PHILLIES NEWS

Even the best laid plans of Mice and Managers so don't go as planned. For Charlie Manuel and the Phils everything was in order for 6 innings this afternoon. In that time Joe Blanton allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits. Meanwhile, a Ben Francisco double and a fielders choice in the 2nd, an RBI single by Raul Ibanez, a sac fly by Ryan Howard, and an RBI double by Greg Dobbs in the 3rd and finally a solo shot by Dane Sardhina in the top of the 7th, allotted the Phils with 5 runs and a 5-2 lead heading into Pittsburgh's half of the 7th. That's where things went awry. The plan for today was apparently for Blanton to go 7, but thanks to all the extra heat and humidity out there today he pretty much had nothing left after 6. No matter, Charlie Manuel sent him out for the 7th anyway and he promptly allowed a solo shot to leadoff the inning and cut the lead to 5-3. Two more batters reached base to put 2 on with 1 out before Blanton was finally pulled from the game in favor of Jose Contreras.

Contreras had one of the most hard luck outings you'll ever see. First he made great pitch to Delwyn Young to jam in, but Young got just enough of it to keep it fair for a cheap RBI double. Next he got Jose Sabata to hit a sharp grounder Jimmy Rollins seemed to have a beat out but it bounced off his glove instead and into left field allowing another run to score. Next Tabata looked like he would be out trying to steal second but JRoll twice failed to get the tag down in time. He then walked the next batter before finally getting Andrew McCutchen to ground into the 2nd out of the inning. That was it for Jose after that as Mike Zagurski came in to replace him and allowed another run before finally getting out of the inning.

The Damage had been done though as the Phils found themselves down 8-5 heading into the 8th and never recovered. In fact they went down in order in the final 2 inning to fall 8-5 and successfully drop 3 of 4 to the lowly Pirates. Not exactly the 4th of July weekend they were hoping but for now, thanks to a Braves loss, they're 42-38 record keeps them in contention at just 5 games out in the NL East. In other news Chase Utley, Ryan Howard,and Roy Halladay all made the NL All-Star team. Utley was voted in as a starter but obviously won't play, and Howard and Halladay will be reserves. Here's hoping they can finally help the NL win for a change ad get home field in the world series, not that the Phils will necessarily need it this year.