After dropping two of three to the division-leading Braves to lose their third straight series, things were looking bleak for a banged up Phillies team heading into the All-Star break. Before the Mid-Summer Classic though, there was a four-game series with the NL Central-leading Reds. This one had the potential to drop the Phillies to a more dramatic deficit in the East if they continued to lose while the Braves and Mets duked it out in Flushing. Of course, they could actually make up a little ground with those teams trading wins and losses.
The first three games of the series haven't exactly been pretty, although no one's complaining about the end results. Thursday and Friday both saw the Phils in need of runs when they came to the plate in the ninth. First it was Brian Schneider playing the hero, belting a walkoff homer in the bottom of the twelfth after the Reds had tied it up in the ninth. On Friday, the slugging trio of Greg Dobbs, Cody Ransom, and Ryan Howard took the honors, with the first two going yard to complete a ninth inning comeback after the team had been down 7-1. Howard finished it off with a two-run homer in the tenth in front of a capacity crowd that had endured 2 hours of crappy baseball by the hometeam before the sky lit up (after which there were the scheduled fireworks).
So why should last night be any less dramatic?
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Again, the Phillies' offense was lifeless, with some guy I've never heard of pitching a perfect game against them into the ninth inning. But a savior was looming. Vacationing up in southern Maine, I've been a little lax in my usual following of every detail of the Philly sports scene, and I'd missed that Carlos Ruiz had been activated for the game; the stocky frame with its right leg cocked out behind the plate was a sight for sore eyes as we watched the game on the MLB Network (the Phils have been on pretty regularly up here—amazing for a guy who grew up finding them on the AM dial for two weeks every summer).
Chooch's reintroduction to the lineup was felt throughout the game, with battery mate Roy Halladay dealing comfortably all night on his way to nine shutout innings. Unfortunately, Doc's bats didn't allow for that to be complete-game shutout win, but Chooch did bail out the Phils—both from being perfected and from a loss. Ruiz ended Travis Wood's bid for perfection when he took the box as the first batter in the bottom of the ninth, belting a double to exhume the Phillies offense. Or so we thought. A terrible bunt attempt by Wilson Waldez was caught for an out, followed by a fly out each by pinch hitter Raul Ibanez, who advanced Chooch to third, and Jimmy Rollins, who ended the brief chance at a regulation win.
Give Wood credit for not unraveling late in the game, working his way out of a leadoff runner in scoring position. But, no history books tonight, kid. Not even a win to show for it. Luck of the draw landed you the best outing of your life against Roy F. Halladay.
With the heart of the order—that is, the current iteration of the heart of the order—unable to get anything going in the tenth, it was Chooch's turn again in the eleventh. After Cody Ransom K'd, Ruiz again knocked a double. Along with the feeling that the Phils might actually win this game in which they were nearly the victims of a perfect game, there was also a feeling that if they can just get their regulars back into the lineup...
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After an IBB to Wilson Valdez and a fly out by the pinch hitter Ross Gload, Jimmy Rollins ended it with a single that scored Ruiz. For the third time in three nights, the Phils won in extra innings with a walkoff hit.
Halladay deserved the win, but as is often the case with baseball's rewarding of W's and L's, his dominance didn't factor into the "decision," but it was obviously the biggest factor in the outcome of the game. Roy enters the break with 10 wins, an ERA of 2.19, and a gorgeous WHIP of just over 1. Unfortunately, last night's win won't add to his complete game total, which officially rests at seven for the season so far.
This afternoon, the Phils will get a chance to sweep the four-game series and head into the break with a second half to look forward to.