Photo Credit: Andrew Gillen
On a night when the Phillies honored those who sacrificed their lives 12 years ago to the day, baseball once again became the saving grace for those in mourning. A fantastic display of firemen, policemen, and heroes from all walks of life donned flags representing each state and province of our nation pregame. Though the crowd was less than full, you could certainly feel the pride of each citizen, young and old. Following the ceremony, the fans were presented with another stellar performance from the left arm of on Clifton Phifer Lee.
Pregame Ceremony (Credit: Andrew Gillen)
Opposing Lee was San Diego Padres' pitcher Eric Stults, who came out dealing punch-for-punch with the former Cy Young Award winner. Through four innings, just three hits were recorded by the two teams combined. In the fifth frame, making his first major league start, Tommy Medica made it a memorable one. He led off the inning by homering into left center field for his first major league four-bagger, and the Padres took the first lead of the night at 1-0.
Oddly enough, the next inning and a half saw three more solo homeruns blasted into the outfield seats. First up was Freddy Galvis, who made his impact with one away in the home half of the fifth inning. His solo shot tied the ball game up at 1-1. Rookie Jedd Gyorko smashed his 18th homerun of the season in the next half inning to bump the San Diego lead back up to 2-1. Then, just for good measure, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins jumped into the action. His sixth homerun of the season, a 397-foot bomb, tied things up once more, this time at 2-2.
The Phillies would tack on one more run in the seventh frame. Nick Vincent came on in relief of Stults, and allowed a leadoff double to Freddy Galvis. John Mayberry Jr. would then walk, and Cliff Lee sacrificed both runners on. With two in scoring position and one away, Cesar Hernandez grounded out to bring home Galvis. Jimmy Rollins was intentionally walked, but Kevin Frandsen popped out to end it. Still, the Phillies took a 3-2 lead.
The eighth inning saw both Carlos Ruiz and Darin Ruf reach base to lead things off. After he was moved to second on a Cody Asche ground out, Ruiz came home to score on a Galvis sacrifice. The 4-2 Phillies lead survived Jonathan Papelbon's ninth inning, and the Phillies took Game Two of the series from the Padres. An entertaining game for those in attendance, including myself. The fans were treated to an outstanding pregame celebration, and a helluva ballgame. Tomorrow night, the series wraps up as the Padres Tyson Ross battles Roy Halladay at 7:05.
