A Chase Utley line drive, a wild pitch, a Ryan Howard intentional walk, and a Jayson Werth seeing-eye RISP single gave the Phillies and Brad Lidge another insurance run to work with. The 3-4-5 hitters have been on base nine times today. That’s awful nice.
Nick Masset intentionally walked Raul Ibanez to load the bases for Carlos Ruiz with two outs. Poised to deliver the final blow, Chooch ended up grounding out softly to short.
Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, and a pinch hitter will be on to face Brad in the ninth. Retiring the leadoff man will be, as always, crucial. We’re three outs away from going to Cincinnati with three chances to advance to the NLCS.
In Lidge we trust.
7-4 Phillies.