Phillies pull off comeback for first win of the season

It took extra innings, but the Phillies, sporting their new uniforms, battled back from a 5-run, 1st inning deficit to notch their first win of the 2008 season, an 8-7 victory over the Nationals. The Phillies won in the 10th inning when Jayson Werth stepped up with the bases loaded and was walked on four straight pitches, allowing Jimmy Rollins to stroll home for the winning run.

The game didn't start pretty, with starter Jamie Moyer putting the Phils behind early. The Nationals put up 5 runs in the first inning thanks to several hits and a bad throw on a double play attempt by Chase Utley. Moyer gave up another run in the 4th inning before he was replaced by Chad Durbin. The Phillies mounted their comeback in the 6th inning, when they tallied 8 hits, all singles, that led to 6 runs. Chris Coste also added a homerun in his first at-bat of the season.

The Phillies pitching was terrible once again, although this time it was all on the starting pitcher, Jamie Moyer. The bullpen looked shaky, but they allowed only one run in their 6 innings of work. Tom Gordon managed to lower his ERA from 135.00 to 33.75 by pitching a scoreless ninth inning, although it took him battling out of a bases-loaded jam to get by unscathed.

Today's game could be the typical performance we are going to see from this Phillies team. They have bad pitching that will cause them to give up a ton of runs, but they have the offense to fight and claw their way back into games. It's been said many times, but all the Phillies need is to have league-average pitching, and, with their offense, they will be a contending team. Today was an example of a great offense overcoming the shortcomings of a weak pitching staff, but the game could have gone either way.

The Phillies will now go on the road for a three game series with the Reds that starts tomorrow. Kyle Kendrick will take the mound looking to prove his 2007 season wasn't a fluke, and the Reds will send out Josh Fogg.

Highlights of the game, featuring the Phillies new uniforms, from Comcast SportsNet: