Despite a bottom of the ninth relief pitching meltdown, the Phillies' arms were once again not the issue tonight. Roy Oswalt threw five efficient innings of one-run ball in his first start off the DL. Kyle Kendrick and Antonio Bastardo combined for three innings of clean relief. Danys Baez was awful in the ninth, but the fact is that this game ended 2-1.
Once again, it was the bats who stayed silent. The Phils managed just one run on four hits, while Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard (3Ks) and Ben Francisco all went hitless. In fact, the only Phillie who did manage multiple hits was Michael Martinez, who was filling in for the injured Shane Victorino.
The lone Phillies run was really a result of pure luck. Jimmy Rollins hit a routine fly ball that Card's SS Tyler Greene just dropped. Placido Polanco would end up sacrificing him home. So that's what it takes to score runs these days. The other team not making a play that's routine in a beer league softball game.
The only silver lining as far as the lineup goes is that help could be on the horizon. There's a lot of buzz that Chase Utley could be back within a week. Shane Victorino supposedly won't be on the DL. Domonic Brown returned from his sprained thumb and has been killing pitching in the minors... If Utley is healthy and Brown is who we think he is, the Phillies lineup could get pretty good pretty quick.
And we know the pitching is there.