Once again the Phils had a lead this afternoon against the Cubs and once again they weren't able to make it hold up. This time Joe Blanton allowed just 1 run through 5 while Shane Victorino slammed a solo homer in the 4th and Ryan Howard launched another 2 run shot in the 6th to stake the Phils to a 3-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 6th. There Blanton quickly got the 1st 2 outs and had 2 strikes on Aramis Ramirez but failed to put him away before allowing a 2 out double. That opened the door for ex-Phil Marlon Byrd to blast a 2 homer of his own and tie it up at 3. From there Blanton got out of a jam in the 7th, to finish his night having allowed just 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 8 in 7 strong innings. It was probably his best outing of the season thus far and yet it went for naught thanks to the Phils lackluster offensive performance.
Anyway, Ryan Madson supplanted Blanton in the 8th and he too got the first 2 outs quickly and had 2 strikes on Ramirez before allowing a solo shot for a 4-3 Cubs' lead. That pretty much took the air out of the Phils' sails after that and in the 9th the always volatile Carlos Marmol struck them out in order to finish off another disappointing loss. If this Phils lineup can't get things figured out soon they won't be heading anywhere this season. It is just frustrating to watch the pitching perform so well all the time for nothing. Fortunately, Placido Polanco returns from the DL tomorrow and maybe he'll be able to jump start the Phils stagnant offense. God knows no one else has been able to for some time. For now anyway the Phils got a little lucky as both the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets lost tonight. So despite falling to 47-43 overall the Phils did not lose any ground in the NL East. If only they could figure out a way to start gaining ground.
1 comment:
I guess I was wrong when just yesterday I said the Phils were going to crush the Cubs so I'm not going to say anything else.
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