"Treasures can slip through your fingertipsAnd sapphires melt in your hands
You turn to me with your jaded eyes
And I'm scared that I know how this ends
And everything fell into place
But now it is falling apart
I'm trying to hold on
But I can see you fading."
-REDEMPTION, "Sapphire"
It's not looking good. When the Phillies had an early 3-2 lead, I just knew they would win and tie the series up. Even when they trailed 10-5, they loaded the bases for Carlos Ruiz. Any kind of hit would have put them right back in the game. But they didn't get any kind of hit, and now they need to win the next three games to avoid elimination.
The turning point was another Charles Fuqua Manuel Special. After Kyle Kendrick was told to intentionally walk the eighth place hitter, he gave up an infield hit to Eli Manning's college backup QB, loading the bases with two outs in the 4th inning. Manuel gave Kendrick an early hook, bringing in starting pitcher Kyle Lohse from the bullpen. Kendrick had pitched in, and out, of trouble all day, but he had only thrown 66 pitches at that point. Given that the Phillies' bullpen consists of three innings worth of useful talent, removing the starting pitcher with (at least) five and two-thirds worth of game left seemed a bit short-sighted. When Lohse allowed a grand slam to Kaz Matsui (four regular season HR in 410 at bats), the pitching move seemed a bit worse.
Jose Mesa and Clay Condrey combined to allow four more Rockie runs in the 6th, and the 10-2 hole was way too much to overcome against the strong Colorado bullpen. The rest of the game mostly involved me trying to refrain from putting my fist through the television set. (Note: Obviously, I would not have put my throwing hand through the screen.) Between the Phillies' "relievers", the idiotic announcers (Not you, Don, it was the other guy. Well, mostly the other guy), the TBS commercials (They really need to stop showing those FrankTV commercials. Like, NOW. Plus no more Mellancamp!), I was reduced to a profanity-spewing ball of fury. But I still expected the Phillies to, somehow, come back to win. At least until Rockies closer Manny Corpas finished up for his second save in as many days.
The Phillies head to Colorado for Saturday night's Game 3. Jamie Moyer takes the hill against Rockies rookie Ubaldo Jimenez. Thankfully, Jimenez is not another lefty. Only seven teams in baseball history have won a five game playoff series, after losing the first two games. Only one of them lost those two games at home. So, it's due to happen again. Probability is on the Phillies' side. Plus the Rockies are due for some losses. Regression to the mean, right? If the Phillies can make it back to CBP, with Cole Hamels on the mound, they have a good shot. Getting there will not be easy. But not impossible.
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