An otherwise solid outing by our veteran Jamie Moyer quickly took a turn for the worse due to stellar performances by Phillies relief pitchers.
Moyer gave up three runs early in the game but was given a clean slate when Ryan Howard, responding to my timely prediction, popped a three-run homer to up his HR count to 23 and tie the game. Another RBI by resident hottie Jayson Werth put the team at 4-3 lead.
After being met with a jam in the 7th, Moyer was relieved by JC Romero. Well, he was relieved; I was agitated. I’d like to pride myself in having a respectable amount of knowledge in Phillies baseball. The knowledge I don’t have is compensated by intuitiveness. All season long, Romero’s strolls to the mound have left me with a variety of unpleasant physical symptoms, including nausea and heart palpitations. Last night was no exception. As usual, intuition is steadfast and true.
After leaving a bunch of snotty New Yorkers all over the bases, the team had enough of Romero’s attempt. I thought I had enough too, until they announced none other than game saboteur Tom “Flash” Gordon. As in, FLASH, there goes the Phillies win. A prompt wild pitch and unimpressive tag by Gordon put a run on the board for the Mets, and it’s all downhill from there.
As I’m sure most Phillies fans witnessed, I’ll spare the sad details of the rain-delayed loss that ensued.
I understand the intricacies of right-hander vs. left-hander match-ups, giving pitchers breaks, etc. Sometimes, I just wish that we’d throw caution to the wind and say, “Screw it, let’s win this game.” Get Durbin in there. Get Condrey in there. Someone, anyone. Anyone except the ones they knew would blow the game.
In closing, kudos go to the Rockies for keeping the Marlins off our asses. Colorado, this Bud’s for you.
