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Casey Smith Pulls Phils Past Pirates

The Phillies were down for most of today’s game against the Pirates, but a dark horse infielder made the Buccos pay with a 9th inning homer. The Phils won 5-4.

Casey Smith went 2-3 with the homer. At 28, he’s more likely depth for AAA Allentown, but hey, you never know. Among regulars, Shane Victorino hit a triple that was almost an inside-the-park home run. Something tells me he’ll fill Rowand’s void in center field just fine.

Pitching-wise, it was a mixed bag, for sure. JD Durbin did himself no favors, allowing two runs and five hits in two innings. Shane Youman, a left-hander battling for a bullpen spot, did horribly, walking four in one inning. But Gary Knotts grabbed the win with two scoreless innings, and JA Happ showed promise with a scoreless two frames. And Joe Bisenius also performed well, putting up the same line as Happ.

What we got out of this game:

JA Happ and Joe Bisenius are the youngsters in the lead.
Casey Smith is a nice addition for the deepest part of the infield depth chart.
JD Durbin can’t stumble much more than he already has.
Shane Youman shows the need for better bullpen help was essential.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.