Deja Vu: Eaton Serves It Up Against Arizona
Adam Eaton followed up his disastrous performance against the Mets with an atrocity against Arizona, an eight-run, seven-hit, three-walk massacre that never left the fourth inning. In fact, the Diamondbacks — who have scored more than a half-run less than the Phillies this season — plated eight in the fourth alone, six off Eaton and two off left-hander RJ Swindle (though he let some inherited runners score). Basically, it was a whitewash, a clearing house, a blue-plate beatdown.
The whole affair killed a class game by Shane Victorino, who homered twice off future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. He really provided the only offense for the Phils, as Vic had three of the team’s five hits. It’s possible, of course, that they just turned the whole thing off after the fourth.
Going back to Eaton, because there’s no one else to go to — it’s high time to kick him out of the 25-man. Now back in his comfort zone (a 5.71 ERA), Eaton surely hasn’t improved much since last season’s debacles. Sure he’s tempted the 4-ERA gods this year, but these previous two performances have showed he can’t be trusted or left anywhere near a five-man rotation. Couple him with Brett Myers’ entire head-drama, and suddenly the Phils have a tremendously troubling issue at hand — they have three starting pitchers.
And of course, the Mets won. And the Phils are back to a 0.5-game lead with just one to play — a match with maybe baseball’s best slinger — in the first half. Nothing would taste more bitter than a deficit heading into the break, especially with the blue-and-orange ones in front.
Associated Press photo
