Let us examine the latest Phillies performance last night in Cinncinatti: The starting pitching was solid, the offense was mostly absent and the bullpen blew the game in the 8th inning, resulting in a loss. Sound like a familiar scenario? It should; that describes most of the 2012 season. Ugh.
Is this Déjà vu or Déjà voodoo? Has someone or something cast a sleepy spell over this team for the second consecutive year? It is like Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs in the bullpen passing the cursed apple around to the rest of the team. If the drowsy Phils are waiting for Prince Charming to deliver true love’s kiss and wake them up, they may be waiting for quite a long time…
Because if Chase Utley’s 2 run bomb to tie the game up in the 8th inning wasn’t enough to light a fire under this team, I cannot imagine what would be enough. Or how about Cliff Lee’s gutsy performance after a very weird 7th inning? He wound up only allowing 2 runs in 7 innings, which is a pretty good day.
And then there was the amazing, stupendous, brain-warping, Superman catch that Ben Revere made earlier in the game. Nearly everyone on the team starred in awe as Revere flew through the air backwards and nearly horizontal to snag this ball. He even had the presence of mind to throw the ball in to double up the runner, even after smashing face first into the ground after the catch.
Still, this team could not rally late in the game. They had only 5 hits total on the night. Both Jeremy Horst and Mike Adams struggled in the 8th, allowing 2 more runs to the Reds who had also had difficulty finding hits early in the game.
Worse, the Reds came into this game on a 5-game losing streak. The Phillies should have crushed them. Instead, they went down in flames, losing by a score of 4-2. Their offense has been on the Most Wanted list for 4 straight games now. No one seems to know where it went.
Meanwhile, the Braves still only have 1 loss (to the Phils, oddly enough) and the Fightins’ are lurking near the bottom of the NL East in 4th place. Ok, it is only April, I know…still, this team needs to WAKE UP!
Perhaps I am being a little rough on the team here. But it is easier to be angry about a silly baseball game than have to think about what a sad day it was yesterday. Although Monday was Jackie Robinson day, sadly, this was overshadowed by the tragedy in Boston earlier that day. So while I am in the mood to rant, can I just say, what is with these freaking psychopaths bombing innocent people?? I am outraged, as are the rest of the sane to mostly-sane people of the world.
My heart goes out to all the people affected by this senseless act of evil. I wish I had better words to convey my sympathies. But all I can think is sad, sad, sad… :O(
Photo courtesy of ESPN.com