Charlie Manuel called on Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth with the game tied up and Pap delivered the first two outs of the inning before making Jordany Valdespin's first career hit a memorable one. [video]
Papelbon hadn't been used in almost a week and may have been a bit rusty -- and not fired up quite enough, or something because it wasn't a save situation. At least that's what Ricky Bottalico said during the postgame. I don't really get how that works for a closer, but Papelbon isn't exactly wired like the rest of us.
Their closer faltering in a non-save situation was the easiest failure to pinpoint, but the inability of the offense to get runs home with men on base in pretty much every late inning was incredibly frustrating to watch and the reason they couldn't put this one out of reach earlier.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Roy Halladay bounced back from that awful start in Atlanta in a big way, pitching wonderfully for six innings before giving up a pair of runs. [video]
[watch some of the offensive futility here, including Shane Victorino's base-running interference]
Full game recap: Lack of execution cost Papelbon, Phils