Remember Forrest Gump? If he wasn’t fictional, he would have a blast watching the Phillies. We are, “like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re gonna get.” And that is the way it goes for Phillies fans.
Last night, Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, Blanton, delivered in innings two through five. As expected he did not perform in the first or the sixth (Uncle Charlie, why did you not pull him after the fifth?) He allowed four runs on eight hits and four walk.
That was my clue to exit the room to save the game. I often write about my nerves and superstition. If I walk away—we pull it out. Even my husband, a PhD in Statistics, and totally rational, cannot explain how I do this—but it works. I do, however, keep an ear on the game.
We were down nine to two in the eighth. We were actually luck because after Blanton loaded the bases, Durbin got us out of the sixth. Unfortunately his seventh was not a picnic.
We found our bats somewhere in the eighth. Finding our bats when we have good pitching and getting the pitching to work when we have our bats seems to be a problem. Fortunately something clicked it the Phillies’ collective brains and the Dodgers imploded at the same time. I began to hear the cheering coming from the TV.
What happened next is the Phillies hit their way to a 10-9 win thanks to a walk off double by Carlos Ruiz! I guess you could say I got the save, “LOL!”
This three game series was indeed a box of chocolates. We saw the home debut of Roy Oswalt and the first home run of Domonic Brown’s promising career. Kyle Kendrick managed to pitch only three-and-a-third innings and proved to be a split personality pitcher. Game one was a home run derby that we lost and game two was a shut out. Game three was like a Hail Mary.
We took two of three games but need to do better (waiting the return of Victorino, Howard and Utley) to win the division or the wild card. The series with the Giants will be interesting (I miss Bobble-head Bonds and the screaming insults). As one of my customers said yesterday, “It’s a great time to be a Phillies fan!”
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