Crazy Day, Much Needed Win

Just got back from Wrigley after watching a well-played, crazy-silly-never-before-seen finish to a baseball game. This was a game that the Phillies clearly needed to win to buoy their confidence and try to get something started before the season slips away. Facing a Cubs team that is in disarray and had lost 5 in a row should be a boost to the confidence. The Phillies looked great the first 2 innings, punishing Mark Prior's offerings, only to come away with a disappointing 1 run for the effort. Cory Lidle baffled the Cubs through 7 1/3 with no runs and only 3 hits allowed until a seeing eye single and sacrifice bunt (thanks for the free out Dusty) chased him from the game.

That's when things got crazy, Wagner gives up a 2 run shot to Derrick Lee with 2 outs in the 8th. It didn't seem like a bad pitch, but Wagner fell in the hole 3-0 and had to put some fastballs over the plate, and with the way Lee is hitting right now, no one can seem to get him out. Thankfully the Cubs are sticking with LaTroy Hawkins as their closer who promtly loaded the bases in the 9th with 1 out. He somehow induces a double play liner back to himself, but proceeds to throw the ball off of Jose Offerman's helmet and into the stands, plating 2 more runs. The inning ends with Wagner taking some wild swings for the 3rd out of the inning. This was actually Wagner's second at-bat of the season. He's now hitting .500. The 9th inning went much smoother with Wagner setting down the side in order to finish off the win. Phew, that was an exhausting win.

Since this is one of the few Phillies games I'll see this season, it seems an appropriate time to report on some of the interesting sights and sounds of the game.

1) Lieber to DH? Jon was taking batting practice before the game and launcing home runs over the right field wall. A nice display of hitting, which made me look up his hitting stats. A career .150 hitter (.000 this year) and never a home run. Well, maybe he isn't ready to DH yet, but the wind at Wrigley and a batting practice pitcher sure made him look like he could.

2) That kid can play. Chase Utley, a favorite topic here at Midway Phillies made a dazzling play in the field in the or 3rd inning to rob a sure base hit by diving to his right and just catching the speedy Corey Patterson. Utley also just missed a home run in his first at bat, putting the ball to the wall in straight away center. This kid has all the skills, so keep him in there.

3) Situational hitting still alludes us. With Prior clearly struggling in the 2nd inning, the Phillies loaded the bases (after a Burrell solo shot) with no outs. You figure 1 run is a given at this point, with the chance to score a lot more. Nope, Lieberthatl, Lidle and Rollins each struck out. Ok, Lidle is the pitcher, so he is given a pass here, but Lieberthal swinging at strike 3 in the dirt? All you gotta do is make contact. Even a double play scores a run. After that Prior settled down and didn't look back, matching Lidle's day. Then in the 9th, they load the bases with 1 out, if it weren't for the misfortune of Hawkins hitting Offerman in the head, the game might have ended there. Those runners-in-scoring-position-with-less-than-2-outs-but-still-not-plating-a-run innings are just killers. Note to Manuel, please work on this.

4) Lidle's quite crafty. We saw it last year when Cory came to the Phils, every other start it seemed he was throwing a shutout. The others he was getting torched. They told us he would be torched more than un-touchable, but the Phils signed him anyway. It didn't seem the wisest move at the time with Floyd seemingly ready for the big time, but it really has worked out so far this year. The way he mixes pitches, location and speeds, he can pitch with the best of them on any given day. A great asset from a supposed 5th starter.

5) Wagner brings the heat. After loosing out to injurys last year, Wagner's fastball seemed to be down a few MPH. While catching a couple of games at the end of the season at Bank One park, his fastball didn't make it over 94. Today, he was throwing 97 consistently. With the heater all of the way back, he should turn in one of those great years. The home run to Lee is just the first run he has allowed this year.

With that much needed win in the books, hopefully the Phillies can put together a much, much more needed winning streak. The next 2 pitching matchups certainly look good. Could they actually sweep? If they do, maybe they can get on a roll and get back into the thick of the NL East. Yes, still maintaining the half full glass optimism, and tipping a few of those glasses back this weekend.