You want dramatic? How about a pitcher's duel between a pair of former teammates who were dealt at the trade deadline last season and a walk off home run by an all star outfielder who had been struggling at the plate in the thirteenth inning?
That is exactly how last night's game turned out. Jayson Werth hit a three run home run off of Cubs reliever Jeff Samardzija in the bottom of the thirteenth inning to give the Phillies a walk off 4-1 victory. Joe Blanton battled against his former teammate in Oakland, Rich Harden, for seven strong innings and allowed just one run on five hits and struck out five batters.
The Phillies bullpen also got the job done, going six innings without yielding a base hit or issuing a walk. Chan Ho Park pitched three of those innings and picked up five strike outs. Ryan Madson pitched the eighth inning and Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning. Lidge was involved in the play of the night when with a runner on first a ball was hit back up the middle. Lidge kicked it up and it fell in the glove of Jimmy Rollins who was on second base, and he relayed to first for an inning ending double play. When your team is hot bounces lie that go your way. Clay Condrey picked up the win.
Rollins put the Phillies on the board in the third inning with a solo home run. The Cubs got the run back in the top of the fourth inning when Kosuke Fukudome doubled to left field to score Ryan Theriot with two outs. That would be all of the scoring until the thirteenth inning.
With two outs Ryan Howard drew a walk on four pitches. Raul Ibanez then forced a walk after working a full count on Samardzija. With the winning run on second base Werth stepped up trying to find a way to drive Howard home. He did just that on a 1-1 count, smacking a home run to left field to send the Phillies fans home happy.
The win is the tenth straight for the Phillies, the first time since 1991 that they have had such a streak. Coupled with the Atlanta Braves victory the lead in the NL East remains six and a half games.
Original Story:
http://macho-row.blogspot.com/2009/07...
