Thursday, May 22, 2008
Phillies 7
Astros 5
W:Durbin (1-1) | L: Wright (3-2) | S:Lidge (12)
Alyson gets the skinny
AP via Yahoo!
Things started out well enough for Sparky, 1-2-3 and a run by his offense in the first to give him a small cushion. Then the hits came, followed by the runs. Roy struggled just about the entire outing, giving up 5 runs in 6 innings, never looking like the ace he needs to be. Despite a 3-run comeback to tie it, the ‘pen couldn’t hold on and the Astros dropped the opener of this 4-gamer 7-5.
Roy implied it’s not physical, shrugging off the idea his hip could be the cause. From Footer’s recap:
“… you know your body and you know what you can do when you get on the mound. It’s just overcoming the mental part of it.”
His curve just wasn’t working and the Phillies were teeing off on the FB. Ryan Howard absolutely blasted one deep into the Crawfords in the 5th. To me, Roy wasn’t getting much help from Drake behind the plate either with some inconsistent calls.
The Phillies Kendrick wasn’t the cat’s ass either but he was able to keep the damage to a minimum until the 6th when he failed to get an Astro out, hitting the Bull, then a Spaz single and Wiggy’s 2-RBI double to chase him. Wigginton was a monster against Kendrick with three straight hits, his 2 doubles coming on his first pitch. The offense continued after an Officer Brad sac bunt, PH Blum switched sides of the plate on the pitching change and poked a single into left to score Wiggy and knot the game up at 5.
W-2 pitched a great 7th, throwing just 7 pitches. So great a 7th that Coop decided to bring him out start the 8th. PH Buhhhrrrrl worked the count full then bopped a Biggio-bomb just over the wall into the Crawfords to break the tie for good. The phuckin’ Phillies score one more for insurance when PR Eric Brunlett crossed the plate later in the inning.
I guess the ‘real’ story of this game is the appearance of former Astro Brad Lidge in a save situation against his old mates. Much ado was made, even though it would take at least one baserunner for him to meet any players he actually played with. Either Lidge or Tejada obliged with a 2-out base hit to allow Lightnin’ Lance to stroll to the plate. 3 fer 5 on the night and batting a beefy .390, he launched the first pitch, a lazy fly to So in left to quietly end the game.
Break out the duct tape and super glue for the ‘pen. I got a feeling we’ll see a lot of them this series. Eaton vs. Backe tonight at 7:05 CDT
Personal Stuff
If some kind soul attending tonight doesn’t care to keep their Biggio mini-helmet, I can help you be rid of it.