Eaton Solid, But Phils Lose In Ninth
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Sat, April 05, 2008 04:10 PM | Comments: 2
Posts
Chad Durbin walked two, then gave up the winning hit to Paul Bako in a 4-3 loss to the Reds today. Durbin’s bad performance came after a strong job by Adam Eaton, who is trying to reclaim his position for good in the Phillies rotation.
Eaton pitched 7.2 innings, struggling in the first two before settling in for a wonderful five in the middle. He surrendered six hits while walking four — most of the troubles coming in his first two innings and final two-thirds. A Corey Patterson home run ended his day and tied the game. The good Tom Gordon struck out Brandon Phillips to end a Red threat in the eighth.
The offense capitalized on some opportunities, but came up short with others. A Greg Dobbs strikeout with the bases jammed and two outs was a complete mismatch — Dobbs looked lost with fireballing Aaron Harang throwing him three consecutive outside fastballs. Chase Utley and Pat Burrell came through in spots — both with doubles — to tie the game. Ryan Howard mashed a bomb to center field to give the Phils the lead, but Eaton couldn’t hold it.
Eaton pitched well — if there’s anything to take out of this, Eaton pitched well. You can question Charlie Manuel’s decision to leave Eaton in the game to pitch to Patterson, but there’s no reason to — Patterson hit eight homers last season; he’s not a threat. He just muscled the pitch out. Durbin was the right move in the ninth, but he didn’t have it today. To be short, a well-deserved win by the Reds, and one that just got away for the Phils.
Posts: 0 Daniel aka Embassy
I agree, I was more upset with J Roll’s brain fart to not throw home, but nobody’s perfect.
Posted: 05:12 PM on April 5, 2008
Posts: 0 bob
Why, oh why would you leave Adam Eaton in for so long? He pitched a great game, but Charlie pushed his luck and wound up paying (probably losing the game) for it. The bullpen had to have came prepared for this one. It is a rare event that Eaton plunks out a performance like this, all the more reason that it is important to keep the lead…and that means pulling Eaton before the eighth inning when it becomes inevitable that he is going to lose it! All you do is keep his confidence down. If he left the game when he should have in the 7th or before the 8th I can’t help but think he would walk away from the game feeling better. Especially if he earned his first W of the season.
I know his pitch count wasn’t especially high, but come on! It’s Adam Eaton! He is a special case and should be treated as such.
Posted: 07:29 PM on April 5, 2008