Philly Sports Today

The Phillies phinally received their rings for winning the 2008 World Series. Each 14 karat white gold ring contains 103 diamonds, totaling 3.84 karats. Bling Bling! The 103 diamonds represent the 92 regular season and 11 postseason wins for the Phillies in 2008. The top of the ring is crowned with a ruby inlay, topped with the Phillies’ signature “P” which is inset with diamonds. The title “World Champions” is written along the ring’s top and bottom outer rim. The left side of the ring features the player’s name and number atop and below the Liberty Bell. The right side of the ring depicts the World Series trophy rising out of Citizens Bank Park, signifying the tremendous support of the fans, along with the initials of the two World Series teams and the number of games won by each team. It’s an amazing piece of jewelry and it’s basically a work of art.

Besides the pre-game World Series ring ceremony, the Phillies didn’t give the 44,939 fans in attendance any reason to cheer. For the third straight game, the Atlanta Braves were battering the Phillies’ starting pitching. With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Braves leading 10-3, the Phightins seemed to recapture some of their 2008 magic with an eight-run seventh inning to take their first lead of the season. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, as the Phillies held on for a miraculous 12-11 victory.

Just like they did during the first two games of the 2009 season, the Braves jumped all over starting pitcher “Fat” Joe Blanton during the first two innings. Blanton struck out the first two batters of the game, but then Yunel Escobar slapped a double to left and Brian McCann smoked a home run to right. Just like that, the Phils were in another 2-0 first inning hole. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of the first two losses to Atlanta.

The Phillies responded in the bottom of the second when Raul Ibanez connected on a two-run home run to right that tied the game at 2-2. However, just when it looked like Philly had momentum for the first time all year, Atlanta broke the game open with a five-spot in the top of the third inning. McCann slapped a bases-loaded single to right, and one batter later, Jeff Francoeur hit a two-RBI, bases-loaded single to center. Matt Diaz followed with a double to left that played McCann and Francoeur. In the blink of an eye, a 2-2 tie had turned into a 7-2 Braves advantage. The Phils got one back in the bottom of the inning when Shane Victorino led off with a triple and then scored on Omar Infante’s throwing error. Either way, it wasn’t looking good for the Phillies.

Blanton left the game after four innings, and his final line was seven earned runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Ouch. J.A. Happ came on in relief in the fifth inning and his first appearance out of the ‘pen was something that I’m sure he’d rather forget. With one out, Happ walked Diaz and then rookie Jordan Schafer slammed his second career home run to extend Atlanta’s lead to 9-3. After allowing the homer, Happ settled down and didn’t allow another base-runner in his two innings of work. Chad “Don’t call me J.D.” Durbin was the next out of Philly’s bullpen in the seventh inning, and after allowing a lead-off double to Casey Kotchman, it looked like he was going to get out of the inning unscathed. Unfortunately, Durbin issued three consecutive two-out walks to the bottom of the order as Atlanta tacked on another run.

Then came the bottom of the seventh inning, and as they like to say on MTV’s “Cribs,” this is where the magic happens. After Victorino led off the inning with a ground out, Chase Utley slapped a single to center and Ryan Howard got plunked by a pitch. Jayson Werth followed with a walk to load the bases and the Phils were in business. It was time to play some station-to-station baseball. Ibanez and Pedro “Peter Happ” Feliz each stroked RBI-singles to cut the Phillies’ deficit to 10-5. Local legend Matt Stairs and fan favorite Chris Coste followed by each drawing pinch-hit walks and suddenly, it’s a 10-7 game. Next, Jimmy Rollins received a four-pitch free pass and Victorino singled to right as the Phightins lived up to their name and clawed to within one run at 10-9. Utley was the tenth Phillie to bat during the inning and drew their fifth walk of the inning to tie the game at 10-10. Howard followed by grounding out to first, but it allowed J-Roll to score and the Phillies had claimed their first lead of the year at 11-10. Werth ended the inning with a fly out, but the damage was done. Talk about manufacturing runs. I don’t know how many other teams would be able to score eight runs in an inning without hitting anything more than a single. Very impressive.

Madson worked a scoreless eighth and Eric Bruntlett hit a pinch hit sac fly that plated Ibanez and pushed the Phillies’ lead to 12-10. The Braves had one last shot in the ninth inning, but their only problem was that Brad Lidge was on the mound. Even though Diaz touched him up on a solo shot, Lights Out Lidge avoided any further trouble and notched his first save of the season. Lidge has now saved 45 straight save opportunities during the regular season, which is the third-longest streak all-time and trails only Eric Gagne (84) in 2002-04 with 84 and Tom Gordon (54) in 1998-99. Including the post-season, Lidge has converted all 49 of his save opportunities as a Phillie.

Overall, this was a nice win for the Phightin’ Phils and hopefully they’ll be able to ride this momentum into their six-game road trip, which begins tomorrow afternoon in Colorado. World Series and NLCS MVP Cole Hamels will make his first start of the year. He will be opposed by Jason Marquis, who is 4-3 with one save and a 4.536 career ERA against the Phillies. Last season, the Phils swept their two-game series out in Colorado. Luckily, the Phillies will be facing starting pitchers that they’ve had success against, so maybe they’ll be able to win their first series of 2009.

Go Phillies.

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