Apr 13 2009
Phillies rally past Rockies; Flyers and Sixers continue free fall
The legend of Matt Stairs continues to grow. The 41-year-old crushed a tie-breaking pinch-hit two-run home run in the ninth inning as the Phillies battled all the way back from an early 5-1 deficit to escape with a 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies. Stairs is arguably one of the best pinch-hitters as he now leads all active players with 15 career pinch-hit homers. The decision to keep Stairs over Geoff Jenkins has already paid dividends.
The Phightins got off to yet another terrible start thanks to their starting pitching. In his first start as a Phillie, Chan Ho Park was awful. Colorado jumped all over Park in the bottom of the first inning as Brad Hawpe opened the scoring with an RBI double to center. After a passed ball by Chris Coste, Garrett Atkins stroked another single to center to put Colorado up 2-0. Ian Stewart followed with a single and then Troy Tulowitzki walked to load the bases with only one out. One batter later, Clint Barmes singled to shallow left that plated Atkins and Stewart as the Rockies were suddenly up 4-0 before Park could get out of the inning.
The Phillies got one back in the top of the second when Ryan Howard hit a lead-off double and came around to score on a throwing error after Raul Ibanez hit an infield single. Unfortunately, Park gave the run right back by serving up a solo shot to Dexter Fowler as the Rox extended their lead to 5-1. The Phils inched closer in the fourth inning when Jayson Werth hit an RBI single that plated Chase Utley to slice the deficit to 5-2. Park settled down a bit before being lifted with runners at first and second and one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Thankfully, Chad Durbin came on in relief and got out of trouble. For the game, Chan Oh No allowed five runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks in only 3 1/3 innings pitched. I really hope that he’s out of the rotation sooner rather than later.
Werth continued to be a one-man wrecking crew in the sixth inning as he hit another RBI single that once again scored Utley to make it 5-3. The Phightins squandered a lead-off double by Pedro Feliz in the seventh, but Utley crushed a two-run jack in the top of the eighth inning off of Manny Corpas to tie the game at 5-5. After Ryan Madson pitched a perfect eighth, Feliz led off the ninth with a double and a Chris Coste sacrifice bunt moved Peter Happy to third. Stairs was summoned to pinch-hit for Madson and absolutely crushed Huston Street’s fastball for a go-ahead two-run bomb that gave the Phillies a 7-5 lead. Brad Lidge came on in the ninth inning and things got a little dicey, but Lights Out got out of the inning unscathed to preserve the win.
The Phillies will look for their third straight win this afternoon when they open a three-game series on the road with the winless Washington Nationals. The crafty left-hander Jamie Moyer will face-off against the gigantic Daniel Cabrera. The Nats always seem to give the Phils some problems and Washington’s home opener will definitely be a tough game for the Champs to win.
Go Phillies.
Just some quick comments about the Flyers and Sixers as they free fall into the playoffs. All the Flyers had to do to lock up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference was force overtime. However, they couldn’t hold onto a 3-2 lead in the third period as the New York Rangers lit the lamp twice in the first half of the period and the Flyers couldn’t answer as they fell 4-3. This is a very disappointing result for the Orange and Black, who have essentially been the number four seed for the entire second half of the season, but their inconsistent play has finally caught up with them. Now the fifth-seeded Flyers get rewarded with a match-up against the fourth-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins. Game one of the series is Wednesday night in the Steel City. Philly’s defense has just been awful, so I’m predicting that Pittsburgh wins in six games.
Let’s Go Flyers!
The Sixers are also slumping their way into the playoffs and have now lost five straight games, including a 111-104 road loss to the Toronto Raptors. Philly is tied with the streaking Chicago Bulls as both teams are 40-40 with two games left. The Sixers finish up with games against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, so I’m expecting them to finish with the seventh seed and have to meet the Celtics in the first round. I guess it’s going to be another one-and-done playoff appearance. Why couldn’t they have just tanked the season once Elton Brand went down and gotten a lottery pick?
Go Sixers!
