The weather cooperated with the nicest night of the spring thus far and the new look Philles--four new players in the line up--responded with a solid all around game. The biggest difference in the two teams was the wildness of the Diamondback pitchers, who gave up 7 walks and 5 HbPs. These free passes accounted for 7 of the Philles' 9 runs. Ben S was the hitting hero with 2 of the Phillies' 6 hits, including a double, a single, a sac fly, and 3 RBIs. On the mound, Chad Gromek (I still wonder if he's related to Steve) turned in a solid opening day start with 5 complete innings, 9 Ks and 0 walks (1 HbP), 4 hits, and only 1 of 3 runs being earned. Will Bromley closed out the game with two solid innings, fanning three, walking only one, and giving up zero hits.
Will Bromley hit long single to right to score Chad Gromek, running for Wilfred Cabrera, with the go ahead run in the bottom of the 5th and Mike Homant retired the A's in order in the 6th and 7th to make it stand up. Indeed, after the A's Spillane was gunned down at second by a strong throw from Gromek in the 4th, Homant retired the last 10 A's in order, 6 on strikeouts. Homant had a total of 12 strikeouts for the game, giving up 5 hits early in the game for the A's two runs, one earned. Indeed, the key play of the game came in the 1st inning with no one out. After walking the leadoff man Homant gave up a sharp single to right, putting runners on 1st and 3rd. The runner on first promptly stole second and was standing safely on the bag with no throw. Suddently he started to jog back to first and was easily tagged out by Homant. The explanation proved to be that our shortstop was telling him to stay up because there was no throw and the runner thought he was being told that the ball had been fouled off. Homant fanned the three and four hitters to leave the leadoff man stranded at third. In the meantime, Najor pitched a stong game for the A's, striking out 6 with a steady diet of fastballs. Three of the six hits he gave up were of the scratchy variety. If there are any A's reading this, know that we are aware that this was not your A team (pun intended) that we faced, and that you'll have some reinforcements when next we meet. As far as this game went, no excuses were offered and a play here or there could easily have reversed the outcome.
The Phillies Sunday ended a four-game postponement streak in 70 degree weather on a field (Foley) that actually drained. The field also had a much needed batting cage to warm up Philly bats after the two-week plus layoff. At first it did not seem to help as Expo pitcher Barrett cruised throuhg the first 3 innings. But he ran into control problems in the fourth, walking 4 around three timely Phillies hits. The Phillies did not let up after that, going on to amass 12 hits, including several long doubles. Five Phillies garnered 2-hit games: Homant, Witkowski, Zepeda, Epple, and Monticello. Meanwhile, Chad Gromek, who could easily have gotten two hits the plate, got fis two hitter on the mound, allowing one W while fanning 11and walking only one.
Hector Zepeda earned the win in his first career MSBL start for the Phillies. Hector scattered 4 hits over 4 2/3 innings, fanning 5 and holding the Brewers to 3 runs. Four walks and 3 hit-batters kept him in trouble much of the game, but two DPs choked off Brewer rallies. Will Bromley came on in the 5th with the tying runs aboard to rack up a K and end that threat. With the help of some solid defense Bromley shut out the Brewers over the final two innings. In the meantime, the Phillies mounted a 14-hit attack that was good for 9 runs. Even with that, the Phillies might easily have scored more as a "sure" home run by Clay Stephens hit the very top of the left field fence, bounced up at an 89 1/2 degree angle, did a cartwheel in the air that had it hovering beyond the fence, and then somehow fell in play in left center field, the only question being whether Clay would make it to 3rd base. The answer was no, and certainly that hit deserved the admiration Clay gave it as he stood in awe at first base. (Just wanted to see in anyone reads these things.) The other missing runs were more mundane: a runner wiping out between third and home, a hard hit double play that just nipped our man at first (but then both sides had some of these). Will led the hitting attack with three line drive hits, one a triple. Big Ben was 2 for 2 with his usual double along with a single, a HbP, and 2 RBIs. Max chipped a double and a single and John and Chuck each plated 2 RBIs with line singles to right. The win put the Phillies at 4-1, just a few percentage points ahead of the 4-1-1Dodgers, in a "virtual" four-way tie for first along with the Mets and the A's.
The battle began before the game started as the Phillies scrambled to assemble a team on a Monday night. All 9 who promised to be there showed up on time and ready to go, so Manager Bob Homant was releaved from having to play the infield with the youngsters. Still, he was the 10th man in the batting order, deciding not to declare himslef ineligible (due to a combination of age and a somewhat split finger) because "I don't want the Cubs to be able to bat just their top nine." The Cubs did the right thing and batted all 11, though they likely would have anyway. On the mound for the home Cubs was big Cuba Gladier (I think), whom a few of the Phillies had seen in "Fall Ball". According to the Cubs team stats this was his first appearance for the Cubs (their stats are not fully up to date). He was all that the Phillies expected, combining a hard fastball with a very consistent curve and keeping Phillies batters off stride. With the heart of the Phillies batting order, the 4 thtrough 7 hitters going a perfect 0 for 12 it was a scramble to score runs. A hard grounder by Chad in the first resulted in a DP and ended an early Philly threat. Walks to (Little) Ben and Chuck got the 3rd inning off to a good start. An infield out by Will and a flare to right by Joey plated those two and gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead. A liner to right by Ben--the Phillies only really hard base hit--got things going in the 5th. A hit batter, an infield out and a scratch single plated the third and final Phillies run. In the bottom of the fifth the Cubs mounted a comeback, starting the inning with 4 solid hits, two of them over the outfielders' heads. But on the last of those hits right fielder Chuck Vomastek got back quickly, got to the ball while it was still bouncing, whirled and threw a long peg to second where shortstop Will Bromley made a diving tag of the runner for the first out of the inning. Gromek then got tough, stranding a runner on third with a K and weak grounder to first. Chad told Will to be ready to come in at any time, but he settled down for an easy 6th and fanned the first batter in the bottom of the 7th. Then Gladier hit a sharp single to center, bringing up the 4 batters who had caused all the trouble in the 5th and resulting in an exchange of positions by Gromek and Will. It also led to the "play of the game". As the change in pitchers was taking place Homant had not noticed the Cubs sending in a courtesy runner for Gladier. But Max, at third base, started yelling, "Hey, they can't do that--don't they have to declare that in the beginning!" or something to that effect. Indeed they do, and this was not a matter of a player hurting his leg running out a single, it was a matter of the Cubs wanting to exchnage their fastest runner (Allen, based on how easily he had beat out an infield hit in the first inning) for an average runner. The Cubs then convinced the umpires that the rule about running for the catcher at any time also applied to the pitcher. Homant, of course, did not have the latest copy of the rules handy (and probably could not have found a negative rule anyway), but he threatened to play the rest of the game under protest if the Cubs did not send Gladier back out to run at first base. (No doubt the late great Joel Porter was smiling down in amusement at this point.) The Cubs reluctantly complied and no official protest was necessary. Will fanned the first batter he faced and it looked like it was all academic, but then Iovaccio (who went 3 for 3 with a beautiful bunt single and two doubles) hit a screamer down the left field line. Witkowski, playing deep in left, was able to get to the ball deep down the line and hustle it in to third base. Gladier had rounded third but had to return. There was no doubt in the Phillies' minds that Allen would have scored. Now it was tying run on third and winning run on second. Boyd promptly popped to Chad at short, who caught the ball to insure that he got his third win of the season. In a game this close a lot of little things make the difference. The Cubs outhit the Phillies 9 to 5, but 3 walks and a hit batter for the Phillies evened up the base running opportunities. A Cub double play killed a Phillies rally, but Chad's pickoff of Allen in the first inning killed any possible Cub rally. Vomastek's throwing out the Cub runner at 2nd in the 5th was clearly a big play. Finally, it should be noted that 4 of the Phillies 5 hits were by the three rookies in the line-up. All in all, it was one more memorable game in the long series of Philly/Cub battles over many years.
The game started out as a battle between each team's number three pitcher, the winner to take over "undisputed" 1st place. Hector Zepeda set down the Mets 1-2-3 in the top of the first and the Phillies came through with 3 hits off of Andrew Budziak in the bottom of the first but failed to score when a slide turned into a belly flop. (Aside: to protect the guilty I should probably use aliases from here on out.) The second inning was something of a repeat of the 1st. Fannon did lead off with a Met single but a quick DP ended any threat and once again Hector faced the minimum. In the bottom of the 2nd the Phillies again got three hits and again baserunning kept us off the board. In the top of the third the Mets rapped out three doubles around a walk and scored 3 runs. It seemed to the Phillies that Hector suffered from a very tight strike zone that would not give him the knee-high strike but this was consistent for both teams so it looked like a hitters' night. Sure enough, the Phillies led off the 3rd with a sharp single, the rain was holding off, and optimism abounded. We should have looked at the omen: had a team ever before started a game 7 for 11 and failed to score? What did that 11come 7 mean, exactly?--probably that we had things backwards! The next hitter smacked a hard grounder to second that resulted in a quick DP and that was pretty much the end of the Philly offense as we went 3 for 14 the rest of the way, scoring our lone run in the 5th on an infield single and some careless throwing by the fun-having (is that a word?) Mets. The Mets started the 4th with 3 singles and a walk and the Phillies went to Will to try to keep their fading hopes alive. Will got ground outs from the first two batters he faced but that was last good thing that happened from the Phillies' perspective. On an equal combination of hits and errors the next 8 Met batters reached base safely, resulting in 9 runs in the inning and a 12-0 score. It was time to audition pitchers. Three more Phillies pitchers failed to fare any better and the Mets finally danced away with a 23-1 win. We use that term "dance" solely to suggest their happiness.... They turned many a double into a single over the last 3 innings and tried hard not to rub things in. Looking hard for a bright spot, the Phillies did end the Met streak of always striking out more than 1 (and sometimes 2) batter(s) per inning as we fanned only 5 times in the 6 inning game. (The Mets sent 50 players to the dish and their only K was a called 3rd strike on the very last at bat.)
The talking heads, aka experts, always like to find turning points and if this game had one it was when John went to the wrong field. He still made it to Bicentennial on time to warn us that we all should have gone to Hazel Park, where we'd have only lost 7-0 (the forfeot score for a scheduled 7-inning game). But thanks to a Brewer sub we ended up with an 11-man batting order with Manager Bob Homant batting in the 8 spot (it would take too long to explain that one). The first play of the game was an E-5 for the home Phillies and it went downhill from there. Mike Homant on the mound tried valiently to keep the Phillie in the game, limiting the USAs to 4 unearned runs over the first fout innings. But with a flurry of errors helped by an uncharacterisitic 4 walks and 8 hits (over 5 innings) it all fell apart in the top of the fifth when the USAs scored 11 runs--mostly unearned and with Will coming in to give up his share. On the other side of the ledger, Team US made their share of the errors. but had sense enough to drop a pop up when they could force a runner at second. The Phillies managed only a weal four hits for the game,theri only run coming on a sharply hit Chuck Vomastek single. The Phillies brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the fourth--which must seem hard to believe for anyone who watched the game--but a K ended the thrreat.
I think I will keep this one brief. Those Phillies with masochistic tendencies (or non-Phillies with schadenfreude) can look up the game stats. Both teams sent 24 players to the plate over 7 innings. The Blue Jays left 8 on base, the Phillies 9. Both pitchers pitched strong complete games. The Phillies' Gromek gave up 7 hits while walking one, hitting one, and fanning 12. The Phillies got 12 hits and 2 walks, while fanning only 5 times. Errors that put people on base were about the same for both teams (assuming honest scoring). The Phillies likely had a few more disappearing-pop-fly hits than did the Jays. Homant's rule: in a 5-4 loss, everyone in the line up will be able to think of something they could have done to make it a tie, if not a win: a sac fly or infield grounder not hit, a base not advanced, a throw not made--you get the idea. (For we who only coach: a stolen base not attempted, a runner not sent, a batting order that could have been better, etc.) Homant's second rule: in a few years most of us will forget about this loss.
PHILLIES EDGE DIAMONDBACKS 7-6 TO HALT LOSS STREAK AT 3 GAMES
It was a warm Sunday morning leading into the July 4th break week. A loss would mean sitting with 4-game losing streak for the next nine days. Veteran Brian Birchenough, who anchored the Phillies' pitching staff sixteen years ago--when Bob Homant was in his 50s and it was still a 30 and over league--took the slab for the Diamondbacks, opposed by the Phillies' Hectro Zepeda. In the top of the first a Phillies' error and a hit batter presented a small threat that was ended by the first of Hector's 6 K's. In the bottom of the first the first four Phillies reached base and after a K two more hits gave the Phillies a quick 4 runs and it looked like we might have an easy one for once. But weak fielding gave the Diamondbacks runs in the 2nd and 3rd and two more in the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th a lead-off error led to the Phillies retaking the lead and then eventually loading the bases but Bob Homant--subbing for injured Joey Monticello--grounded to short to end the threat. Will Bromley came on to try to preserve the win for Hector but an error got the top of the fifth off to a rocky start; the Diamondbacks went on to score 2 and re-take the lead. The heart of the Phillies' order went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 5th. Will settled down in the 6th, retiring the Diamondbacks without any problems. Mike Homant led off the bottom of the 6th with a single and after Max grounded out, Gabe drew a 3-2 walk. A wild pitch moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd and the Mike Witkowski hit a flair over the drawn in infield to tie the game. The Diamondbacks threw the ball around abit and Gabe just missed scoring the go-ahead, instead becoming the second out of the inning. Gabe then got a second chance to run, takling second base for Witkowski who was palying with a courtesy runner. Chuck Vomastek grounded to second. It was going to be a close play. The second baseman hurreid his throw and it squibbed off the first baseman's mitt. Gabe never stopped as he rounded third and slid in safely at home, this time for the go-ahead run. Will then provided the anti-climax (no giggling please) by popping out to end the inning and whiffing the last three Diamondbacks to end the game. By doing so he also extended Bob Homant's career record for most times having a game end while in the on-deck circle (the actual number of times is disputed).
The Phillies acquitted themselves much better than their previous outing against Team USA but still came up short, 2-0, thanks mainly to the USA defense. The USA centerfielder was personally responsible for preventing two Phillies' runs. Will Bromley led off the 4th with a long blast to right center that looked like a triple but ended up being a long out on an over the shoulder catch, Then in the 6th John Crandell showed his speed as he tore around the bases for a lead off triple. Jeremy Epple then made a bid for a sac fly to center only to have Crandell cut down at the plate on a perfect throw from center. Two 6-4-3 DPs cut off two other Philly rallies and we credit the USA 3rd baseman for taking away 3 likely hits to left. The Phillies ended the night with only 4 hits despite fanning only 4 times. On the other side of the proverbial ledger, Team USA could muster only 5 hits off of Chad Gromek who fanned 6 USAers and was generally in command. But a flair to left in the first and an infield grounder in the second--both with two outs--led to the two USA runs and that was enough for the win.
The Blue Jays could muster only 8 players for their Sunday morning meeting with the Phillies. Given the option of an automatic out in the ninth spot in the order and playing with two outfielders they gratiously accepted Philly manager Bob Homant as their ninth player. We'll never know how he would have done in the field as the Phillies failed to hit a fly a ball to right the entire game (Homant did return two ground ball singles to the Jay 2nd baseman). At the plate, Bob gave son Mike a bit of a battle but still ended up 0-3 when right fielder ChuckVomastek, resigned to batting last in the order anyway, threw Homant out at first base on what should have been a two-run single. For the rest, the Jays out hit the Phillies 11 to 6, but 4 Jays reached base on errors to account for the fact that Mike was always trying to pitch out of trouble. Five of the Jays' runs ended up being unearned (as did one of the Phillies' runs). "Double-zero" Carver handled the mound duties for the Jays and mixed a fast ball with a slow sweeping curve to keep the Phillies off balance throughout. He ended up with 10 K's to go with 2 Ws', 2 HbP's, and the 6 hits. Several good defensive plays kept the Phillies from getting back into this one, with diving catches in left and center and some deft pickups of hard hit balls to the left side. The old baseball saying (from whence I know not) "Take two and hit to right" would have served the Phillies well in this one.
PHILLIES DOWN LEAGUE LEADING A's 5-2 BEHIND ZEPEDA's MASTERPIECE
A sweltering Thursday evening cooled down just before game time. Philly Will Bromley led off the game with a K--something that Bob Homant has always claimed jinxes the opposing team, especially the pitcher who gets the strikeout. (This jinx has proved reliable in about 51% of cases Homant has been aware of since game 2 of the 1954 World Series). The Phillies went down harmlessly in the first, but in the second, hard base running by John Crandall and a timely hit to center by Chuck Vomastek led to the first run of the game for the Phillies. The 1-0 lead held up for one inning; then in the third the A's answered with a double by P Spillane and fly to left by Emerson that we (Phillies) scored an error. The Phillies promptly answerd in the top of the fourth. Mike Homant led off with a walk. With a few strikeouts mixed in this was followed by clean singles by Big Ben, Mike W., John C., and Little Ben (sorry, couldn't resist), the last of which looked like an inning ending hopper to short until it took a super bounce over a pretty tall shortstop. Despite three strikeouts in the inning, 4 runs had scored and the Phillies had a 5-1 lead. Would it be enough? The Phillies Hector Zepeda, was pitching a fine game but he had never gone beyond the fourth inning, at least not that the Phillies had seen. Hector ended any doubts about his endurance as he settled into a comfortable rhythm with his sidearm slants, fanning two A's in each of the last four innings, giving him a total of 12 K's for the game. He allowed the heavy hitting A's only 5 hits, while walking only one. The A's pushed across their second run in the 6th with an infield out and they managed a couple runners on base in the 7th, but Hector fanned the last two A's to seal the W. Fine defense played a part. Throws from Will at short and Ben at 2nd nipped speedy A's runners in the early innings and a fine running catch in deep center by John stopped one comeback attempt before it amounted to anything. But the best defense was no doubt the Phillies' new catcher, Alec--self confessed brother to veteran Philly Max Manoogian--who caught at least three foul tips for 3rd strikes and held the A's to maybe 1 stolen base, while calling a great game and keeping Hector's pitches well framed. Except for that fourth inning there was not much difference in the two teams. Two A's pitchers fanned 12 Phillies, and the Phillies managed to generate 31 plate appearances to the A's 30.
The air was bit heavy Saturday morning but the Phillies' bats seemed even heavier. Mets' ace Steve Simmons fanned 8 of the first nine batters and went on to limit the Phillies to 3 hits, one hit batter, and one run. For the game he totaled 16 K's. Ben Szczepanski kept the Phillies in the game with his baffling combination of curves, splitters, and occasional fastballs, limiting the Mets to 6 runs on 8 scattered hits and one walk. Ben also notched 2 K's of his own (equalling his total as a batter). Two Met runs scored on an infield bouncer that handcuffed Max at third and three others scored after a long high fly eluded Chuck in left. Arguably the only Met earned run came on an inside the park homer by the above mentioned Simmons--a long drive that just eluded the outstretched glove of Bryan in center. It appeared that the Mets tried to deal with Ben's off speed pitches by hitting to center, where Brian had 5 putouts over the last three innings--likely a modern Phillies' record for an outfielder. Offensively, the Phillies had 9 plate appearances in which they did not strike out. Max and Mike H combined their doubles in the top of the 6th for the Phillies' lone run, making the game a still close 3-1 at the time. Ben Rauh did a fine job in his Phillies' debut at catcher, giving us a "Big Ben/Little Ben Battery". There should be something we could do with that combo. With 10 games in the next 21 days--starting Monday--there should be a lot of opportunity for pitchers and catchers.
The game matched the 6th place Phillies against the 8th place Expos in the 18+ division of the Detroit chapter of the MSBL. The winner would have a better chance of making the playoffs, and bragging rights until the next game was played. There was no coverage anywhere in today's papers (maybe it ended too late and they'll print the box score tomorrow). Still, the game had a Shakespearean quality to it--maybe not one of the great tradgedies (hopefully Mike H won't turn into King Lear after this one), but tragic none the less. Marlow's Faust comes to mind (the bargain with the devil only good for 8 innings). Baseball comparisons are hard to come by: there was no Bill Buckner in this one, perhaps Will can identify with Ralph Branca (the flare to left that lost the game was shorter than Bobby Thompson's 258 foot homer), or Harvey Haddix come to mind (the comparison would have been better had the bunt single come in the 8th inning or had Mike pitched the 9th). The only thing Mike did wrong was to strike out the leadoff man in the first: the jinx that worked for us a few games ago has now reached 52% effectiveness. For those of you who want game details: the Phillies had 5 hits and 5 walks off of Brandon Barrett (piching his second game for the Expos). Brandon fanned 5 in the first 3 innings, but after that there were only 2 Phillies' K's in the last 6 innings; the Expos played perfect defense with a few sparkling plays mised in. The closest the Phillies came to scoring was in the bottom of the eighth when the Expo's right fielder made the wrong play by diving for Mike's liner to the gap instead of playing it safe to hold Gabe at 2nd or possibly 3rd (he was running on the pitch); a diving, rolling catch was made, Gabe was easily doubled up at first, and that was that. Through 7 innings the Expos had one hit. This came in the 7th when Mike walked the leadoff man (their 2nd baserunner--the other also a walk). A bunt was clearly called for, the infield was in looking for the bunt, the pitch was in on the fists, and somehow a perfect bunt was dropped down the third base line to die in the thick grass for a clean no doubt about it hit (note: this was not a case of bunting to stop a no hitter; it was a case of an attempted sacrifice turning into a hit). But Mike pitched out of this one and on through the 8th without giving up another hit. Will came on in relief in the 9th, got the first two batters out, and appeared to fan the 3rd batter on a 3-2 curve ball. Maybe it was high. aybe it was outside. Or maybe someone was fooled on the pitch. The next batter hit a clean single to left, followed by a flare to left where Chuck made the correct play of diving for the ball, but it was too short and it skipped by him to score two, so the score was not even the 1-0 that would have better fit the epic nature of this battle. 'Nuff said.
Through the first 4 innings it was a see-saw game, then the Giants took control with 2 in the 5th and 2 in the sixth--the last on a homer to left by Durb (sp?). Phillies' come back attempts in the 6th and 7th fell short. All in all it was a close game. The Phillies' offense put together 9 hits, 5 walks, and one hit batter. The Giants matched this with 8 hits, 8 walks, and a couple untimely errors (Phillies POV, of course). Both pitchers battled a tight strike zone. For the Giants, Kolte (sp?) walked 3 and hit one in the 4th, but was saved from serious trouble when a 3-2 breaking ball that was well off the plate still induced a futile swing. Indeed, he was effectively wild with his pitches as he netted 8 strikeouts throughout the game, often in critical spots. Will, on the other hand, had to navigate the Giant lineup with little help from his strikeout pitch, finishing with just one K for his 6 innings. The Phillies will have to put this one behind them in a hurry as they now head into 6 makeup games that are squeezed into the last two regularly scheduled games of the season.
Chad Gromek returned to the mound after a two week absence and promptly put the Phillies back in the win column with a masterful 2 hitter. Socull got the first hit off of Chad in the second inning but his courtesy runner was promptly picked off. Socull then made a bid for a second hit in the 5th, only to be robbed by a diving catch by Hector Zepeda in center--a play that kept the Tigers from tying the game later in that inning as they did go on to score a run on a throwing error, a balk, and an infield out. Socull worked a walk with two out in the 7th and when Bradley followed with the Tigers' second hit the tying run was suddenly on 1st base. Given how snakebit the Phillies have been lately, Chad's strikeout of the next batter--his 10th of the night--was a welcome finish to the game (one might say a catharsis, but I don't think there any catharses in baseball). Offensively the Phillies were up to their old tricks. Either runners did not get on until there were two out, or every batter seemed to saving his hit for when nobody was on. Finally, with two on and one out catcher Alec Manoogian slapped a hard single to left to put the Phillies up 2-0. The Tigers closed the score to 2-1 with their unearned run in the bottom of the fifth but then prompty handed the unearned run back the Phillies by botching a sure double play ball in the top of the sixth. This led to a timely single to left by Big Ben for an RBI and got the score to 3-1, where it stayed. On the other side of the ledger, Tiger pitcher Miller threw a fine game of his own, scattering 6 hits among six Philly batters, a couple of those of the infield variety. He only fanned three but not many balls were hit hard and the two walks he gave up did not figure in the scoring. He deserved a better fate.
The Phillies won their second straight game against the Tigers, 10-4, as they got back to playing .500 ball and put themselves in position to at least make the playoffs (not claiming anything yet). The game featured the return of Joey Monticello who had missed all of July with a rotator cuff problem; he promptly showed what the Phillies had been missing as he led off the Phillies' first with a single to cener, stole second, and came around to score on Mike Homant's sharp single to left. Hector Zepeda took the mound for the home Phillies, playing their 4th game in 8 days. The first two Tiger batters reached base on infield errors and the 3rd hitter hit a flare to center to load the bases. The 4th hitter walked on a 3-2 pitch and things definitely did not look good for the generally low scoring Phillies. But Hector promptly fanned the next two hitters and then ended the inning with a pop-up and only one run scoring, which the Phillies promptly matched. Trotter led off the 2nd for the Tigers with a double and after a great catch of a Texax Leaguer by Witkowski in left, a walk, and a fielder's choice there were two outs with runners on 2nd and 3rd. A high fly to left looked like the inning ender but this one eluded Witkowski and two runs scored. Two K's in the bottom of the first killed a Phillies' rally and it was 3-1 Tigers after two. Hector gave up a harmless two-out single in the 3rd and finally the Phillies showed some offense as the first seven batters reached in the bottom of the 3rd, the big hit being an RBI double to center by Big Ben. Without a change in expression from his pregame warmups, Hector then went on a streak, retiring 11 Tigers in order from the 3rd through the 7th innings. The Phillies tacked some runs on in the bottom of the fifth after two outs and a dropped fly ball kept the door a little open. A walk, a single, and another walk got one in and left them loaded for Ben Szcz-etc, who really earned his Big Ben monicker with a long grand slam to left. The Tigers plated an earned run off of Hector in the seventh but the game was far out of reach at this point. There were several kudos to pass out to the Phillies after this one. The spark from Joey, Hector's unflappable pitching, and Ben's timely hitting were the top performances; Jeremey Epple, our reluctant emergency catcher, did a fine job behind the plate besides managing to go 3 for 4 with an RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base (the latter coming by virtue of his catching position meriting an assist from Joey as the actual thief). Bob Homant, who had expected to play this one as a DH but was dropped from the line-up when the Tigers could only muster 9 players, finally added himself to the lineup in the bottom of the 6th and lined an 0-2 pitch to right for a single. The Tiger right fielder apparently had not read the recent Phillies' game summaries, as he threw the ball in harmlessly to the middle of the infield. (To be fair, the first baseman was not covering the bag either and Homant would likely have made it anyway as this one was not directly at the right fielder.) In all, the Phillies had 12 hits, 6 walks, and one HbP, with every Philly reaching base at least once.
It was the first game of a double header making up two rainouts between the Phillies and the Nationals. It was also a battle for the last playoff spot, with both teams needing to win two to clinch 8th place. Unusual for early August, the Phillies had their pitching staff well rested and a 12-man turnout. Manager Bob Homant had pre-warned his team that they were in playoff mode, meaning a 10-man batting order, best use of courtesy runners, and "best defense," at least until the game was decided. Chad Gromek took the mound for the opener and set the Nationals down in the top of the first without major difficulty. In the last half of the first the Phillies' first two batters got aboard via an error and an infield hit and came around to score thanks mainly to speed afoot and it looked like the Phillies were off and running. But the offense stalled and a couple poor fielding plays opened the door for the Nationals in the fourth. Gromek was able to close the door after two runs were in and the game knotted at 2-2 going into the bottom of the 4th. The Nationals promptly returned the favor--plus interest--with a slew of errors of their own and by the end of the inning the Phillies had scored 6 unearned to go ahead 8-2 and take control. Gromek ended up with one earned run allowed on 4 hits and an unusually high 6 walks as both pitchers struggled with a tight strike zone. Offensively, Gabe Narrett was 3 for 3 plus a walk, with two runs scored; Ben Szczepanski was 3 for 4, including a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. (The rest of the team was a combined 3 for 24.) It was a satisfying win but the Phillies knew they needed to win game 2 for it to mean anything.
Hector Zepeda, coming off three strong pitching performances, took the hill for the Phillies in game two of their double header with the Nationals. A win would clinch at least 8th place for the Phillies (and a chance for a rematch with one of the five teams vying for first place in the best race this writer has seen in his 26 MSBL years). A walk, an infield hit, and a double by Will Bromley meant that once again the Phllies were off to a two run lead. Hector promptly fanned the side on 12 pitches in the bottom of the first to serve notice that he was on his game. A single by Gabe Narret plated two more runs in the Phillies' second and it was 4-0 going into the bottom of the 4th. A single, a stolen base, and some careless defense led to a Nationals' run and the game was certainly not over yet. Then a long double by Ben S in the top of the 5th drove in two runs and a couple of errors allowed the Phillies to tack on three more in the 6th for a 9-1 lead. But the double header seemed to be taking its toll (on everyone but the unflapable Hector) and whether it was a few players coming out of the defense or just everyone getting tired, a series of errors led to 2 Nationals' runs in each of the 6th and 7th innings. Hector responded with three K's in the 7th--includng thre 3 and 4 batters after the Nationals tried to rattle him by claiming his stretch motion was a balk move--and the Phillies were happy to walk off with a 9-5 win. For the evening, Hector fanned 13 while walking one, giving up only 4 hits and one earned run. Offensively, besides the continued RBI production of Ben S, Ben Rauh (aka "Little Ben") was 2 for 3 with a sac fly, a run scored, and (of course) an RBI; in the lead-off spot Joey Monticello was on all four at bats with a walk, a hit by pitch and two singles, scoring two runs and driving in one (plus a stolen base and an induced balk on the basepaths). The Phillies ended the night tied with the Giants for 7th and 8th place and an outside chance to finish 6th. It was tempting to try to figure out where we wanted to finish but besides being unable to figure which of the top teams we might want to match up with, it is totally hopeless to predict the order the top five teams will finish in.
Both teams came into the game with their playoff spots reasonably well determined, though the Dodgers still have an outside shot at winning the season title. The Dodgers mustered 10 players for the game and the Phillies 9, including manager Bob Homant, who was ready to put on the catching gear when Little Ben ambled in around 8:10 to the relief of seven of the Phillies, relegating Bob to first base (where pitcher Joey was clever enouth to make sure that no Dodger hit a ball all night). For the night, the Dodgers sent 37 batters to the plate compared to the Phillies' 26 and left 12 on base compared to the Phillies' 4. The Dodgers outhit the Phillies at least 6 to 1. (We say "at least" because there was no one to keep score when the Dodgers batted and some of the reconstruction of their innings is guesswork.) Joey spoiled the no hitter by leading off the bottom of the first with a grounder up the middle and that was it for the Phillies' offense. The Phillies scored a run in the 5th on 2 walks and Vomastek's grounder that almost made it to right field; this allowed L Ben to score from 2nd base while the Dodgers were congratulating their second baseman on his fine play. Despite the lopsidedness of the game as a whole, however, the Phillies were in it till the end. The Dodgers went to their bullpen in the 6th and 7th and the last reliever had much trouble finding the plate in the 7th. Three walks loaded the bases with only one out and if one more batter could reach base the top of the order would be up with a chance to at least tie the game with a single. Here came one of those plays that the Phillies have gone over in their collective heads for the past several hours--no doubt one which will go down in Phillies' lore forever. Given the wildness of the Dodger pitcher, it was anticipated that a wild pitch was not unlikely. What should the odds of success be to attempt to score from third? On the be cautious side: the run "meant nothing" and the pitcher had not shown he could throw strikes...why not wait and see what developed? Plus, the batter with the Phillies' one hit was "in the hole". On the other hand, the Phillies had not shown any offense all night and a successful attempt would move the tying run to second base where he could not only score on a bloop but also the risk of a double play--the Dodgers had already had three of them--would be all but eliminated. Anyway, the wild pitch came, Max decided to come home, it looked like he had a good chance to make it, the ball caromed off the wood base of the backstop, his chances still looked good, Max put on the breaks about half way to home, the runner from second was almost to 3rd base, and Max was the proverbial dead duck. Two out and two on. The pitcher found his control and Mike Witkowski bounced out 3rd to first...maybe it would have been a double play had the bases still been loaded or maybe not, and Bob Homant was left in the on deck circle (he swears he is the Detroit MSBL career leader for ending games in that location) wondering if he could have hit one down the 3rd base line to at least tie the game. On the defensive side of the ledger, Joey Monticello made his pitching debut for the Phillies. The very first Dodger batter got on base by an E-6 (hey, if you can't take a timely error don't pitch for the Phillies) and came around to score the first of two unearned runs in the inning. Another E (to 5 or 3) led off the 2nd and led to another unearned run. A hit batter and a double led to an earned run in the 4th and put the Dodgers ahead 4-0. At this point either Joey found his rhythm or he decided that being a "contact pitcher" was not the way to go. (To be fair, the Phillies did make a couple of excellent plays in the outfield to keep further trouble from developing.) He picked up one K in the 6th and 3 K's in the 7th, giving him 6 or 7 for the night and now we have that 4th starter for when we make it to the 3rd round of the playoffs.
For the second straight day the Phillies debued a new pitcher and true to form a first inning error put righty Dan Kilgore in a 5-0 hole (3 runs were earned). After a 1-2-3 second inning, weak play helped the Cubs score two more runs in the 3rd and the game was for all intents over. Dan's contol got better as the game progressed as did the Philly fielding.With the aid of a couple DPs Dan set down 12 of the last 13 Cubs. The Phillies, however, were unable to close the gap, scoring only in the fourth on a single by Dan and a double my Mike Homant. Both teams ended the game with 6 hits but the Cubs did better at bunching theirs in the 1st and 3rd innings. Dan certainly earned another start, which may have to wait till next year, when we also look forward to having his bat in the middle of the line-up. (Speaking of bats, read on.)
THE STRANGE CASE OF THE BAT THAT DID NOT HIT IN THE NIGHT
Just as the game ended an aguished cry was heard in the Phillies dugout: "My bat! Where's my *&^% bat? Somebody stole my bat! Lock all the exits!" Yes, Mad Max Manoogian's favorite bat, Wonderboy II, had disappeared. Fortunately, Chucklock VomasTEK was on the case. The logical suspects seemed to someone on the Cub team (or, bat-theft on the Orient Express, maybe they all did it). Chuck explained to them that the bat's name meant that we wondered when it was going to get a hit and did not imply anything Robert-Redford-like about its powers. But the Cubs vehemently (is there any other way?) denied any wrongdoing regarding the missing bat. "Why should we steal Wonderboy AFTER the game? And surely its powers only aid Mad Max?" Briefly befuddled, Chucklock returned to the quickly vacating Philly dugout. Mean Mike Witkowski was still around, no doubt trying to deflect suspicion by acting as if he had nothing to hide. What if he planned to paint the bat blue and use it himselft in tomorrow morning's game? But Mike argued convincingly that he had his own bat that was perfectly as capable of going 0 for 2 as was Wonderboy. "But by the way," he added, "maybe you can help find a missing planet--there should be one more by the moon!" The case was getting complicated indeed. Chucklock decided the only way to go was to reenact the crime from the start. He would take one of his own bats, put in Max's bag, and then see what it would take to steal the bat while imagining a dugout full of alert Phillies all about the scene. As he carefully inserted the substitute bat into Max's bag he heard a telling thump--Wonderboy was speaking. In fact, Wonderboy was there, in the bag. Dr. Robert Homant, noted expert on crime scene profiling, was then called upon to solve the mystery of the reappearing bat. "This is just like an equivocal death analysis," said Homant. "No doubt Wonderboy had hidden himself in the bag in order to engage in autoerotic asphyxiation." But Chucklock wasn't buying that one: "That stupid bat never was missing! That's why it did not hit in the night!" The missing planet? Just a MacGuffin. (Apologies to Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, P. D. James, and Alfred Hitchcock.)
The most notable difference between this game and the one against the Dodgers that ended some 12 hours earlier was that no bat or other equipment was declared stolen at the conclusion. The visiting Phillies opened up with a couple hits and a stolen base for a run in the first, a great play by the Giant second baseman taking away what would have been a second run, but this was about it for the Phillies. Joey "Just-Hand-Me-The-Ball Monticello started his second game in three days and just like the night before the bad guys scored 5 in the first thanks mostly to Phillies' misplays (one run was earned). Then, instead of waiting until the third as the Dodgers had, the Giants added two more in the second to take a commanding 7-1 lead. The Phillies scratched across two runs in the 7th off of the Giants' bullpen but the game was never really in doubt. Will Bromley mopped up for the Phillies in the 6th, throwing to brother Gill as a battery-mate and allowing only one baserunner. One notable feature was that there were no Giant strikeouts throughout the entire game. Gabe Narrett led the Phillies with 2 for 3, a run scored and an RBI and took over the team batting lead on this the last day of the regular season. As a prize he gets an "I'll never catch again" sticker, good for one game of not having to catch--as long as Alec or Little Ben shows up.
This first round playoff game pitted the 8th seeded Phillies against the league champion Dodgers. The Giants (#7) had just beaten the Mets (#2) and the Phillies were looking for another upset. The Phillies opened strong in the top of the first, scoring three runs. The teams then traded single runs on two occasions and the score was 5-2 going into the bottom of the 7th. The Dodgers' 10th batter led off with what looked like a routine grounder that took a wicked hop over Will at short. But the next two batters made outs and all looked under control. True, the heart of the Dodger order was coming up, but collectively they had not done much off of Chad Gromek--they were 2 for 11 (with a couple tough errors tossed in, so arguably 4 for 11). The #3 batter, Thomas, seemed to wake his team up with a long triple to left center, scoring 1. Then Osborne doubled, making it 5-4. Geirman singled to tie the game. Jassner singled to win it. And so it's the Dodgers who will be playing the Giants in round two. Reflecting on the evening, the Dodges certainly battled hard all game, keeping Gromek in minor trouble in most innings. Gromek only fanned two the entire game, but the Phillies played solid defense, with Narrett making an exceptional catch in center that saved at least one run and likely more. In contrast, Dodger pitchers fanned 10 Phillies, but most of those--seven--were by Fergusen who came on in relief in the 5th. The Dodgers played errorless defense, though they were not called upon to make great plays. Kilger and Crandell each had two hits for the Phillies, who had 8 for the night. Kilger's included a double, a run scored, and 2 RBI's. With three strong innings of relief Fergusen got the win for the Dodgers.