It’s one of those games you can store away and say, “alright, so we lost. It’s OK.”
The Phillies jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Shaun Marcum and the Blue Jays, then the rains came. After a long delay, Chad Durbin took over pitching duties from Kyle Kendrick and was fine until a disastrous fifth inning. A Lyle Overbay home run helped tie the game at 3-3. Then, in the sixth, Rudy Seanez gave it away, giving up a two-out double to Shannon Stewart after intentionally walking Matt Stairs. Was it the right move? We’ll never know.
The Phils climbed back into the game late, with Chase Utley doubling home Jimmy Rollins in the sixth to make it 6-4, but Pat Burrell couldn’t do more damage. Too bad. Burrell homered with two outs in the ninth to keep the game alive. Chris Coste doubled to set up heroics, but Eric Bruntlett — despite a valiant at bat — struck out with a BJ Ryan heater that came from nowhere.
It’s a tough loss, absolutely, but it was a strange game. Toronto plugged ace Roy Halladay into the fray for 2.1 innings. Kendrick looked good after one inning, which makes it a shame that it rained so hard. The offense hit the ball well with Howard homering early, his 10th of the season. Rollins had another good game. But in the end, the rain disrupted the game’s pace, which at least for one inning, looked in the Phillies favor. Durbin stayed in a tad too long and Seanez was not effective.
A tough loss, but one that, ultimately, we can live with.
Associated Press photo
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