Hallelujah! Phillies 5, Giants 3

This recap, set to the tune of the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah:

Hallelujah! The Phillies won!
It happened! It really happened! It is no mirage!

Hallelujah! Lively was good!
Seven innings! Only one run! He got a win!

OOOOOO-dubel had a big two base hit!
It scored three runs, in the seventh, stretched a big lead, HALLELUJAH!

Heeeeeee is now over 600 with....
His on-baaase! Plus his slugging! Hallelujah! HALLELUJAH!

That’s enough of that.

Seriously though, isn’t it wonderful to get a win? Everything today happened just as those experts thought it would. Ben Lively came up and gave the team seven strong innings of four hit, one run ball that included a few walks to make things interesting. The defense, which has been an issue lately, gave Lively the support a pitcher of his ilk needs, turning three double plays in the game, including two big ones in the sixth and seventh when the game was still in the balance.

The bigger issue is that the Giants lineup, scoring a paltry 3.45 runs per game, was not fooled by Lively’s stuff, striking out not even once while he was on the mound. This could be an issue with Lively. Most of those scouts who watch this farm system don’t see him as much more than a #4 or 5 starter at best due to the lack of strikeout ability. His supporters point to the fact that he pulls an Al Davis just about every time he steps on the mound and “just wins, baby”. He’s Jack Morris’ new favorite pitcher. If he wants to have any kind of sustainable success, he’s going to have to send a batter back to the dugout from home plate once in a while rather than from first base.

But that’s neither here nor there. No negativity today! Instead, let’s wallow in some bad lyrical mashups to 17th century classical music and celebrate a victory. This feeling might be fleeting, as we are all too aware.

These two teams are back at it tomorrow, with the Giants sending Matt Moore and his 4.98 ERA to the mound against Jeremy Hellickson and the rest of the Phillies. Let’s hope we can see a series victory. Seriously. I need to see a series victory. Please?