For what it's worth, the Phils took two of three from the stubbornly front-running Washington Nationals. All three games were decided by one run, the type of game in which the Nats had heretofore excelled and in which the Phillies had been struggling, which may mean something but probably doesn't.
I missed most of Friday night's game indulging my wife in a night out at the Brandywine Regal GooglePlex watching "Mr. and Mrs. Smith". This film reminds me of the Phillies: beautiful on the surface, but awash in mediocrity at every other level. In any case, the Nats sprinted out to a 5-0 lead before the Phils bats awoke, scoring three in the fifth, two of those on a Ryan Howard two-out double. Howard is emerging as the hitter we've all hoped. More on him later. Aaron Fultz then let has-been Carlos Baerga take him deep in the top of the sixth for a three-run homer, extending the Washington lead to 8-3. The Phils roared back in the bottom of the inning against Joey Eischen and Luis Ayala, scoring four and nearly tying the game on another Howard two-out double. This time, Pat Burrell was thrown out trying to score. As if one tying run being cut down at the plate wasn't enough, the Nats did it again in the seventh when David Bell was nabbed trying to score on a grounder by Jason Michaels with nobody out. Wheels explained it on the radio by saying that you have the contact play on there because if Vinny Castilla grabs the ball and tags out Bell, he can get a double play. I didn't see the location of the grounder, but I'm still skeptical. It seems to me if you have runners on second and third and nobody out, you play it pretty conservative and make sure the ball goes to at least one of the middle infielders, who I believe were playing back at the time, before heading home. If it's hit to Castilla and he makes the play at first, you still have only one out, and you definitely do the contact play at that point. The end result was, as has been typical, no runs for the Phillies in the seventh, a 1-2-3 eighth and Chad Cordero coming on in the ninth to record his league-leading 31st save.
I'll have to confess I thought Saturday's game was a night game. I spent the afternoon sorting through about a million DVR recordings after our vacation. I didn't miss much action at the Park. Both Cory Lidle and Nats starter John Patterson threw scoreless gems through seven innings, with Lidle extending his to the top of the eighth. Frank Robinson inexplicably let Patterson hit for himself in the eighth, but then sent in Hector Carrasco to pitch the bottom of the inning. I think Frank simply changed his mind about the pitching change after Patterson's at-bat, and then said, "aw, the hell with it, I'm bringing in Hector anyway." Daddy Wags negotiated the top of the ninth with no trouble, and the Phillies quickly loaded the bases off Carrasco in the bottom of the ninth around another Pat Burrell strikeout. David Bell then stepped up and got the job done with a medium deep fly to left, scoring Bobby Abreu for a 1-0 final. This game was the very first 1-0 in the history of Citizens Bank Park, and it came on the same day as the Rockies had their first 1-0 game ever at Coors Field. I think it had something to do with the vortex of voodoo that surrounds Vinny Castilla (how else can you explain why anyone throws him a fastball ever?), but I'm not sure.
Sunday's game was one of the most pleasing in recent memory. The Nats took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Matt Cepicky RBI single scoring Brad Wilkerson. They extended their lead to 3-0 on a Jose Guillen two-run blast in the fourth off the gopheriffic Jon Lieber. The Phils dented the board in the bottom of the fourth with another Howard RBI, this time a single scoring Abreu to make it 3-1. The Phils then loaded the bases with one out off starter Esteban Loaiza in the fifth, and looked poised to blow the game open when Jimmy Rollins alertly raced home on a wild pitch that barely eluded catcher Brian Schneider. Burrell, however, added to his mounting strikeout total, and Chase Utley followed with a hapless at-bat where he swung at several bad pitches and eventually struck out as well, stranding runners at second and third. To top off that disappointment, Ryan Madson surrendered the wild pitch run right back in the seventh, uncorking one to score Jamey Carroll with two outs, giving the Nats a 4-2 lead. Then, Frank Robinson and his unerring sense of how not to handle a bullpen struck again. With one out in the eighth, Utley and Howard due up, and lefty reliever Joey Eischen ready to go, Frank stuck with righty Gary Majewski, who was probably as surprised as anyone. Majewski walked Utley, and then, still in there to face Howard, left a breaking ball in Howard's down-and-in joy zone, which Ryan hit like a Phil Mickelson 2-iron into the shrubbery over the 401 sign in center to tie the game. Un-freaking-believeable. David Bell followed with a double, and then, as if waking up from an afternoon nap, which he may have been, Robbie finally inserted Eischen, who intentionally walked Tomas Perez before immediately heading to the showers. I didn't watch any post-game interviews with Robinson, and far as the Philly and Washington papers are concerned he offered no explanation. Again, I think he just blew it.
The next three innings were a brilliant display of relief work by Chad Cordero and Sunny Kim of the Nats and for the Phils, Oogie Urbina, Daddy Wags, and surprise or surprise, Frenchie Cormier. Neither team got a man to third, until Todd Pratt singled David Bell there in the bottom of the twelfth with one out. Jason Michaels nearly ended the game with a fly to left, but it wasn't quite deep enough to send the slow-footed Bell. Charlie Manuel then went to end of the bench for Ramon Martinez, the spare part acquired from Detroit in the Polanco deal. Martinez took a strike and a ball, and then drove a fastball past the hobbling Vinny Castilla into left field for the game-winner and a joyous All-Star break Phillies clubhouse.
What does it all mean? We slayed the current first-place dragons at their own game, and they may be toppling down the standings in rapid fashion after the break. Or maybe the break is just what the Nats needed to recharge. Or maybe we're starting another roll. Or maybe we would have started a roll if the All-Star break hadn't intervened. Or maybe the Braves will stop toying with us all and win 30 of the next 35. I guess it doesn't mean anything. But it sure was nice to see that ball go into left field.
The standings at the break have the Nats in first by 2.5 over Atlanta (who has the wild card), 7 over Florida, 7.5 over us, and 8 over the Mets. We start up again on Thursday with a critical four-game set at home against Florida, and then three games apiece against the injury-riddled but still dangerous Dodgers and the NL West leading Padres. We need to win at least seven of ten to move up, and at least six (two vs. Florida) to stay where we are. Until then, ¡Viva Abreu!, ¡Viva Venezuela!
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