Another Tough Loss for the Phils

The Phils lost another tight game after battling back to send it to extra innings.  Ryan Howard drove in two runs with a double in the ninth (arguably a gamewinning homer last year) to tie the game at 5.  Tom Gordon came in for the tenth but quickly surrendered a run.  The Phils had a chance in the bottom of the tenth with the bases-loaded but Chris Roberson could not deliver and ended the game on a fly out.  The Phils have not often held a lead for very long, if at all, in this 2-8 stretch but have nonetheless have regularly scratched their way back, so it’s definitely extra hard to watch these games slip away at the very end. This one dropped the club to third place in the division and to a 7-10 record in one run games.

I don’t want to narrate last night’s loss for fear it will have the same unhappy ending, so you’ll have to make due with some quick notes and other related facts du jour:

• Shane Victornio led off for the second night in a row and went 1-5 with three strikeouts.  JRoll was equally unimpressive in the six hole going 1-4 to drop his average to .237.
• The Phils infield recorded four double plays in the first four innings with Chase Utley pivoting all of them.  The record for the most double plays in a game by a single team is seven, recorded by San Francisco against Houston on May 4, 1969.
• Bill Hall hurt the Phillies again with a two-run homer in the first inning.  He is making a serious case for admission to the Phillies-killers list; though Geoff Jenkins might have him beat.  He is 9-15 against the Phils this season with 9 RBIs and a 1.549 OPS.
• Chris Coste almost made his ML debut last night, but only got as far as the on-deck circle.  If Carlos Ruiz would have gotten on base to lead off the bottom of the fifth, Manuel would have sent in Coste.  Ruiz of course put up another o-fer on the night (0-3).
• Chris Roberson was sent back to Scranton to make room for Aaron Rowand who is expected to be in the lineup tonight.  Jimmy Rollins is similarly expected to return to the leadoff spot. Although Bobby Abreu said he would be willing to take the role, Charlie Manuel is against the idea.
• Mike Lieberthal is slated for a rehab assignment with Reading today.  He could return Sunday or Monday.
• Cole Hamels will throw a bullpen session today and says he feels fine.  He expects to pitch as soon as he’s eligible to come off the disabled list.
• Sal Fasano has 25 Ks in 66 ABs, which averages to more than one strikeout every three at bats.
• Pat Burrell is quietly having an excellent season. Yesterday as I was looking for offensive stats to defend Bobby Abreu, I kept seeing Burrell’s name pop up near the top of many categories.  In the National League he is 10th in home runs (13), 11th in RBIs (36), fifth in OPS (1.009), eighth in walks (31), and seventh in RC27 (8.52, runs created per 27 outs estimates how many runs per game a team made up of nine of the same player would score).
• No National League hitter sees more pitches than Bobby Abreu.