Bako’s Homer Lifts Lee in Home Debut
Posted by Amanda Orr, Thu, August 06, 2009 06:45 PM | Comments: 14
2009 Recaps, Posts
In front of 45,316 in his Citizens Bank Park debut, Cliff Lee pitched in front of the largest crowd since he pitched on April 16 at Yankee Stadium.
Lee’s outing started off a little shaky. The Rockies took an early lead on Todd Helton’s sacrifice fly. The Phillies mirrored the Rockies in the bottom half of the first inning, tying the game at one on Chase Utley’s sacrifice fly.
Other than that, Lee cruised. In seven innings, he allowed just one earned run. He gave up seven hits, walked one, and struck out nine. However, Lee is all too-familiar with a lack of run support. Once again, the Phillies had trouble manufacturing runs as Aaron Cook was able to keep the ball down in the zone. Lee received just enough run support, but it came from an unlikely source: Paul Bako.
On the 1-0 pitch, Cook threw a changeup right down the middle. Bako waited, and crushed it into the first row in the right center field seats. It gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.
A couple batters later, Jimmy Rollins (3-for-4) tripled. Rollins extended his hitting streak to 12, and fell a homer shy of the cycle. Then, Shane Victorino chopped a ball to Clint Barmes, who fired home. The throw was wide, and scooted past the catcher. The insurance run made it 3-1.
Lee and the bullpen worked with what they were given, and mowed down the Rockies. Ryan Madson pitched an easy eighth. Next, it was Brad Lidge’s turn. Lidge has been pitching in non-save situations lately, and struggled. Recently, he’s been a lot better in actual save opportunities. Ian Stewart swung and missed Lidge’s slider to end the game. He allowed one base-runner, but Lidge managed to convert his 21st save of the season.
With the 3-1 victory in the final game of a three game set, the Phillies took the series from the Colorado Rockies, two games to one.
Posts: 0 Scotty
Big ups to the Nats, too. Seven games up and back on track…almost.
And what is it with guys named Lee? Stan Lee, Bruce Lee, Tommy Lee…they get the job done.
Posted: 06:59 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Philsphan
Amaro says Happ is staying in the rotation.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4381477
Posted: 07:24 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Greg B
Phils manufactured two runs today. I wouldn’t say that is having trouble. You’re not going to manufacture 5 or 6 runs a game.
Posted: 07:32 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 MP
I hope we sweep the Marlins and get up by 10 games this weekend.
Posted: 07:38 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Ed R.
Unless you are the Angles or Rays. Great win by the Phillies. J-Roll has really turned it on since July 2. It’s great to see him set the table for the rest of the team. Hopefully we can bury the Marlins now for good.
Posted: 07:38 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Scott R.
Not always, Scotty. Remember Travis Lee?
Posted: 07:54 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 ryan
Lee then Mad dog then Lidge to turn out the lights. this is exactly how you script it if you are the phillies.
the most encouraging thing was to see Lidge nail it down rather easily. he allowed one hit but it wasn’t scorched and only made it through because Utley was playing up the middle against that hitter.
with two , possibly three pitchers who are legitimate aces, and what is possibly the best offense in baseball, the Phillies are hands down the best team in the game right now. and they’re not even hitting the ball right now! just wait until Howard, Utley, and Raul get hot again. this team will be a steamroller down the stretch.
Posted: 08:01 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Baseballbriefs.com
Baseballbriefs.com tracking back Bako’s Homer Lifts Lee in Home Debut…
Baseballbriefs.com tracking back Bako’s Homer Lifts Lee in Home Debut…
Posted: 08:36 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 bigbobster
Sudden-Lee (sorry), GM Amaro looks really, really smart for keeping Happ (as I pleaded him to do via philliesnation before the deadline). I really think Halladay without Happ would have made us less effective down the stretch and in the playoffs, both this year and next. Ok, now here’s my prediction for remainder of the year: Moyer suffers a “mysterious” back injury, misses a month, and Pedro steps into the five-man rotation. A graceful exit for the man who got us to a WS. It’s just not feasible to go to a six-man rotation with this group.
Posted: 09:41 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Jay Ballz
Great win today by the good guys!
Lee is exactly what the Phillies wanted and needed. If Cole gets back to being Cole, the Phillies won’t be stopped.
Posted: 09:57 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 j reed
timely homer for Bako, strengthens catcher pitcher bond esp. since bako has had little time to work with Lee.
Posted: 10:03 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Brian of CO
Who was that guy in Paul Bako’s uniform, and what did he do with the Real Paul Bako? What ever he did with the real Paul Bako, I hope he stays there, and this Home Run hitting Imposter stays. LOL. I also believe it is important to remember a key point in this article…”Jimmy Rollins (3-for-4) tripled. Rollins extended his hitting streak to 12, and fell a homer shy of the cycle.”
Posted: 10:58 PM on August 6, 2009
Posts: 0 Stuart
Great win for the team but do the Dodgers scare anyone else as much as they scare me. I hope someone can knock them off early in the playoffs.
Posted: 09:23 AM on August 7, 2009
Posts: 0 GREEQUEALTERM
Credit you for details. It helped me in my responsibility
Posted: 03:48 PM on November 25, 2009