The Fightins » August 23 Game Recap: Phillies 9, Mets 7

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Aug

2009

August 23 Game Recap: Phillies 9, Mets 7

Posted by Dash Treyhorn at 8:59 pm ET 29 Comments

What happened?

Pedro Martinez was victorious in his return to New York as the Phillies move to a season high 21 games over .500.

Who did what?

Pedro Martinez (W, 2-0) gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five. At the dish, he went 1 for 2 with an RBI.

Jimmy Rollins went 1 for 4 with a double (33), a run, and an RBI.

Shane Victorino went 1 for 2 with a run and three walks.

Jayson Werth went 2 for 5 with a homer (29) and three RBIs.

Pedro Feliz went 1 for 4 with two runs.

Eric Bruntlett went 3 for 5 with a run.

Carlos Ruiz went 1 for 4 with a homer (8) and three RBIs.

Brad Lidge (S, 25) allowed one unearned run on one hit in the ninth to earn the save.

Oliver Perez (L, 3-4) allowed six runs in two-thirds on an inning. He gave up four hits, walked two and didn’t strike out a batter.

Angel Pagan went 2 for 5 with two *coughboguscough* homers (5), three runs and two RBIs.

Luis Castillo went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI.

Jeff Francoeur 1 for 5 with a triple (4) and an RBI.

What does this mean?

A day that was supposed to be remembered for Pedro Martinez making his return to Flushings as a member of the visiting team was overshadowed (an understatement if there ever was one) and bookended by two of the most memorable plays in recent Phillies history.

It started with a dubious inside-the-park homer off the bat of Angel Pagan and it ended with an unassisted triple play by the backup-backup second baseman who happened to go 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .154.

Yeah, it was one of those games.

After The Fightins took a 6-0 lead off of Oliver Perez (aka the Adam Eaton of Queens), Angel Pagan’s line drive to the gap got stuck under the outfield wall, thereby ruling it a ground-rule double ball that’s totally in play, thus allowing the baserunner to take as many bags as he damn well pleases. Things would settle down from there, for the most part, as the Mets managed to put a four spot on Pedro over his six innings. That having been said, La Cabra Vieja was solid over six innings, striking out five on the day and retiring nine of the last 10 batters with relative ease.

The offense did exactly what was expected and drove Ollie out of the game in the first inning, after Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth seemingly worked him to death early on, running up his pitch count and setting him up for the eventual bombs off the bats of Werth and Carlos Ruiz. They added on runs as needed, making things much easier on Pedro and the bullpen.

The real show came from Eric Bruntlett, who spelled Chase Utley against the left-handed starter and proceeded to go 3 for 5 at the dish and ended the game in such fashion that will be in the mix of the top defensive plays of the season. With a three run lead in the top of the ninth, back-to-back errors from Ryan Howard and Beardo cut the lead to two runs and put a runner on first. One infield single later, and Brad Lidge was staring at an apocalyptic scenario to a game that should have been over. With two on, no out, and the baserunners moving on the pitch, Jeff Francoeur hit a liner up the middle that was speared by Bruntlett, who promptly stepped on second and tagged Daniel Murphy to complete the first game-ending triple play since the Coolidge administration.

To quote Scott Franzke, whose radio call is a must listen: “The crowd could not be more stunned and nor could I!”

All things aside, it was another win for the Phillies, who are ever so slightly pulling away in the National League east. Pedro looked good, aside from a few bumps early in the game. But that’s okay, because as a back of the rotation starter, 6/4 is pretty darn good.

What’s next for our heroes?

In the series finale, Cliff Lee (4-0, 0.82) takes on Bobby Parnell (3-5, 4.74).

29 Comments on “August 23 Game Recap: Phillies 9, Mets 7”

Lew Blum Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
First
Watrick Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:24 pm
So, what’s our Magic Number?

Oh, and I hate Lew Blum.
phil lee Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Really starting to piss me off that when umps get a call wrong against the Mets, they can just watch the replay on the video board and change the call. Most parks do not replay close calls so as to not encite the crowd.
Watrick Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Also, to not show up the umpire for making the wrong call.
Phylan Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Yeah that whole “well one of those guys had a better angle” was code for “one of them looked at the jumbotron replay” which is entirely illegal. The right call was made but that’s still bullshit.
instant fail Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
this is all i have to say for mets fans out there, besides phuck you

http://www.pacdudegames.com/fail/
JB Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 pm
First thought when that call was overturned? “That would never happen for us.”
doubleh Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
@JB: I said the exact same thing when that happened. It was the right call, but not the initial call and there’s no way anyone else had any conclusive evidence from their angle in order to overturn the call. The guy right in front of the play called it a trap. How did someone else standing 300 ft away see it better? Answer: jumbotron. Illegal. And it’s BS. Meanwhile Cholly can’t buy a review of a HR call back against Boston.
Lynniemac Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
For once, I think the umpiring has been horrible on both sides. Jimmy got nowhere near tagging Toothy McFrenchguy the other night, after all.
Tony Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:45 pm
The magic number is 34, I believe.
Phils Phan Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Francouer’s large nose and prominent teeth remind me of every 80s movie character named Duane.
Flash McFly Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Utley’s gotta be pissed he didn’t have the opportunity to make that play.
Eric Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I can’t be angry at the reversal, they got the call right and to me, that’s what’s important. You can’t get angry at them for a lack of a ground rule double call either. Shane didn’t even attempt to pick the ball up.

Overall i think the umps have been terrible in this series, but it’s still 2-1 so far with brother lee tomorrow.
John Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:38 pm
who gives a FUCK about the ruling of that cot damn in-the-park home run

we FUCKIN won u idiots, no ones gonna remember that gay ITPHR, everyone is gonna remember the triple play

ITPHR=in the park home run
Lynniemac Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:39 pm
For what it’s worth, Shane didn’t even attempt to pick the ball up because he thought it was dead.
Flash McFly Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Now that I think about it, Utley wouldn’t have had the chance to make that play because the error doesn’t happen.
BigMiles Says:
August 23rd, 2009 at 11:55 pm
I was on the opening tee at a local golf course, about to start a twilight round, and was following the game on my phone. I was so fucking sick to my stomach with how the inning was going I didn’t even want to tee off. When I saw the triple play come up in the live play by play it led to a very awkward man-hug with the guy who was standing at the first tee and telling us when we were supposed to play.

My subsequent 100 yard drive right into the sand didn’t even upset me.
Gonzo Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 12:00 am
@BigMiles: That’s an awesome story. was he a stranger or your friend?
How do you spell retard? Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 12:15 am
To quote Scott Franzke, whose radio call is a must listen: “The crowd could not be more stunned and nor could I!”

Coming from an expert in the language known as English, I’m pretty sure ‘nor’ is supposed to be followed shortly after the word ‘neither’.

/Howdy S. Thompson: always getting to the important issues
Clark Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 1:11 am
@Flash – Utley wouldn’t have gotten the triple play because he, unlike the Brawny guy, wouldn’t have made that initial error in the first place. Good for Bruntlett, I guess. Happiest boy in Philly until tomorrow.
Eric Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 1:26 am
hey listen, if this can give bruntlett a bit of a lift….don’t forget he was a healthy 3 for 5 as well, then good. We might need his bat in a pinch later in the season.
Gonzo Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 1:37 am
That;s the spirit, Eric. I’m gonna go on record here, Eric Bruntlett was SO MONEY last year. He played terrific left field subbing Burrell in the late innings. And don’t forget, he scored the winning run in Game 3 last year. I realize Bruntlett will never ever be a starter in this league, but and he has had a terrible season. But as Eric said, maybe this is the lift he needs. Of course, he wont play another game in the field for another 2 weeks, and probably wont get more than 2 pinch hit appearances in that span.
phil lee Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 8:35 am
“I can’t be angry at the reversal, they got the call right and to me, that’s what’s important.”

That would be great and all if they had the same resources available to overturn the call against the home team in every ball park, but they do not. Unfair advantage.
Watrick Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Hey Retard (Only place I can actually type/say that and not be offensive-cool.)

This isn’t “Better Off Dead”, and no one is trying to learn the Engrish ranguage from basebarr, although I do like the point being made.
Wawa Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I was there rocking the 2008 tee . I got a lot of angry looks. What a great crowd. Almost felt like a home game.

Who wants my giveaway replica Citi Field to use as an ashtray?
Watrick Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Speaking of Citi Field, why does their logo look like the Domino’s logo. Get your own logo, dumbasses.
4DaysRest.com Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Only Eric Bruntlett could go from being most pleasant surprise of the game, to biggest douchbag who ruins everything, to most pleasant surprise of the game.

God he’s bad. When he caught that ball, he was about as surprised as that kid from the “I play right field” Pizza Hut commercial from back in the day. You know, the one before the original Ninja Turtles VHS.
Harry Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I wonder what Wheels’ take on this wacky game was? (nudges D.Whitmore)
Jayson Vooyrhees Says:
August 24th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@Watrick

You mean like this?:

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/01/14/the-dugout-inaugural-season-2009/