Phillies' Bats Silent in Loss to Braves; Astros' Win Increases Deficit to 2
The Phils' meek offensive performance tonight forced Charlie Manuel to lift a very effective Corey Lidle in the sixth, after just 59 pitches and one run, and the bullpen proceeded to give up three more in a 4-1 loss to the Braves. Manuel is likely to get second-guessed for hooking Lidle, who was pitching a gem and was visibly disappointed at his removal. For a while it looked as if it wouldn't matter, given the way Jorge Sosa was befuddling the Phillies, but they finally displayed some grit in the ninth, scratching out a run on Jimmy Rollins's single, the base hit extending his streak to 25 games. Alas, potential tying run Jason Michaels offered Kyle Farnsworth only token resistance in fanning to end the game.
Houston, meanwhile, righted its ship, downing Pittsburgh to increase its wild-card lead to two full games. over the Phillies; the Marlins lost to the Mets in 12 and lurk a game behind the Phils.
Philadelphia managed only three hits off Sosa and the Braves' 'pen tonight; this failure to even show up is not acceptable at this stage of the season. We'll have to hope that the Phillies' vaunted second-half resilience shows up tomorrow night.
yeah............right. Dad
Posted by: | Wednesday, September 21, 2005 at 11:16 AM