Raul Ibanez fought Brian Wilson for eight pitches but couldn’t get the bat off his shoulders on a fastball on the outside corner. A walk would’ve been amazing there. Carlos Ruiz took a fastball that ran into the bottom of his left hand and happily trotted to first. Ben Francisco should come on to pinch run for him, but Charlie is not making the move.
Ross Gload into pinch hit for Brad Lidge with a wad of chaw jammed against his cheek. Patient at-bats are crucial down one run. Get guys on base and cash them in. Wilson continues to work away from Gload, the count at 2-1 before he ripped a would-be double just foul to make it even. Then Ross struck out on a high fastball out of the zone.
Shane Victorino, owner of a 0-4 spot on the day and dozens of confusing swings at the plate, stepped up with two outs and pinch-runner Wilson Valdez on first. With everyone biting their rally towels and clenching every muscle in their bodies and more, Shane looked at three straight balls. He took a borderline strike all the way, then fouled another strike off to make the count full. With Valdez running and the Phillies down to their last pitch, Shane swung through a ball right in his wheelhouse to end it.
The Phillies will try to rebound from the disappointing loss tomorrow night. Can’t blame the umpires all the way here, but they certainly didn’t help. Inconsistent for both sides, really. When you don’t capitalize with guys on base, you lose baseball games. Need a good game from Oswalt tomorrow. A few more hits from the Phillies off Jonathan Sanchez would be great also.
Winning is much better than losing. Just a thought.