 14-15 with a 4,40 ERA against the Red Sox so what happened today is nothing new. That said, the Phils are currently 26-17 overall and remain 3.5 games up in the NL East.
2 comments:
I would have expected more from the Phils after that 1 hitter last game but I was wrong. Interleague play just doesnt suit the Phils, especially when they're put up against some of the best.
-to ph1llysports
well Boston hasn't been one of best for the most part this season but they seem to be coming around
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