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This game wasn't a blowout. There. I found something good to say about today.
14 words isn't enough of a recap for you? Fine. The Phillies played poorly, like that Nazi guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Dodgers did the opposite. Stephen Fife pitched seven strong innings, allowing only four hits and a walk, around five strikeouts. Kyle Kendrick was victimized by some poor calls, but he struggled consistently, allowing ten hits and a walk over six innings, striking out two; being charged with four runs.
The Dodgers' offense was led by Yasiel Puig, who, I'm reasonably certain, was sent by Skynet to kill John Connor. Puigminator logged four hits, including a bloop triple that got by Delmon Young's truly Maddoxian glove. Puig also stole two bases, one of which was the subject of a controversial call by umpire Dale Scott. Puig beat the throw to second, but he came off the bag and it appeared that Jimmy Rollins was able to get the tag on, but Scott ruled him safe. A nearly identical play happened later in the inning, when Hanley Ramirez stole second as well.
Across the diamond, the Phils offensive contributions came from a ninth inning "rally." With two outs, Chase Utley singled to left, and advanced to second via defensive indifference; scoring on a Rollins' single. That prompted a pitching change. Two outs, in the ninth inning, with a five-run lead and a guy on the hill who had thrown 13 pitches; and Don Mattingly lugs his game-delaying ass out of the dugout to summon a lefty to deal with Ryan Howard. Well, deal with Howard Paco Rodriguez did, and the game ended. But, really.
Fangraph:
Source: FanGraphs
With the loss, the Phils drop the series to LA, 1-3; and are at 39-44 on the year. An off-day tomorrow, and then a return to the east coast to face the league-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. We're doomed, I'm sure.
As an aside, on a personal note, some of you may have noticed that this is the first contribution I've made here since June 1st. Since that time, I've been dealing with a near "perfect storm" of work-related crises. No deaths in the family, or anything like that, but enough to keep me from you fine folks. I won't be back in regular form for some time, I expect, but I should be able spend a little more time here. It's good to be back.