Photo: Philliedelphia/Andrew Gillen
Early this morning, baseball lost one of its brightest players, both on and off the field. Tony Gwynn, known for his 20 years with the San Diego Padres, his lifetime batting average of over .300, and his infectious attitude, lost his hard-fought battle with cancer. His son, Tony Gwynn Jr. (pictured above), was placed on the bereavement list to join his family in California. The Phillies honored Tony Gwynn with the #19 jersey hanging in the dugout during tonight's game.
Amidst a home stand littered with blasts from the Phillies past and celebrations of broken records, the team had a relatively positive six-game stretch. While 5-1 or even 6-0 seemed possible for the home team, Ryne Sandberg's squad was instead forced to settle for a 4-2 record that included a sweep of the San Diego Padres. Tonight, they set off an incredible test of a road trip, having to take on the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals in their respective home ballparks. Game One would feature two tough pitchers, as the Phillies would be sending Cole Hamels out to take on Julio Teheran. Hamels had a modest 17.1 inning scoreless streak heading into tonight's game.
The Game: As many would have probably predicted, fans were treated to a direct battle between the starting pitchers. Cole Hamels simply added onto his already extended scoreless streak. His biggest trouble came in the fifth and seventh innings. In the fifth, a single and a walk put two runners on against the lefty, but he'd secure the strikeout to escape unharmed. In the seventh, the Braves used a couple of hits and a plunked batter to load the bases with nobody out. The crafty Hamels peaked through in the most dangerous of situations, though, as the next batter lined out to Reid Brignac at third. Finally, Andrelton Simmons would look to break through against Cole, but he couldn't perform. A ground ball became a double play, and Hamels' night was over.
Meanwhile, Julio Teheran came out firing on all cylinders. He pitch an inning more than Cole, but would make one costly mistake. He had just retired the first three batters he faced in the first inning, and was settling into the second. After a first pitch ball to Ryan Howard, Teheran went for the two-seam fastball. The pitch tailed to the outer part of the plate, and Howard did not miss. The ball flew just over the center field wall and into the glove of a fan for Piece's twelfth home run of the year. It'd be the only run Teheran allowed, but it held up into the ninth.
With the score still sitting at 1-0, Jonathan Papelbon was brought in to try and earn the save. He sat at 15 on the season, and had gone nine innings since giving up a run. Unfortunately for Pap, Justin Upton and Chris Johnson greeted him with consecutive ground ball singles, and there were two on with nobody out to start the home half of the inning. He'd record an out, but Andrelton Simmons blooped a heck of a pitch into shallow right field for a game-tying hit. It was Papelbon's first blown save since the Opening Series against Texas. He would, however, escape with a tie game.
After a scoreless top half of the tenth inning, Justin De Fratus was set to throw. He'd strike out B.J. Upton immediately. Next up was Freddie Freeman, who drove a ball deep into left toward the wall. Domonic Brown backed up on it and was up against said wall to make the play. He seemingly lost sight of the ball in the process, and subsequently missed the catch. To make things worse, Brown thought the ball cleared the fence, and stared into the stands. By the time the ball was recovered, Freeman made it to third, and somehow was awarded a triple. An intentional walk to Evan Gattis put runners on the corners with one away for Justin Upton. Known for being a tough late out, Upton battled, but popped up to Ryan Howard in foul territory for out number two. Luckily, DeFratus had enough gas to strikeout Chris Johnson for the final out.
We'd move ahead to the thirteenth before scoring would appear again. Ben Revere led it off with a single, and stole second base during Jimmy Rollins' at bat. An intentional walk to Chase Utley set Ryan Howard up to help his team. He'd ground a ball to Freeman, but the first baseman could not come up with it. Revere would score on the error, and the Phillies took the 2-1 lead. Marlon Byrd followed with a single to move the score to 3-1. The game would be broken open soon, starting with an intentional walk to Domonic Brown. A sac fly from Carlos Ruiz scored another Philly run. Finally, Reid Brignac laced a ball into the right field gap for a two-run triple. The Phillies would leave the top half of the inning with a 6-1 lead, but not before Antonio Bastardo had a plate appearance AND walked.
Bastardo came out to finish off the game, and closed out the marathon contest. After thirteen innings, the Phillies finally emerged victorious, 6-1.
Impact: Once again wasted by the rest of his team, Cole Hamels had an outstanding game. In total, seven innings pitched were matched by six strikeouts and two walks. In the end, though, the bullpen ruined the ever-so-important win for Hamels, and as Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) noted on Twitter, this is far too usual for the former World Series MVP.
This is the 28th time the #Phillies bullpen has blown a game in which Cole Hamels departed in line for the win; he has 101 career wins.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@AceballStats) June 17, 2014
Despite blowing the save, Jonathan Papelbon did not pitch poorly. Instead, a few weak hits cost him. On top of that, the offense gave little help, scoring just a run in the first nine innings.
Up Next: Kyle Kendrick returns to the mound for the Phillies in tomorrow night's contest. He'll take on free agent signee Ervin Santana in a 7:10 start time.
