Phillies Nation

Blame Ryan Madson and his sixth blown save of the season. Blame Jamie Moyer and his four, first-inning, earned runs. Blame Brett Myers and his three runs in 0.1 innings. Heck, blame it on the rain, but whomever you decide to point the finger at, the bottom line is the Phillies let one slip away and for the first time in a few weeks, don’t blame the offense.

Before Jamie Moyer recorded his first out, the Mets had jumped out to an early 4-0 lead courtesy of four straight hits, including a two run home run by Carlos Beltran. Moyer held the Mets scoreless after a dismal first, until the seventh. Aside from getting rocked to start the game, Jamie Moyer wasn’t terrible. When he left the ballgame, he left with a lead.

Moyer pitched seven innings surrendering five earned runs. All base-runners reached via hits as Moyer issued no free passes.

The Phillies offense finally came back to life, getting on the board in the second inning on a Pedro Feliz bomb. The Phils took the lead in the third, thanks to home runs by both Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.

The Phillies continued to pour it on the Mets starter, Mike Pelfrey, scoring once more in the fourth inning and twice in the sixth to finally chase Pelfrey from the game. Overall, Pelfrey allowed eight runs in six innings of work. The Phillies tacked on one more in the seventh, thanks to an RBI single from Ibanez that scored Utley.

Ibanez finished the afternoon 2-5 with three ribbies, and a run scored. Raul contiues to show signs that he is indeed out of his mid-seasonslump, and his re-birth has come just in the nick of time.

The Mets comeback started in the seventh inning when Moyerallowed a run in his last inning on the mound. Brett Myers came in for the eighth.

Myers, since returning from hip surgery has looked solid coming out of the pen. This afternoon however, Myers was unable to shut the Mets down, giving up three runs in only one-third of an inning of work. Those runs allowed the Metsto head into the ninth inning within striking distance of the Phils.  

Ryan Madson came in for the Phillies looking to secure his second save in as many days. With a 9-8 lead, Madson went to work getting the first two batters faced to ground out. Fernando Tatis stepped to the plate and laced a single to right-field which set the stage for David Wright, who homered to left, giving the Mets a 10-9 lead. It was Madson’s sixth blown save of the season and the Phillies 16th as a team.

There is plenty of blame to go around for this loss. With the Braves win over the Cardinals, they have moved within seven games of the Phillies. The Marlins are now 5 1/2 back and could be five back by the end of the evening.

A loss like this can play on a weak teams psyche. Let’s hope the Phillies are strong enough to overcome it. They have a chance at double the redemption tomorrow as they play two against the Mets in a day-night double-header. The festivities start at 1 p.m.