Huge! Phils Top Braves, Claim First Place

Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, September 16, 2008 11:29 PM

With 11 games to play, the Phillies are back in first place in the National League East.

Ryan Howard swatted a mega-clutch two-run home run with a 3-2 count and two out in the eighth to deliver the Phillies an 8-7 win over the Braves. It was Howard’s 45th homer of the season. It was off the Braves closer, the left-handed Mike Gonzalez. It was his fourth hit of the game. And his second and third RBI. Most valuable player?

Let’s start in the beginning. The Phils jumped out to the lead thanks to a Chase Utley RBI double and Jayson Werth two-run homer. Starter Jamie Moyer coughed up the lead, but the Phils got it back with a Carlos Ruiz solo moonshot. Moyer cruised until the sixth, when he walked a few and let up a game-tying groundout. His exit brought in Chad Durbin, who again couldn’t hold the damage. The Braves skated out to a 7-4 lead.

But there’s no denying these guys. The Phils climbed back in the seventh, thanks to a Howard triple and Shane Victorino single. Things weren’t looking good in the eighth, but Werth walked, bringing up Howard and a pitching change for Gonzalez. Bad move.

Ryan Madson was fantastic, going two strong and striking out three. He bridged it for Brad Lidge, who had our fingernails bleeding. Somehow he escaped, whiffing Gregor Blanco after walking the bases loaded and exhausting 33 pitches. It was his 37th save in as many chances, and his biggest yet as a Phillie.

When the chips seemed down, Howard stepped up. Even that sounds like an understatement. Hitting .396 in September, Howard is residing on another planet, single-handedly carrying this team to the promised land. And on the perfect night — the Mets were blanked by the Nationals; the Brewers lost a thriller to the Cubs; the Astros were held down by the Marlins. Get this statement down your throat: The Phillies are a half-game up in the NL East and a full game up on the second-place team in the NL Wild Card standings.

Associated Press photo

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43 Responses to “Huge! Phils Top Braves, Claim First Place”

  1. NEPA Says:
    September 16th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

    Just unbelievable.

  2. Fran Says:
    September 16th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

    did anyone else just let out a giant and loud YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH after brad lidge struck him out?

  3. Jeffrey Says:
    September 16th, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    @ Fran
    Yeah, and I have to sore throat to prove it. I regret nothing.

  4. Phils2008 Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 12:16 am

    loving it!!! I get to see Hamels face off with Hampton

  5. Phighter Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 12:44 am

    Ryan Howard, MVP. I agree. Has anyone meant more to their playoff-bound team down the stretch this year? If memory serves, Rollins didn’t make the All-Star team last year and won it. This should happen again. Who cares about .250. 45 HRs and 136 RBI — he may well end up with 50. Again. He is willing this team into the playoffs.

  6. Phil Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 2:31 am

    Howard and Rollins are just beasts down the stretch. They become totally different players. They have to be 2 of the best stretch players ever. Can anyone check stats on that?

  7. Go Eagles Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 2:37 am

    All you idiots need to start following the only sport that people care about in Philadelphia – football, of course.

    The Phillies are going nowhere. They will either not make the playoffs or lose in the first round.

  8. Christian Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 2:40 am

    This is unbelievable. It’s amazing how things can change so quickly in baseball. And you know what I smell? I smell Mets vs. Phillies NLCS. It has to happen. The baseball gods have intervened and have made the Brewers go into the toilet. The Wild Card is going to come out of the NL East, mark my words.

  9. christopher Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 3:52 am

    great night of baseball all around. i love the atmosphere this time of year. let’s keep that momentum rolling!

  10. J-Man Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 4:08 am

    Go Eagles-Eagles suck Andy Reid and McNabb always find a way to choke…All them NFC title games and they didn’t do squat but go to one Super Bowl and choke there.

  11. Joey Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 4:52 am

    Ryan Howard is thee most feared hitter in baseball right now.I can’t believe they are still pitching to him. But maybe it’s because the Brave are out of it I don’t know but if they were smart they wouldn’t let him beat them. But thank GOD he is ours.

  12. Ax Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 6:13 am

    Go Eagles- Go find an Eagles blog and complain how the eagles just lost a close one. This site is for a team going somewhere, Go Phils! Howard for MVP in 2008.

  13. NJ Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 7:04 am

    1 word… HOW? How can we lead the division after the season we’ve had…? How can Howard be an MVP candidate after the season we’ve had…? How can all the teams around us be fading again…? Just how? Philly teams aren’t lucky so HOW??

  14. Rob Cowie Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 7:20 am

    I don’t know why a minority of eagles fans find it nessessary to trash the phillies or the other teams when football season starts. This happens a lot and you know it does if you listen to 610 a lot. It probably will remain a mystery up there with why fans wear eagles stuff to the phils game but no one ever wears phils stuff to an eagles game.

  15. TJ Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 7:52 am

    Wow! Things suddenly look awesome for the Phils. Six teams, the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins, and the Brewers, Astros and Cardinals are in contention for two spots. Of these, only the Phillies (7-3 for the last ten, 5 straight wins) and Marlins (7-3, 6 wins) are winning right now, and the Fish are 5 and a half back. The other four teams are fading; the Mets (4-6, 3 losses, endless injuries) look good in the Wild Card only because of who’s trailing them: the Brewers (2-8, 5 losses), the Astros (6-4, 3 losses), and the Cardinals (2-8, 6 losses). If the Phils keep playing with intensity, even assuming they drop a few to inconsistent pitching, it’s hard to see two of those teams catching them.

    I keep reading about Hamels pitching the last day of the season. It’s great at this point that we’ve set that up, but honestly, I hope to see Eaton pitch the last day. By which I mean, I hope we’ve locked up the East by then and Eaton can fill a spot before going home for the post season – leaving Hamels fresh for the playoffs. Should we get greedy and hope for two throw-away games the last two days? Kendrick-Eaton to clean up the regular season and Meyers-Hamels to open up the playoffs? It’s not unreasonable, and I like our chances in any five game series if that happens.

  16. Theo1980 Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am

    Was Eaton warming up the bullpen catcher?

  17. Mike D. Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Howard was unreal last night. Certainly reminded me of him down the stretch two years ago when he won MVP even though they missed the playoffs because they choked vs. the Nats. I hope that doesn’t happen again this year.

    Utley had some good cuts last night even though they were outs. Hopefully this is a good sign he may be coming out of the 3 month non-chase like slump he is in.

    Burrell was just awful with 5k’s. I can’t see any team giving him more than 10-12 million per year this off season.

    I am still waiting for this team to fire on all cylinders.

  18. Gavin Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

  19. Gavin Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 8:36 am

    Fear the Fish…..

  20. Tim L Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Um, aren’t the Phillies and Eagles located in the same city? If you’re a fan of one, shouldn’t you be a fan of the other? What’s with the Eagles fans trashing the Phillies and vice versa?

    I personally would love nothing more than to see the Phils win it all and see the Iggles win the Super Bowl. Not sure why anyone in Philly would root against that scenario.

    Great time to be a fan!

  21. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am

    Football is different. I hate the eagles. Like some of the players, but the franchise is a loser, arrogant, evil franchise. They do business like theyre the government. Anyone that acts like that in pro sports deserves what they get: ZERO superbowl championships. they can go to hell as far as im concerned.

    I actually dont consider the eagles part of phildelphia. theyre shoved down your throat because all NFL is shoved down your throat in every city. the difference is in pittsburgh and elsewhere with a LEGIT tradition there is already a football culture.

    I feel that in this city a lot of the football culture is artificial and recent.

  22. Dave Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:26 am

    With eleven games to play i think we need to win at least 8 for the east and at least 6 for the wild card. Both are very do-able, so hopefully our boys will get it done and maybe we can have a meaningful parade down broad, not for some shitty team that doesn’t matter.

  23. Georgie Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:33 am

    Football fans by nature are more agressive and macho-like, so of course they would feel the need to belittle baseball fans. I am generalizing, but a little observation of both teams’ fans is the proof. When I was at PSU in the 70’s, half the kids were from Philly, the other from Pittsburgh area. Every Sunday the Steeler fans would have big rallies and go all over campus with signs and stuff, but I never saw that with Eagles fans. Steeler fans are completely obcessed with their team and always have been, and they drove me nuts back then.

  24. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Yeah those are real football fans. When I lived there it was basically illegal to NOT watch the steeler game on sundays.

  25. Buffalophilsfan Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:36 am

    This is Phillies Nation … enough of the Eagles talk.

    My take on last night … Howard was obviously huge and he is seeing the ball right out of the pitchers hand. You can tell when he is locked in as he tracks the pitch right into the catcher’s glove. Early in the season when he was whiffing so much he was flailing away at those sliders down and away from lefties. Now he just watches them go by and gets ahead in the count. When that happens and they have to come in to him … look out!!

    With that being said, I am very concerned about the major hole we have in the 5th spot. Teams have got to start pitching around Ryan to get to Burrell. He is painful to watch at the plate right now. Cholly has got to adjust the lineup somehow. I think putting Werth in the 5 spot to protect Howard and sliding Vic back to the top of the order might work. Or better yet, just sit Burrell down against righties and play Stairs in right and move Werth to left where he will be playing everyday next year anyhow. If Burrell remains in the 5-spot we are going to pay for it sooner than later.

    And how about Ryan Madson?? He was freekin’ dealing last night. He was spotting a 95-mph fastball and mixing in that nasty change. Durbin’s arm looks tired the past few weeks … but Madson has been electric. Madson, Romero and Eyre have to be the bridge to get to Lidge. And Brad, try to make it a little easier on my heart. I am having Mitch Williams flashbacks lately.

  26. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:42 am

    You need a better 5-hole hitter right now. If burrell cant do the job youve got to shuffle the lineup. maybe, hmm, maybe werth…but i see werth as someone to hit 1,2 or 3. Burrell cant be our 5-hole hitter next year if he is this inconsistent. you need a steady force in the 5-hole to drive in the runs that howard misses.

  27. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:43 am

    Now everyone is on Burrell..i cant disagree. why would you want him here at all next year for all that money if he cant move and hes not consistent?

  28. Georgie Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:49 am

    If the Phils get in the playoffs, I can’t wait to see this board, people will be FREAKING OUT. I just discovered this site maybe a month ago, and it’s great to have a place to vent, knowing there are others out there just as frantic as I am at times. For those of you who weren’t around in 1980, if you think these games are tough, wait until they get deep into the postseason, it is gut-wrenching, hand-sweating, heart palpitating, and sheer joy!

  29. Todd Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 9:58 am

    Geoff… the best thing to do is be a fan of another city’s team. I’m a NYer and a phils fan, also a redskins fan. I get to ignore all of the media and idiot townie bullshit, but get to enjoy every other aspect of the sport.

  30. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:09 am

    Thats what I did with the eagles. I removed myself from any emotional attachment to the team. The people that call in on the radio and get all worked up about the eagles are an embarrassment. like seriously…your football team hasnt won anything since the league became its full self…get over it, move on. I actually prefer to watch the steelers when the nfl is on since i lived there for all those years..

    baseball and hockey are sitll phidelphia all the way, and i dont really care about the nba. so im not as stressed as your typical philly fan because i removed the nfl from the equation. if they win a SB..good, fine, but they probably wont so why dont we all just watch the phillies and the flyers?

  31. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    the idiot townie bullshit is so annoying for the eagles too. WIP is unlistenable in the mornings and afternoons during the week ALL YEAR AROUND…i still own my TO Eagles jersey, I didnt bury it or throw it away or burn it like the rest of those idiots. When they kicked him out, tahts when they really lost me. Because they were basically saying: we dont want to win, PERIOD.

  32. Richie Allen Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:24 am

    Howard,Werth Rollins,Ruiz,etc….Lots of successful play yesterday..They had great games….
    But ,the most impressive effort I saw was from Madson.

    I cant say He has pitched like that EVER..Wow…Where did that command come from?They couldnt touch him..

    And it couldnt come at a better time…

  33. NEPA Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:28 am

    Richie, don’t forget about Victorino’s solid game as well.

  34. mike m Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am

    Geoff when the phillies don’t resign howard or hamels. will you feel the same way. I believe both owners the phillies and eagles just don’t get it on how to win. Jerry jones has five superbowel and he sold his soul with the recent additions. But he is out to win, He has round the clock body guards for tank, and owens. plus the corner back can’t think of his name how much is that costing him.

  35. Georgie Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 10:48 am

    Geoff, I completely agree with that, i was SO pissed off when they let T.O. go, apparently Andy and/or Donovan couldn’t deal with his “unique personality” so just forget the fact that he was a big factor in getting the team to the SB. DON”T get me started on the Eagles and T.O., my blood is starting to boil already, I’ll stop now.

  36. Richie Allen Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 11:19 am

    NEPA …absolutely,,Victorino was tremendous too..But I couldnt believe it was the same Madson.

  37. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Well, howard is different. Baseball is different. contracts are guaranteed. In the last season of hsi team control, if they arent going to keep howard, theyll trade him. Ill be pissed if they DONT get a lot for him when they do trade him.

    for hamels, he hasnt entered arbitration yet. its actuallyt still too early to tell if he is even durable enough. making it through this season will help taht notion.

    but, for the sake of argument, lets say that hamels stays healthy and productive through the early arb years, then yes, you HAVE to sign him to an extension. guys like hamels usualy blow their elbows or arms out and miss an entire season anyway…so lets see how durable he is first.

    in baseball with star players and philadelphia ownership, you have to either get something for your stars or resign them to extensions. theres none of this “letting them walk.” HOWEVER, they failed to resign burrell and they failed to trade him at the deadline, but im not going to be pissed when burrell walks. same with the nhl, the flyers signed carter, richards, and coburn to contract extensions, and many of their star players arent going anywhere for YEARS….

    the nfl isnt a trade-friendly league, so its dkind of different. and since you can rip up contracts overnight and make new ones theres NO reason to let TO get away and get out of control.

    in baseball, your investment is guaranteed to the player so you have to be more cautious.

  38. Richie Allen Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am

    Hey Georgie ..I was around in 1980 and before that..I know exactly what you mean..but there is nothing like it..
    Like last night when Lidge was in…I swear, there are no words to explain the nervousness..But on the other hand its great too.
    I just wouldnt want to be a mets fan right now.

  39. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 11:30 am

    but the eagles PERMANENTLY lost me as a fan when they screwed up the TO situation. that team was a 2-3 superbowl ring team and they let it break up and degbenerate. its a diferent team now.

    the ONLY way for it to be permissable for me to EVER be an eagles fan again is if the ownership group changes. then you get a fresh start, and its ok to CONSIDER coming back.

  40. Dennis Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 11:43 am

    The Phront-runners are out in full force today! What was that “Doors” song again Tim? You know the one you were singing last week cause the Phillies season was over?

  41. Geoff Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Frontrunners? I STILL want to get rid of Jimmy Rollins. All Rollins did by playing well was increase his trade value.

    Yet, I would openly release him and buyout his contract and move on if you cant find someone to take him. I mean, hey, Id rather trade him for some shitty prospects that will never amount to anything as opposed to keeping him around. Screw that guy, who cares about his defense. who cares about his fake mvp numbers. hes a fraud and a disgrace STILL.

    The people that call other fans frontrunners are low-level trash that feeds off the scraps that the organization provides for them.

  42. Dennis Says:
    September 17th, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Yes Geoff, you got it! I’m low level trash…..
    And who said anything about Jimmy Rollins? I was joking around because you know everyone was one here last week getting ready to jump off the Walt Whitman. All you do is come on here and start with people cause your a piece of shit! Only your opinion matters to you and you know what I think? “Opinions are like assholes…”, you know how it goes cause you are an asshole. You’re probably are one of the fools always on here screaming to trade Ryan Howard….Why don’t you get a life? You probably don’t even live in this area…

  43. franck muller Says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 8:16 am

    Once again an excellent written post from you. Keep it up!

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