Chad Durbin walked two, then gave up the winning hit to Paul Bako in a 4-3 loss to the Reds today. Durbin’s bad performance came after a strong job by Adam Eaton, who is trying to reclaim his position for good in the Phillies rotation.
Eaton pitched 7.2 innings, struggling in the first two before settling in for a wonderful five in the middle. He surrendered six hits while walking four — most of the troubles coming in his first two innings and final two-thirds. A Corey Patterson home run ended his day and tied the game. The good Tom Gordon struck out Brandon Phillips to end a Red threat in the eighth.
The offense capitalized on some opportunities, but came up short with others. A Greg Dobbs strikeout with the bases jammed and two outs was a complete mismatch — Dobbs looked lost with fireballing Aaron Harang throwing him three consecutive outside fastballs. Chase Utley and Pat Burrell came through in spots — both with doubles — to tie the game. Ryan Howard mashed a bomb to center field to give the Phils the lead, but Eaton couldn’t hold it.
Eaton pitched well — if there’s anything to take out of this, Eaton pitched well. You can question Charlie Manuel’s decision to leave Eaton in the game to pitch to Patterson, but there’s no reason to — Patterson hit eight homers last season; he’s not a threat. He just muscled the pitch out. Durbin was the right move in the ninth, but he didn’t have it today. To be short, a well-deserved win by the Reds, and one that just got away for the Phils.
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