Thursday, May 8, 2008

Utley, Feliz lead Phillies over D-backs; Victorino shakes off scary collision

The Phillies were out-hit 13 to 7 by the Diamondbacks but they were able to make their hits count in a 5-4 win in Arizona. Pedro Feliz hit a two-run shot in the 7th inning and Chase Utley drove in the game winning run on a single in the 8th inning. On the pitching side, Kyle Kendrick gave up 10 hits in six innings but managed to only give up 3 runs. The bullpen was the story again tonight with J.C. Romero, Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge combining for 2 and 2/3rds innings of shutout ball after Ryan Madsen allowed a run in the 7th. Lidge picked up his 8th save and has still yet to allow an earned run on the season in 16 innings of work.

Those of you worried about Ryan Howard won't like his line tonight: 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. He is now on pace for 231 strikeouts. Howard also made some boneheaded plays in the field, including a ball he dropped on a double play attempt. Maybe Howard needs a 15 day vacation to get his mind off baseball for a while. His confidence has to be shot right now.

There was a scary moment in tonight's game. In the 8th inning, Shane Victorino struck out and Arizona catcher Chris Snyder dropped the ball, so Victorino took off for first. Snyder made a throw that D-backs first baseman Conor Jackson had to lunge forward for, forcing him to collide head to head with Victorino. Jackson took the worst of the hit and had to leave the game while Victorino shook it off and continued playing.

Here are "highlights" of the scary collision between Victorino and Jackson:

No comments: