Offense Un-Clutch in Loss to Marlins

Eleven men stranded.  2-for-17 with runners in scoring position.  The Phillies offensive woes continued in the 6-4 loss to the Florida Marlins.  A poor outing from Cole Hamels didn’t help.

Chris Coghlan greeted Hamels with a home run to lead off the game.  It was just the beginning of his troubles.

Hamels was moving well, though.  In an attempt to sacrifice bunt, Hamels legged out a single as the throw pulled Dan Uggla off the bag.  Then, Hamels broke up a double play, which allowed a run to score.  Shane Victorino followed Jimmy Rollins’ force out with a RBI single.  The Phillies led 2-1, but it didn’t last long.  The Marlins tied it up in the next inning.

Throughout the night, the Marlins played shabby defense, and Carlos Ruiz caught a break. Nick Johnson dropped a pop-up (a la Luis Castillo), and a run scored.  The Phillies regained the lead.

Unfortunately, Hamels struggled with his command. Cody Ross hit his 20th home run of the year, which gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning.  The two home runs and four walks hurt Hamels.  He was pulled after 5.1 innings after allowing four earned runs on five hits.

It was up to the bullpen to keep it close.  Chan Ho Park, who has been excellent since his transition to the bullpen, was due for a bad outing.  He pitched two innings, but gave up two runs, both in the eighth inning.

The offense never gave the Phillies a chance.  Their first three runs were mostly luck, coming on Marlin miscues.  For the rest of the game, the offense couldn’t come through in the clutch.  Jayson Werth left six men on base, Raul Ibanez left two, Pedro Feliz left five, and Rollins left three.

The Phillies made some noise in the ninth after Victorino (2-for-5) led off with a triple.  Chase Utley’s ground-out (which may have been a foul ball) drove in Victorino.  Ryan Howard (4-for-4) singled to put the tying run on base.  The no-doubles defense took a hit away from Werth, but Ibanez flied out to end the game.

The Phillies dropped the series to the Marlins, but hope to avoid the sweep tomorrow.  The Phillies still have a five game lead over the second place Fish in the division.