The Philadelphia Phillies lost their game on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Mets 5-4. Their record drops to 24-29.
- Kyle Kendrick pitched six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks.
- Kendrick allowed two runs to score in the first inning, allowing an RBI-single to Bobby Abreu and an RBI-double to Lucas Duda. He gave up a solo home run to Ruben Tejada in the fourth, and allowed Tejada to strike again with an RBI-single in the sixth.
- The Phillies offense was unable to get on the board until the seventh inning. Jimmy Rollins began the frame with a single, and Chase Utley drew a walk. Ryan Howard then supplied a three-run homer to put the Phils back in the game.
- The team tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI-single from Domonic Brown, following a lead-off double from Marlon Byrd.
- The offense had a good opportunity to win the game in the 10th, but after Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins each reached base to begin the inning, Utley, Howard, and Byrd all failed to drive them in.
- Ben Revere hit his third triple of the year in the eighth inning, but was stranded at third.
- Mario Hollands took over for Kendrick in the seventh, and pitched a scoreless inning despite allowing a hit and two walks.
- Jake Diekman pitched a scoreless eighth.
- Jonathan Papelbon gave the team a clean ninth.
- Jeff Manship was called upon to work the extra innings, and responded with four scoreless innings, striking out six.
- Antonio Bastardo entered in the 14, and gave up a run on a hit and two walks.
Final Thoughts
Although Antonio Bastardo blew it, give the bullpen a world of credit right now.
For the second straight day, they’ve been called upon to do some heavy lifting, and they’ve responded with 14 scoreless innings in the last two days before allowing a run. Even against a weak offensive team like the Mets, tossing that many scoreless innings in consecutive days is a very impressive feat. Accomplishing something like that means that all hands have to be on deck. This wasn’t just a job done by the team’s top relievers, this was done by everyone from the top to the weakest links in the pen.
Jeff Manship’s effort today brought back memories of Danys Baez throwing five scoreless innings in an extra-innings game against the Reds back in 2011 that ended with Wilson Valdez coming in to finish the game.
Losing this game is critical, not only because its an important division game but because of the length of innings that the team has logged over the last two days. The extra innings may take a toll on the Phillies over the next week. The Phillies are in the middle of a stretch where they’re scheduled to play 20 games in 20 days. They’re not scheduled for another day off until June 9th. A mediocre ballclub whose core is made up of older players may find it difficult to put out their best efforts if they’re putting so much additional strain on themselves within a short period of time.
For example, this was supposed to be a day off for Carlos Ruiz, but instead he ends up taking over for Nieves, catches five innings, and takes several at-bats. Ryne Sandberg may have to get creative over the next few days in order to make sure his guys are able to stay fresh.
The offense had plenty of opportunities to win this game and couldn’t get it done.
