This game was an old timer’s dream. A good old fashioned pitcher’s duel. Pedro Martinez looked very good for the Phils, going seven scoreless innings, only giving up two hits, striking out three and walking none. His counterpart, Vicente Padilla, was equally as good. Padilla’s final line: 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, and 6 SO. Padilla made one mistake to Ryan Howard in the fourth inning, and Howard capitalized by crushing a ball to left-center to make it 1-0 Phils. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Phils would muster all day. The Phillies 1, 2, and 3 hitters went 1-for-12 in the game, and the team as a whole finished with only four hits. That is simply unacceptable from this potent lineup. Meanwhile, the game stayed at 1-0 until the bottom of the eighth inning. The Dodgers capitalized on a Chase Utley throwing error, in which he tried to turn a double play but threw way wide of Ryan Howard. Juan Pierre ended up scoring on the play to make it 1-1, and Russel Martin, the man who was safe on the error by Utley, would eventually come home on a bases loaded walk by J.A. Happ for the winning run. The Phils went down in order in the ninth, and fittingly, it was Chase Utley who made the final out. It was not Utley’s best performance. Utley, who normally plays a stellar second base, has now made errors in consecutive games to start the NLCS. The Phillies need Utley’s glove, and more importantly, his bat when they return to Philadelphia for game three on Sunday night. With the 2-1 win, the Dodgers evened up the series, and instead of the Phils taking a commanding 2-0 lead heading back to Philadelphia, it is a series once again. Although I picked the Phils to win this series in six before it started, and I had them splitting in L.A., this is a game they should have won.
Topics: Bb, Best Performance, Chase Utley, Consecutive Games, Counterpart, Dodgers, Double Play, Eighth Inning, Game, Happ, Juan Pierre, Mistake, Nlcs, Old Timer, Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Scoreless Innings, Vicente Padilla
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