33 games in 31 days: Game #7: The Phils lose to the Marlins in a walk-off bases loaded walk in fourteen innings, 5-4.

The Phils lose the ballgame in fourteen innings on a walk-off bases loaded walk to the Marlins, 5-4.

The Marlins took the lead in the first as, with a man on third, and with nobody out, Omar Infante hits an RBI single, scoring Emilio Bonifacio, who had started the inning off with a triple, giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead. The Phils tied the game up at one-all as, with two men on, and with one man out, Marlins’ third baseman Greg Dobbs committed a throwing error on a Roy Halladay sacrifice bunt, allowing Carlos Ruiz, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Wilson Valdez’s single, to score, while allowing Valdez, who had just singled, to reach third base, while Halladay would be safe at first. The Phils then took the lead two batters later as Michael Martinez hits an RBI single, scoring Valdez, while sending Halladay up to second base. The Marlins then tied the game up at two-all in the third as, with a runner on second base, and with two men on, Gaby Sanchez, who had earlier doubled, scored as Halladay committed a missed catch error on a grounder hit by Logan Morrison to Ryan Howard because he had broke off the mound late, and was thus unable to catch Howard’s throw to him. It looked like the Phils were starting to develop a rally in their half of the sixth as, with Howard on first, via a walk, and with nobody out, Hunter Pence hits a fly ball into deep right field that went off right fielder Bryan Peterson’s glove, and ended up being a double, placing Howard at third, as Pence stopped at second base. But Marlins’ skipper Jack McKeon asked for the play to be reviewed, claiming fan interference, which it was. Instead of telling him that the play could not be reviewed, since it had ended up being a double, and not a home run, as is stated by the rules on when instant reply could be used, the umpires, lead by Joe West, reviewed the play and called Pence out, claiming that Peterson may have been able to catch the ball if not for interference from the fan(s), while Howard was sent back to first base. Then Phils’ manager Charlie Manuel came out and tried to tell West that the umps should not have reviewed the play, as it was not used in the correct manner, but was not listened to by West, before being ejected. My take: the play, since it was not a home run, as it was called a double, should not have been reviewed, since it is only to be used to determine if a ball is a home run or not. Anyway, I’m afraid that this will open up a can of worm that MLB will only have itself to blame, as I’m sure that the Phils’ protest will be rejected, as the present day MLB is really reluctant to reprimand umps who make mistakes, and yes, this was a mistake. This would be immediately costly for the Phils as Raul Ibanez hits a double, which, instead of knocking in two runs, sent Howard back to third base. Ruiz is then walked to load up the bases, with one man out. The next batter, Valdez, then ended the threat by hitting into a 4-6-3 double play, wiping out Ruiz at second base. The Marlins then retook the lead in their half of the sixth as, with two men on, and with two men out, pinch hitter Jose Lopez hits an RBI single, knocking in Peterson, who had earlier singled, then stopped at second base on Jon Buck’s single, giving the Marlins a 3-2 lead, while sending Buck on to third base. The Phils then retook the lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with two men out, Howard hits a two-run single, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier walked, went to second on Martinez’s walk, before both runners moved up a base on Chase Utley’s ground out, 3-1, giving the Phils a 4-3 lead. The Marlins then tied up the game at four-all in their half of the seventh as, with runners on second and third, and with nobody out, Sanchez hits into a fielder’s choice ground out, 6-5, as Dobbs, who had earlier doubled, sending Infante, who had started the inning off with a walk, to third base, made a base running mistake by trying to go to third on the grounder, before he is tagged out by third baseman Martinez, for the inning’s first out, as Infante scored from third, while Sanchez was safe at first base. The game would stay tied until the bottom of the fourteenth, as the Phils develop no offense, while the Phils’ bullpen kept the Marlins off the scoreboard, especially David Herndon, who would get himself out of three straight bases loaded situations, after the game have gone into extra-innings. But, his luck would run out in the fourteenth inning, as the Marlins once again loaded the bases, via a walk to Bonifacio, who then moved up to second base on Infante’s sacrifice bunt, 1-4, for the inning’s first out, an intentional walk to Dobbs,  that was then followed by a lined out to left by Sanchez, for the inning’s second out, then an intentional walk to Morrison, moving up both runners, and with two men out, Mike Cameron walked, forcing in Bonifacio with the winning run, giving the Marlins a 5-4 walk-off win.

Roy Halladay received a no-decision as he went six innings, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on nine hits and a walk, while striking out four. Michael Schwimer committed his second blown save of the year as he pitched an inning, giving up a run on one hit and three walks, while striking out two. Brad Lidge and Michael Stutes combined for three scoreless innings, giving up two hits (one hit each) and a walk (Stutes), while striking out five (Lidge (1), Stutes (4)) between them. David Herndon (1-3, 3.83) would take the lost as he went three and two-thirds innings, giving up a run on four hits and seven walks. Anibal Sanchez also received a no-decision as he pitched sixth innings, giving up two unearned runs on six hits and three walks, as he struck out five. Burke Badenhop recorded his fourth hold of the year as he pitched a third of an inning, giving up two runs on two walks, striking out a batter.  Michael Dunn blew his three save opportunity of the season as he pitched two-third of an inning, giving up a hit. Edward Mujica, Leo Nunez, Jose Ceda and Steve Cishek combined for five scoreless innings, giving up three hits (Mujica (1), Cishek (2)) and two walks (Ceda (1), Cishek (1)), while striking out two (Nunez (1), Cishek (1)) between them. Clay Hensley (3-6, 5.34) got the win as he pitched two 1-2-3 innings, striking out a batter.

The Phils had ten hits in the ballgame, with Michael Martinez (Single, Double, RBI), Ryan Howard (Singles, 2 RBIs) and Raul Ibanez (Single, Double) all leading the team with two hits each. Shane Victorino (Single), Carlos Ruiz (Single), Wilson Valdez and Placido Polanco had the other four Phils’ hits. The other Phil run came in on a throwing error.

The Phils (88-48, 1st) will start a three-game series with the Braves (82-57, 2nd) with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cliff Lee (15-7, 2.59), who is coming off a win against the Reds on August 31, as he went eight and two-thirds innings, giving up six hits and a walk, while striking out seven, in the Phils’ 3-0 win. Lee will be going for his sixteenth win of the year, while trying to start off the series with a win. The Braves will counter with Derek Lowe (9-12, 4.52), who is coming off a win against the Nats on August 31, as he went six innings, giving up a run on three hits and two walks, while striking out six, in the Braves’ 3-1 win. He will be out to add to the Phils’ present losing streak. The Phils will be out to see if they can put the NL East away for good with a series win against the Braves.