Late night action: Phillies comeback falls short against Manny, Dodgers

(Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

I don't blame you if you turned off the TV after L.A. scored 6 runs in the 3rd inning in a late west coast game, but the Phillies actually made things interesting before falling 8-6 to Manny and the Dodgers.

Kyle Kendrick got hit all over the park in his 3 and 1/3rd innings, giving up 9 hits and 7 runs in an ugly outing. Considering how good Kendrick looked in his last three starts, giving up only 3 runs in 18 and 2/3rds innings, today's appearance was a letdown. After Kendrick got pulled, Les Walrond and Clay Condrey pitched the remainder of the game and fared pretty well. They each allowed a bunch of baserunners, but combined they only gave up one run. In all, the Dodgers got 23 runners on base (16 hits and 7 walks), so it's really a miracle the Phillies didn't give up more runs.

Offensively, the Phils took a while to get going, but they managed to eek out a few runs late in the game to give themselves a shot at winning. They were down 8-4 heading into the 9th and managed to load the bases, thanks to some great hustle by Shane Victorino to beat out a slow chopper up the middle. Chase Utley then doubled in a pair of runs to cut the deficit to 2 runs, but Ryan Howard failed to drive in any more runs and the Phillies lost the game.

The Dodgers big problem all year had been scoring runs, but since their recent acquisition of Manny Ramirez, they have become a much better team with the bats. Manny went 2 for 3, drove in a pair of runs, walked twice and scored a run on the night. He continues to destroy National League pitching at a .475 clip and electrifies the ballpark every time he steps to the plate. Sigh, he would have looked good in that Phillie line-up.