Game 149 - Friday Night, September 16th in Philadelphia
One Sentence Summary: The Cardinals prevailed in 11 innings, forcing the Phillies to wait at least one more day to clinch their fifth straight division title.
What It Means: The Phils are 97-52 and their magic number to clinch dropped to 1 when the Braves lost to the Mets. They could actually clinch the division before taking the field tonight, as the Braves play an afternoon game at 4. If the Braves lose, the pennant is wrapped up. (Maybe it's wrong to upset the baseball gods by typing this, but I'm hoping the Braves win this afternoon so that the Phils can celebrate on the field tonight.)
What Went Wrong: Reliever Michael Schwimer (1-1) coughed up a pair of runs in the 11th, after the Phillies came back in dramatic fashion to tie the game up in the ninth. Carlos Ruiz hit what appeared to be the final out of the game to right fielder Corey Patterson, but the ball clanked off Patterson's glove to allow the tying run to score.
The true culprits in this loss were the one through four hitters in the Phillies line-up (Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Hunter Pence) who went a combined 0 for 18.
Featured Card: The Cardinals' Tyler Greene doubled in the fourth and final run for the Cardinals in the 11th. Rest assured, the former Phillies pitcher has not made an improbable comeback as an outfielder for the Cardinals - this is a completely different guy who spells his last name with an "e" at the end.
Field Report: Jenna and I were there and we sat through all 11 innings, hoping to witness a pennant clinching game. (I was there back in 2007 when the Phils clinched.) The Phillies are now 8-5 in games I've attended this year. We're going to one more game in the regular season, and then we hope to be there for a few games in the postseason.
2 comments:
I've always wanted to be at a clinching game. It might be the only thing left on my list. I've seen other teams clinch just about everything. But, not the Sox.
You need to have a talk with your Sox and tell them to pull it together. We have an October date and I don't want to be left dancing with the Tigers.
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