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As I mentioned yesterday, Balls, Sticks, & Stuff will be hosting an open thread/chatter with the authors and readers of Get Up, Baby! (not to be confused with "American Baby" from Stand Up) and Cardnilly. In other words, clear your schedules and properly represent Phillies Phandom.
First Pitch - 7:05 EST / 6:05 CST
For an idea of what to expect, see Cardnilly's comprehensive series preview.
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Pregame: I had to run out to Chipotle for a Chicken Burrito. I had planned on grilling a dog or two real quick, but I discovered the grill was out of gas. Oh well, I'll just "settle" for Chipotle. According to Scott from Cardnilly, Utley is in the lineup tonight batting fifth. Me likee. Almost as much as Chipotle.
Top 1st - We're under way, Eckstein pops up for the first out. Only 26 more. As it turns out, Ryan Howard did not start for this game because of an injury -- pulled a hammy -- during batting practice. Great. This Phillies team is a M*A*S*H* unit...As for the actual game, Lieber's recent control issues aren't gone yet as he walks two in a row (pitch arounds to a certain extent?) but escapes the half inning unscathed.
Bottom 1st - JRoll leads off with a K on a big curve from Carpenter...Endy, K...Abreu takes a intentional unintentional BB...Pat the Bat, BB...Now Dirt steps in...Yadier Molina, the catcher picks off Pat the Bat With No Legs at first, leaning the wrong way. After one, score is nil, nil.
Top 2nd - Gudzeeahlanick strikes out looking, he's ticked, and it was low, but I'll take it...Molina singles thru the left side of the infield, passed a diving/flopping Bell...Chris "The Phreaking Pitcher" Carpenter singles over the mound and up the middle...Eck grounds out to Bell for the third out...Still nuttin, nuttin.
Bottom 2nd - Fairly uneventful half inning...still nil, nil.
Top 3rd - Walker, BB...Pujols 2-run HR, 2-0 Cardinals...Mabry swinging K...Grdndzlank singles...Abraham Nunez, BB...Has anyone seen Lieber's control? Where did it go?...Yadier Molina homers, 5-0 Cardinals...Carpenter grounds out...
Bottom 3rd - C'mon Phils!...First half of the Lieberbattery K's...So does the second...and Edmonds makes a half great/half hot dogging catch for the third out at the wall.
Top 4th - Eck, Walker, and Pujols go one two three.
Bottom 4th - Endy grounds out to the right again [can he go the other way at all? he was all "pull" in that at-bat]...Abreu goes down...Burrell swings at a pitch that could have hit him, but passes on one down the middle. Still 5-0 Cards.
Top 5th - Edmonds singles to left...Mabry swinging bunt, Lieby fields it and throws it away, Mabry advances to second, Edmonds to third...Grudz singles up the middle to score a run, 6-0 Cards, and in comes Geoff Geary...The Cards get another one, 7-0 Cards, before the inning finally ends.
Bottom 5th - Utley, F7...Bell pulls one down the thirdbase line for a double...Lieby K's with a man on second, the firs time since his 7.5 million dollar option kicked in, and the inning ends, 7-0.
Top 6th - The Phillies are just bad. Earlier in the game, Edmonds makes a great play in centerfield, taking on the wall, mano-a-wallo, while in this inning, Burrell and Chavez miscommunicate and shy away from the wall...Grudz hits one over the head of Chavez to drive in a run, 8-0 Cards when the final out is recorded.
Bottom 6th - Offerman, pinch-hitting for Geary, gets a single over Grudzalahnk, who is probably tired from running the bases and fielding the 20,934 groundballs the Phillies have hit to him...Rollins singles too!...Carpenter pounds Chavez with one fastball inside after another, and then decides to take one for a strike (borderline) for a K -- Can we have a do-over on the trade?...Bobby Abreu!!! Three Run HomeRun!!!...Burrell takes a walk, Carpenter may be a bit stunned, like when Drago took that first punch from Rocky, because he was cruising...Utley, fielders choice, Burrell to the dugout...At the end of 6, it's 8-3 Cardinals.
Top 7th - Tejeda is in to pitch and K's Yadier Molina on high heat...LaRussa shows why he is a genius by using him to pinch-hit, grounds out...Tejeda hits Wee David Eckstein and then walks Roger Cedeno to set the table for Pujols...Good for Tejeda, he K's Pujols, which doesn't happen very often. 8-3.
Bottom 7th - Let's! Go! Phils! Lieby lines out, L7, to Tso Tso Taguchi...Phils go down in order. Grudz gets his seventh assist of the game and it is only the 7th inning.
Top 8th - Tejeda faces four batters, without surrendering a run. The kid looks OK. [They'll screw him up somehow.]
Bottom 8th - Chavez is up, and ESPN announcer is willing to be that he will ground out to second base. Me too. He does hit it in the direction of Grudzeeahlahnik, but it is thirty feet in the air and rising when it does, and Chavez gets a stand up double. I almost wish he didn't do that, it will only encourage him to pull everything else for the rest of the year. Bobby A-Bomb Abreu steps in...and only lines a single to right, Chavez advances only to third because of the way the ball was hit...Pitching change: Julian Crazy Tavares comes in, him and the Philly phans might have some phun...With men on first and third with no outs, and PattheBat hits a 6-4-3 GDP, which scores Chavez, 8-4 Cards...Chase Utley hits what is originally called a homer, but it is overturned as a double, and the Boos are big, and since I am watching on ESPN, I missed this...Bell foul pops to the catcher. 8-4. I think I had grandchildren during that inning. Am I still just shy of 32? Or am I 72 now?
Top 9th - Cards go 1 2 3 for Tejeda, who gets what we can assume are the final 9 outs for the Cardinals. Not bad at all [They'll screw him up.]
Bottom 9th - Down to the last three outs...Isringhausen in to semi-close it out...Jason Michaels pinch hitting in the seventh spot, the pitchers spot, and manages a BB...Lieby pops up in the infield and before the ball even reaches its apex, the Boos begin...Offerman flies out to Tso Tso Taguchi...and with just one out to spare, JRoll steps in, and lines it up the middle...Which brings up Chavez, he needs to get on base so we see Bobby Abreu one more time tonight...And it nearly hits him, he walks!!! Bobby Abreu at the plate with the bases loaded, he can tie it up!
But he strikes out with a bunch of breaking balls.
Final score, 8-4...Turned out to be a good game in the end after all...
Thanks for coming by Cardinals fans! [And you too Enrico]
