Diamondbacks 3, Phillies 4: Phailure in Philadelphia

As Jim noted in his 2013 obituary, we've really gotten to a point in the season that we may as well be stat-watching for our own players as we look towards next year instead of scoreboard-watching as many of us hoped and/or expected to be doing in late August. After struggling mightily through his first 15 starts, Wade Miley really has turned it around lately, so he's one of those players to keep an eye on as we run out of things to play for -- how would he fare against Cole Hamels, another pitcher that's performed much more admirably as of late?

The answer is... well enough. It wasn't a particularly great start, as Miley gave up three runs over six innings, but it was enough to keep his team in the game (it was also a quality start, albeit barely). The Phillies runs came off of a solo shot from Darin Ruf in the second and a two-run double from Carlos Ruiz in the sixth, but past that, things weren't really all that bad.

The Diamondbacks supported Miley with three runs of their own, as Martin Prado continued his solid hitting with a two-run double -- his 27th of the season -- in the fourth. Matt Davidson singled home Prado later in the inning, but that would be the end of the scoring on the night for Arizona. It was just one of those nights, I suppose.

After Miley exited the game, the Dbacks turned to JJ Putz. While he retired all three batters he faced in the seventh, he attempted to barehand a Kevin Frandsen ground ball up the middle, dislocating his right pinky finger in the process. He now heads back to the disabled list, just in the off-chance our season needed some more bad news.

After Putz, Joe Thatcher came in to face Chase Utley and Domonic Brown; while he managed to get Utley to flyout, Domonic Brown singled, meaning it was time to turn to Bell to face the right-handed Chooch Ruiz. The rest of the game, really can be described as "Bell-esque" -- Ruiz singled, then Ruf singled, then John Mayberry struck out to end the threat. Ok, so we barely escaped. Maybe we see Ziegler, who labored in the previous game, instead of Bell for the ninth?

Nope. The Dbacks failed to plate any runners in the top half of the ninth, and Bell trotted out to pitch the bottom half. Cody Asche singled. Jimmy Rollins singled. Michael Young was walked to get to Kevin Frandsen and set up the force at home, and Eury De La Rosa was brought in. Bases loaded, one down, tie game, bottom nine.

De La Rosa walked Chase Utley on a 3-2 breaking pitch that fell just a bit too inside, giving the Phillies their third consecutive walk-off win (stole that from MLB Network), and the Diamondbacks their second consecutive loss. The Reds lost, though, guys, so we got hope.

As the season progresses, I grow further from following every game and grow closer to spending my free time reading about Breaking Bad theories. If you don't watch it, well, you made some poor choices in your life. As for the GDT, I can't get the roll call tool working, so everyone's a winner, congratulations. I also couldn't see any green comments, so I cherry-picked a winner. Congrats shoe, you win because you're feeling as negative as me tonight:

I cant decide if i feel apathetic about this

Or if i just dont care anymore.

by shoewizard on Aug 23, 2013 | 4:19 PM up reply rec flag actions

We'll try to even up the series in Philly tomorrow, sending Randall Delgado to face Ethan Martin, a pitcher I admittedly have never heard of. Maybe we can win that one?