Last night's victory over the Washington Nationals postponed their celebration for another day. To match that, the Atlanta Braves clinched a playoff spot with a walk-off win, and now they're looking to take over first place in the National League East. They can do that if the Phillies continue dominating the Nats.
Kyle Kendrick, a second half hero, didn't have an easy couple of innings tonight. In the first inning, Kyle walked Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper followed with a two-run dinger to straightaway center field. 2-0 Nationals.
In the second inning, Ian Desmond slapped a solo homer to left field, extending his team's lead to 3-0. In the same inning, Steve Lombardozzi scored on a two-run jack shot left field off the bat of Kurt Suzuki. To say the least, Kyle was getting beat up.
After just two innings, Kyle was taken out. His line: 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. 47 pitches, 28 for strikes. His ERA is now 4.08.
This is where it gets crazy: B.J. Rosenberg becomes the star of the ballgame. Not only did the young righty toss three scoreless innings of relief without giving up a run, but he brought home two of them.
In the third, Rosenberg popped up a sacrifice fly which scored Kevin Frandsen. This put the Phils on the board at 5-1. Frandsen tripled in the next inning, and Rosenberg once again sent him home, this time with his first major league hit, a single up the middle. 5-2 Nats.
Josh Lindblom pitched a perfect sixth and seventh inning, striking out two. The bullpen has been very solid in this series, and the Phils really needed them to be solid tonight.
In the home half of the seventh, Jimmy Rollins crushed a home run into the seats in right field for homer number 23 of the season. 5-3 ballgame.
Jeremy Horst pitched a scoreless eighth, ending the inning on a 6-4-3 double play.
The Phillies got something cooking in the bottom of the inning. After Chase Utley doubled and made it to third on a wild pitch, Carlos Ruiz walked, and Domonic Brown sent Chase home with a sac fly. Darin Ruf singled, putting runners on the corners. With two outs, Frandsen struck out swinging, and angrily chucked his bat in anger. 5-4 Nats.
In the top of the ninth, Jayson Werth became public enemy number one. With Justin De Fratus pitching for the Phils, Werth received some boos for faking a throw into the stands, and throwing a foul ball into the dugout. The shower of boos became cheers as De Fratus took him high and inside with a 93 MPH fastball. Werth gets the last laugh here. Werth slapped one up the middle to score Ian Desmond and Suzuki. 7-4 Nats.
Antonio Bastardo came in to record the final out in the ninth, but he wouldn't get out of it without charging another run to De Fratus's line. Jayson Werth came home on a triple from Bryce Harper. Just like that, the Nats doubled their lead.
One last chance for the Phils in the bottom of the ninth. They didn't take that chance. Nationals win game two, 8-4.
A possible Cy Young award winner in Gio Gonzalez will take the mound tomorrow night against Tyler Cloyd at 7:05. It will be the rubber match in this series, and the final home game of the season for the Phillies.
