Phillies Salvage A Game Against Brew Crew

Today's series finale game against the Milwaukee Brewers had disaster written all over it.

Cliff Lee started the top of the 1st by allowing a run on 3 singles. In the third the Brewers were able to tack on another run. Following a fielding error from Wilson Valdez, Ryan Braun was a 2 out base runner for Prince Fielder. Fielder laced a double to center field to score Braun from first and give the Brew Crew a 2-0 lead. Lee then gave up a cheap homerun to Johnathan Lucroy in the 4th a solo shot that just barely made it over the left field wall to put the Brewers up 3-0.

At the plate it looked early on as if the Phils were going to get shutout for the second consecutive game. Brewers pitcher Chris Narveson was making the Phils hitters look foolish. He was keeping his pitches down and getting the Phils to chase lousy pitches that were out of the zone and in the dirt. The Phils were also helping Narveson out by going up there and having quick lousy at bats. The Phils went down 1-2-3 in the first 3 innings.

Shane Victorino worked a walk in the 4th and was the first base runner of the game for the Phillies. Although Narveson had lost his perfect game he still maintained his no-hitter until the 5th when John Mayberry lined a double to left field. Carlos Ruiz lined out to second and Narveson still had his shutout in tact. Narveson was clearly still dealing, but after the 5th you just got a sense that the Phils offense was about to break out, and in the 6th inning they did just that.

Wilson Valdez led off the inning with a walk and Shane Victorino hit him over to third on a single to right field. Then Placido Polanco came up to bat. Surprisingly Placido swung at the first pitch something that is uncharacteristic for Pauly who typically will take the first pitch. After swinging and missing at the first 2 pitches, Polanco quickly found himself down in an 0-2 hole. Polanco took a couple pitches before lifting a high drive to left field. From where I was sitting, I knew that it was deep enough to at least score Valdez from third. But the ball kept carrying and carrying and eventually landed in the left field seats to tie the game at 3. After being down all afternoon, the Phils had tied the game with one swing of the bat.

From there, Kendrick came into the game in the 7th and pitched the scariest 1-2-3 inning I've ever seen. Every out was hit to the warning track, and I will have more to say on Kyle in the upcoming days. Madson then pitched a scoreless 8th and kept the game tied for the Phils going into the bottom of the inning. Shane Victorino led off the 8th with a solo blast to give the Phils a 4-3 lead. The homer was a shot to right center that I believe landed somewhere in the visiting bullpen.

Jose Contreras then came into the 9th in search of his 4th save of the year. Contreras struck out Mark Kotsay but then surrendered a single to Rickie Weeks. In the next at-bat Contreras got Gomez to pop out thanks in part to a great catch made by a redemption seeking Wilson Valdez. To end the game Contreras struck out Ryan Braun with Prince Fielder lurking on the on deck circle. Luckily, the Phils didn't have to face Fielder and were able to escape this series with a win.

The win puts the Phils at 11-6 as they head into a 4 game road weekend series against the San Diego Padres. Stay updated to the blog for a complete Phillies Padres preview as well as more analysis on your favorite Phillie Kyle Kendrick.