On the Philadelphia Phillies’ most chaotic day of the season, where they traded Shane Victorino to the LA Dodgers and Hunter Pence to the San Francisco Giants, Cliff Lee (2-6) dismissed all trade rumors by throwing 7 scoreless innings, driving in a run, stealing a base, and scoring on Jimmy Rollins’ inside-the-park home run. Lee allowed five hits and one walk and struck out seven, which snapped the Phils’ three game losing streak.
Stephen Strasburg (11-5), one who isn’t going anywhere for a while, allowed a season-high 6 runs while striking out just three in four innings of work.
Cliff Lee would do anything to get his second win, including running the bases (photo courtesy of MLB).
With his team up 3-0 in the fourth, Lee helped his own cause by driving in John Mayberry Jr. on a single to right. To help himself a little more, he stole second—his second steal of his career—before scoring on Rollins’ inside-the-parker.
Rollins blasted the ball over Bryce Harper, Washington’s young phenom who was already having a bad day, and onto the wall. Harper crashed into the fence and the ball rolled into no-man’s land before Harper, who had little chance of throwing the speedy Rollins out, recovered the ball. Fortunately for the Nats, Harper was not injured on the play.
On a day when the Phils’ front office conceded its sixth straight division title with their selling attitude, the team rallied together to show a little of the domination they’ve exhibited over the last five seasons. If only they could play like that every game.
Kevin Frandsen, who was called up in response to Placido Polanco’s latest stint on the 15-Day DL, started the scoring by sending a two-run homer to center field. Juan Pierre also swiped two bases on two consecutive pitches in the third.
It was the season debut for Phillies maligned prospect Domonic Brown, who previously spent time in the minors for the past two seasons. Brown, ranked as the number one prospect for the Phillies, singled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning but was stranded.
