Coming into tonight, the start of a 4 game set with the lowly Houston Astros, the Phils had to feel good about themselves and their chances of improving their playoff positioning. Joe Blanton made them feel even better with 7 strong innings in which he allowed just 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 9. In short it was his best performance of the season by a wide margin. Surely, against the Astros it would be enough to win right? ex Phil Brett Myers didn't make it easy with 7 strong of his own, but thanks to Carlos Ruiz solo homer and Chase Utley's RBI single in the 3rd inning the Phils were able to take a 2-1lead and keep it through 7.
So up to that point it looked like Blanton's performance would be enough. Unfortunately, a dose of bad luck took the win away from Big Joe. With 1 on and nobody out in the 8th, ex Phil Micheal Bourn attempted to bunt for a hit. Ryan Howard was able to field it quickly and tag Bourn, or at least he thought he did. The umpire didn't see it that way and called Bourn safe, claiming he had eluded the tag. Replays were inconclusive as to whether Ryan tagged him or not but they did appear to show Bourn illegally going outside of the baseline to avoid the tag, but the ump didn't agree with that either. Given a gift, with 2 runners on and nobody out, Houston took advantage to the tune of 2 runs and a 3-2 lead.
From there the Phils had a couple opportunities to steal back victory but they came up short. First in the 8th, Raul Ibanez flied out with Jayson Werth on 1st. Then with 2 out and Ben Francisco on 2nd Jimmy Rollins flied out to end the disappointing 3-2 loss. Even more disappointing was that the Braves lost tonight as well so the Phils could have gained ground with a win, but oh well, better luck tomorrow I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment