That Was Rough!

A walk off single in the bottom of the 9th after blowing another solid Cole Hamels start will feel like that. The Phils just couldn't hold off ManRam and the Dodgers and the usually dependable bullpen surrendered the game to LA, making it two in a row for the guys in blue. 

Both starting pitchers threw good games. Although it appeared in recent games that the Phil's bats had come alive, they struggled again last night, providing little run support for Cole and possessed an inability to react to the charging Dodgers. Manny Ramirez hurt the Phillies again. In a great duel with Hamels, ManRam fought off a few pitches and singled in a run, cutting the Phil's lead to one. Chase made an outstanding diving catch that prevented even more damage to end the inning. All of Dodgers Stadium was sure they were about to blow open the game; Utley wasn't having any of it. 

After the ball was handed to Durbin, things got dicey and the Dodgers tied the game up after having the bases loaded. The Phils were lucky to get out of the inning without giving up more, thanks to a Nomar double play. Romero took the loss after giving up the game winning RBI to Andre Ethier in the bottom of the 9th. 

I took some heat from the Dodgers fans, at which point I reminded them that they are still in second place in their division. At one point, a fan told me I didn't deserve the bobblehead giveaway that was handed out and tried to take it from me. I told him I came 3,000 miles just for the Joe Beimel bobblehead, to which he seemed confused and dropped the request. Who is Joe Beimel you might ask?

While waiting for someone to use the bathroom, a group of Dodger fans were finishing their beers. They started to heckle me, then we got to talking as baseball fans. We shared a mutual hatred of the Mets, agreed that Manny was playing out of his mind, and that the NL East and West will be tight races to the finish. I'll be back tonight. The bats need to liven up and the Phils need to split this series, as both the Mets and Marlins won last night.