Damn! Why do all the good games happen on Wednesday? I have "a prior commitment" (which has nothing to do with the oft-injured Cubs pitcher) most Wednesdays, and I am usually unable to catch the entire game. I'm really sorry I missed most of last night's strange tilt with the Giants. Is there any better phrase in the English language than "pinch-hit Grand Slam"? There are probably a few, and of course, it really sucks when you're the slamee, but still, when you're a follower of the team that hits one, life is good.
I did catch Scott Graham and Chris Wheeler on WDEL for the first two innings while I was in the car. Wheels pulled a typical Wheels jinx move when he mentioned, not once but twice, that Cory Lidle has not given up a home run to a lefty this year. I thought, "Oh great. The ball will be flying out of the park in bunches tonight." Amazingly this didn't happen, but about everything else did. The Giants started things with a couple of cheap runs when pitcher Kirk Rueter slapped a two-out single up the middle with the bases loaded, and Jason Ellison followed with another single to left. Pat Burrell cut down Mike Matheny, who Marion Jones could outrun even after she stopped taking steroids and while pregnant, at the plate to end the threat. So far not too unusual, but the night was young. In the Phils half of the third, Jim Thome was ejected, for the first time as a Phillie, for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Paul Schrieber. I guess I was right when I said he wouldn't get cranking on a monster June last night, but that's not what I meant. Thome later had a run-in with a defenseless water cooler as he exited the premises, which seemed to fire up the Phillies.
The Phils took a 3-2 lead in the 4th on an RBI double by Lieberthal, an RBI triple by J-Roll, and an RBI single by Polanco. Tomas Perez, filling in for Thome, popped up with the bases loaded to end the inning, but his time would come. The Giants regained the lead in the 6th with a 2-run triple by Alfonzo followed by a double by Matheny to make it 5-3. Rollins led off the bottom of the 6th off new pitcher Jeff Fassero with a single, and advanced to second on a Polanco infield hit. Abreu then singled to left, and Pedro Feliz gunned down Rollins trying to score. Just when it looked like a promising inning was falling apart, Tomas took his cue and dribbled a bases-loaded single into center field to tie the game at 5-5.
The Phillies took the lead in the 7th on one of the bigger plays on a night of big plays. J-Mike and Lieberthal led off the inning with singles, and Endy Chavez came on to pinch-bunt, which he did successfully to advance the runners, With the Giants infield playing in and the outfield playing deep, Rollins hit a routine fly to short left that Feliz charged at full speed and reached for just as it neared the turf. The ball appeared to hit Feliz' glove and stick, but the second-base umpire Andy Fletcher immediately called it a trap, which allowed Michaels to score. This was the second time in two nights the Phils caught a break on an outfield play. In game 1, Lofton clearly trapped a ball that was called a catch, which saved at least one early Giants run. Giants manager Felipe Alou had seen more than he could stand, and carried on long enough to get tossed. The Giants immediately re-tied the game at 6-6 in the top of the 8th off Ryan Madson. Jason Ellison hit a one-out nubber to Perez with runners on first and third, which Perez tried to fire home. His throw was off-balance and the ball ended up short-hopping Lieby, several steps too late. Madson regrouped and got Vizquel to bounce into a 6-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the tie.
The Giants decided to go with newly acquired LaTroy Hawkins to start the 8th. As a Cub last month, Hawkins speared a liner and then hit Jose Offerman in the head as he tried to scamper back to first, allowing two runs to score for a 3-2 Phillies win. Until last night, that was by far the strangest game the Phillies had played all season. LaTroy got right to work outdoing himself, ceding a single to Burrell and a walk to Perez, followed by a sac bunt by Bell and another walk, this one intentional, to Michaels. Lieberthal hit a line drive to second for the second out, bringing up the pitcher's spot. Either by chance or by using a heretofore unwitnessed foresight, Charlie Manuel had one hitter left on his bench (other than backup catcher Todd Pratt): Chase Utley. The Giants had lefty Jason Christiansen in their pen, but he had pitched the previous night and presumably was unavailable. Possibly Alou might have brought him anyway, but Felipe wasn't around anymore, so they stuck with Hawkins. On a 1-1 count, Hawkins delivered a slider down and in, which was probably an even worse location than Jose Offerman's helmet. Utley hit what we would call in the engineering field a "quasi-linear parabola" into the third row, invoking that mellifluous phrase mentioned above. Billy Wagner cleaned up the 9th for his second straight non-save.
The Phils are now one game under .500. Naturally, the Braves won, so we're still 3.5 out, but it beats being 4.5 out. At the risk of pulling a Wheels, the Phillies look pretty good right now. The bullpen is improving without Adams and Worrell dragging it down, the starters are doing fine, especially since we keep skipping Padilla's turn, and you can't argue with last night's 19 hits. We're getting breaks, clutch hits, and Thome is 1-0 vs. water coolers in the month of June (Hey Baseball Prospectus, let's see the historical numbers on that).
Tonight it's Brad Hennessy vs. erstwhile ace Jon Lieber. I saw Hennessy first hand last month in Houston, and he didn't impress much. Craig Biggio took him deep twice, and it was only the Astros' otherwise complete lack of hitting ability and four fielding errors that kept the Giants in the game. Still, a series sweep has eluded the Phillies all year. Tonight would be as good a time as any for the first one.
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