Philly Sports Jabronis
By Jesse Sanchez, Phillies.com
PHOENIX — Sometimes, even Cliff Lee can use some help. And maybe even a little good luck. Some tech support doesn’t hurt, either.
All those elements came into play Saturday when the Phillies rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to overcome an early deficit and defeat the D-backs, 6-5, at Chase Field.
The Phillies won three of four against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and now are a win away from securing another series victory. Overall, the victory improved the Phillies’ record on their current 10-game road trip to 5-4.
“The guys hung in there and gritted it out,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “It was a good character game for us.”
Phillies center fielder Ben Revere notched the game-winning RBI with a soft liner to shallow center field that eluded A.J. Pollock to put the Phillies ahead, 6-5, in the eighth. Cody Asche’s two-run pinch-hit double with the bases loaded tied the game at 5 and set the stage for Revere’s heroics.
“It was a good team win,” Asche said. “That’s baseball. Good teams find a way to win.”
Sometimes, teams find a way to lose, too.
Ryan Howard reached base on a dropped pop fly by third baseman Martin Prado to start the eventful eighth. Prado also played a key role in starting and ending an Arizona rally with no outs and the team’s best hitter, Paul Goldschmidt, at the plate in the ninth. Prado, who represented the tying run, singled to lead off the frame and tried to advance to second on a passed ball. He was initially called safe on the play but was called out after the replay showed he slid passed the bag while Phillies second baseman Chase Utley kept his glove on him after the slide.
“[Carlos Ruiz] had a lot of hustle there and a great throw and then a heads up play by Chase to apply the tag and keep the tag on,” Sandberg said. “It was hustling play. He could have very easily put it in his pocket but he made it fairly close and ended up with a big play.”
Prado made no excuses.
“I slid too close to the base. My foot just came off the base a little bit,” Prado said. “He tagged me at that time. This is not the time to make excuses right now. This is a lack of a lot of things. I’m trying not to feel bad about myself. Things happen. It’s just unfortunate we lost the game.”
The D-backs knew what to expect from Lee and they came out swinging. Five of the eight hits he allowed in the game came on his first or second pitch, including the single by Pollock on the first pitch in the bottom of the first.
Pollock scored Arizona’s first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Goldschmidt, also on the first pitch he saw. Catcher Miguel Montero, who singled on the fourth pitch he saw from Lee, scored on a single by second baseman Aaron Hill on — you guessed it — the first pitch for a 2-0 lead.
Pollock tripled on the second pitch he saw from Lee in the second inning to score Chris Owings to extend Arizona’s lead to 3-0. In the third, Cody Ross’ two-run single gave the D-backs a 5-0 lead.
Ross’ hit came on the second pitch.
But that’s when Lee took charge and retired the next nine batters in order before yielding to Jeff Manship to start the seventh.
“They got to me early. I don’t know what it was,” Lee said. “It was one of those days. I was missing on the plate a little bit, but they got their fair share of hits on decent pitches, too. I just feel good about keeping where it was at in the third and put up zeroes to give us a chance.”
With Lee out of the game, the Philadelphia offense did the rest, starting with two runs in the top of the seventh.
“They came out swinging and they put hits together,” Sandberg said. “[Lee] wasn’t quite as sharp the first three innings and then he settled down and put up three zeroes. At the time, it minimized and was big. The bullpen did a nice job and finally the offense got going.”
