Just Defratus: What Doesn't Kill You Will Only Help You Win Games in Pittsburgh

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The Philadelphia Phillies put an end to the red-hot Pittsburgh Pirates' nine-game winning streak on Tuesday night thanks in large part to the bases-loaded jam Justin DeFratus got the Phillies out of in the eighth inning. Charlie Manuel made the always debatable move of opting for the young DeFratus over his really expensive, potentially illiterate closer Jonathan Papelbon.

DeFratus has had his share of struggles lately as CSN's Reuben Frank wrote about following the game.

It was DeFratus who took the loss on the Phils’ first three losses on their West Coast swing. He faced 15 batters in those three games, allowing 11 of them to reach base and four of them to score.

He only got four outs.

“When you failed before and you’ve felt that feeling, there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore, you know what I mean?” DeFratus said.

“It’s unfortunate that you do have to fail to learn that lesson, but I didn’t die. So there’s nothing to be worried about out there. You just go out there and throw the ball over the plate as hard as you can and let’s go.”

And we're glad he didn't die.

Aside from Delmon Young totally botching a routine flyball and John Mayberry Jr. getting picked off of second base at one point, the Phillies actually played a pretty good game to beat a pretty good baseball team.

Jonathan Pettibone was fantastic and worked through a very challenging third inning after Delmo's mistake. He allowed only three hits, one of them a solo shot, in 5.2 innings of work.

Also, there was a hose sighting. I could watch this over and over.

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