Fielder Ends Phils Sweep Chance

 

                First pitch to Fielder in the 1st sailed into the second right field deck
                                                                     pic. R.Baxter

Randy Wolf returns to get the win today for the Brewers
pic. R.Baxter

It was over in the first inning for the Phillies today. In a matter of minutes, the Brewers had two runners on base with Prince Fielder coming up to bat. It didn't take long. One pitch exactly and Fielder put one of Kyle Kendrick's misplaced pitches into the second deck in right field as fast as you could say, "home run".

The rest of the game took hours to play. Kendrick settled down a bit, but Randy Wolf had the Phillies off balance on offense and there really wasn't too much that they could do for most of this game. Kendrick's day would end early, he gave up 5 ER in 4.0 IP, along with 2 SO and 1 BB on the day.

Kendrick gave up 3 quick runs in the 1st inning today
pic. R.Baxter

Carlos Ruiz gave the Phillies their only runs on the day. He drove in two runs in the bottom of the 2nd with a double into left field that scored Jayson Werth (who doubled earlier) and Ben Francisco. That was the extent of the Phillies scoring today. They had other chances, but couldn't convert. The Phils put up a threat in the bottom of the 8th but, again there were 2 runners left in scoring position without any runs to show for it.

The Phils had a chance to sweep the Brewers today, they couldn't do it. The great 5 game win streak is over, and it's a double header on Monday, 2 separate games: one in the afternoon, and one at night. Whatever happened to the 2 for the price of 1 special- the scheduled doubleheader? Younger fans who never got to experience a double header of old must think we were lucky 'back in the day' - you used to get to see both games for one price. Not anymore though, it's all about the Benjamins.

Another sellout at Citizens Bank Park with 45,006 at the ballpark today, and unlike on Labor Day Weekend of past years, most of them really where at the ballpark- the no shows were at a minimum. The Braves lost today, so the Phillies didn't lose any ground. They did lose the chance to win when the Braves lost though and that isn't the way the Phillies will win this division. They really didn't play with much desperation today, like they want to win this division, not much passion on the field for a Sunday afternoon. Just another game. Is this Phillies team passionate about winning this division or are they content with handing it away?