Howard's End: Phils Pick Up Second Straight Series Win on a Walkoff

After dispatching the Diamondbacks 3-0 on Saturday night, the Phillies won their second straight series with a 5-4 victory on Sunday. Cliff Lee ran into some trouble with the long ball but hung in for an eight-inning no-decision, allowing eight hits while striking out five. His bats swung back for him though, and the Phils made Arizona pay for walking Chase Utley to get to Ryan Howard with the bases loaded in the ninth. 
The D-Backs got out to an early lead on back-to-back homers in the second inning, but the skies weren't falling just yet. The Phils grabbed two back in the bottom of the frame, when John Mayberry Jr walked and was moved over on a Dom Brown double. JMjr would score on a wild pitch by Trevor Cahill before Erik Kratz roped a double to the wall in left, scoring Brown. 
Lee settled in and went through the Diamondbacks' lineup in short order, sending them down 1-2-3 in three straight innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Utley tied it up on a trademark chop swing homer to right. The Phils couldn't take the lead as Howard and Mayberry each grounded out, and in the top of the sixth, Arizona struck with another home run. Lee limited the damage by inducing a double play after Justin Upton got on, then got Stephen Drew to fly out and end the threat. Neither team would reach base over the next two innings, but the Phillies weren't ready to call it a weekend. 
Down a run in the bottom of the eighth, Utley and Howard put up two quick outs before Arizona pitcher David Hernandez got into more trouble than you usually see without the ball leaving the infield. JMjr got aboard with an infield single, then reached second on another fortuitous Arizona wild pitch. Dom Brown chipped a hit back at Hernandez, who chased the ball down and hastily threw it toward first, trying to beat the hustling Brown. The ball hit Brown (no pegs!), and Mayberry charged home and "beat" a throw from first base (umps owed him one), tying things up. The rough inning wasn't over for Hernandez, who was charged with another wild pitch, advancing Brown to second. Kratz singled him to third, but Takashi Saito was able to get pinch hitter Jimmy Rollins to fly out and end the threat. 
Jonathan Papelbon entered with the game tied in the top of the ninth. Justin Upton opened the inning with a single, but Jimmy, Chase, Ryan turned a WFC double play to clear the bases on the next at bat. Papelbon then gave up a walk to Drew, who moved to second when Michael Montero reached base on an error by Howard. Fortunately, Papelbon got pinch hitter Gerardo Parra to ground out. 
Josh Collmenter came in for Arizona with Juan Pierre leading off as a pinch hitter for Papelbon. Pierre singled to center, then reached second on a Nate Schierholtz sac. Laynce Nix PH'd for Kevin Frandsen and gave Charlie Manuel his second substitute hit of the inning, singling to right and moving Pierre to third. With Nix and Pierre on, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson called for the intentional walk to Utley, loading the bags for Howard. 
Howard's afternoon at that point included a three-strikeout, 0-4 performance, an error, and some boos. He had only three hits in his previous 28 at bats. Gibson probably wouldn't want to have to make the decision he faced in the bottom of the ninth again any time soon, but if he did, he'd probably do the same thing given everything he'd seen so far. It's not an enviable position. 
With the bags loaded and the outfield deep, Howard laced a single into right, bringing Pierre home to give the Phils a win. 
There were some nervous moments, beginning with the early home run trouble for Lee, but the Phils took advantage of late miscues and misfortunes for the Diamondbacks and ultimately a huge hit by a guy who really needed to see one. 
NotesThe Phillies held a moment of silence for Garrett Reid before the game, displaying his picture on the video board.
Braves come to town next… A third straight series win won't come easy.  
Nice Mets-Phillies reference in last night's The Newsroom. U-S-A.
Unrelated but still important question: How much would you pay for a bucket of beers at the table right in front of Billy Ocean?