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Difference Between Sad Loss And Good Win Is A Pinch

For a second consecutive night the offense played possum; luckily, Greg Dobbs didn’t.Â The all-world pinch hitter â€” carrying a .345 average going into tonight’s game â€” drove home Pedro Feliz with a ninth-inning single to win the game for the Phillies, 1-0.

The win went to Tom Gordon, who pitched a scoreless eighth. Brad Lidge was grimy in striking out Jesus Flores and Wily Mo Pena, but walked two before getting Felipe Lopez to eagerly ground one out to end it. Cole Hamels pitched another gem, going seven innings and giving up four hits and two walks while striking out 11, tying his season high. Hamels has now thrown 19-consecutive scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.61.

It’s a shame he couldn’t get the win. The Phils left 14 men on base. Was it Jason Bergmann, who pitched seven shutout innings and induced a slew of infield and foul pop outs? He pitched well, mixing up his stuff and keeping the Phils guessing, but come on, Bergmann is no Tim Redding.

Shane Victorino couldn’t get the job done in the eighth, flying out with a runner in scoring position. Chase Utley also faltered in a key spot. Ryan Howard struck out three more times, giving him 68 strikeouts in 197 plate appearances. That’s a strikeout in every 2.9 plate appearances. Pat Burrell continued his slide and is now at .278. The entire offense is dead.

Except for Dobbs â€” thank God.

Associated Press photo

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.