Game 76 - Thursday Night, June 23rd in St. Louis
One Sentence Summary: In one of the ugliest games of the season for the Phils, starting pitcher Roy Oswalt left after two innings with a potential career-threatening back injury.
What It Means: Bummer. I'm writing this the day after the dreadful events in St. Louis, and all reports are that Oswalt's back is pretty bad. In his post-game interview he seemed resigned to the fact that his baseball career could be over. The Phillies placed him on the DL today and we'll wait and see if the Four Aces will ride again. The loss dropped the Phils to 47-29.
What Went Wrong: Oswalt (4-6) lasted just two innings, giving up four runs on five hits. Danys Baez imploded in the eigth, allowing six Cardinals runs. His ERA jumped from 3.98 to 5.51. The Phils managed seven hits, including a meaningless ninth inning home run from Carlos Ruiz.
Featured Card: The Juan Perez era began last night, as the lefty made his Phillies pitching debut in the seventh inning. Perez had his contract purchased from Triple-A Lehigh Valley when Jose Contreras ended up on the disabled list with a strained forearm. He became the fourth player with the Perez surname to wear Phillies pinstripes, joining Tony Perez (1983), Yorkis Perez (1998-2000) and Tomas Perez (2000-2006). Before Juan's scoreless inning, the last Perez to pitch for the Phils was Tomas, and not Yorkis. Tomas recorded the final out in the eighth inning of a 17-3 thrashing by the Astros back on May 13, 2002.
Well, that just sucks.
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