That John Denver's full of. . .
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That John Denver's full of. . .
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The city of Denver is used to stunning reversals of fortune. In 1893, the sudden plummeting of silver prices plunged one of America's economic hubs into a depression. In 1970, the city was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics only to see voters force the games elsewhere after voting down the public dollars required to fund them. And who can forget 1994, when two good samaritans named Lloyd and Harry set out for Colorado hoping to re-unite a woman with her lost luggage only to find the Rocky Mountains slightly less rockier than they were led to believe. They had no food. They had no jobs. And their pets heads were falling off.
Over the last couple of years, such misfortune has filtered onto the baseball diamond on Blake Street whenever the Phillies are in town. Last night, John Mayberry's two-run home run tied the game with two out in the ninth and Shane Victorino's solo shot off Rex Brothers in the 10th gave the victories their latest stunning victory in the Mile High City.
The victory was the fourth time in the Phillies' last six games in Colorado in which they scored a winning run in their final at-bat. That doesn't include last September's victory, when they overcame a four-run deficit by scoring nine runs in seventh, then held on as Colorado scored four more runs before finally giving in for a 12-11 Phillies win. It does include last at-bat victories in Games 3 and 4 of the 2009 National League Division Series, when Huston Street picked up two losses.
Oh, and the Rockies' only win during that stretch came courtesy of a walk-off home run by Miguel Olivo off Chad Durbin to lead off the ninth last May.
So in the last six games the Phillies have played in Colorado, five have featured a last at-bat victory, and the sixth featured 23 runs and a come-from-behind Phillies win.
For the first eight innings of last night's edition, the Phillies couldn't find a way to capitalize. Victorino was thrown out at home on a two-out double by Chase Utley. Even after his game-winning home run, Victorino was exasperated with himself on the play. He said he did not mistakenly think that Utley's ball was headed out of the yard. He wasn't quite sure what happened.
All he knew, he said, was, "I shouldn't get thrown out from first on a double."
He made up for it in a big way in the top of the 10th, getting a fastball up in the zone from hard-throwing lefty Rex Brothers and dispatching it into the seats for his sixth home run in 69 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season. He flipped his bat after the hit, and pointed to his parents in their seats as he crossed home. But, he stressed, "I'm not trying to show up the other team."
Mayberry's hit was the biggest one. It came against Street, whom he faced in college when he was a star at Stanford and Street was a standout at the University of Texas. It also may have removed his name from the Phillies' candidates to be sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley when Roy Oswalt returns from the disabled list this weekend. The Phillies are only carrying 11 pitchers, something they could continue to do in order to keep a six-man bench. But they are also carrying two right-handed-hitting outfielders and two utility infielders. Mayberry has been the odd man out already this season, but you have to think that he won't be this time around. Whether it is fellow outfielder Ben Francisco, who still has minor league options, or utility man Wilson Valdez, who stands a decent shot of making it through waivers, or a pitcher from the bullpen remains to be seen.
The Phillies are on pace for 103 wins. They have the type of energy they exhibited during their two World Series runs, with players like Victorino and Mayberry and Hunter Pence providing the type of youthful exuberance that compliments the team's more established stars.
The trade deadline is over, and the focus is back on baseball, and the Phillies are just now entering the stretch of the season that they have come to dominate.
The first four months of the season are the real marathon, with April and May questions giving way to June and July trade talks and the mental grind of a schedule that sometimes seems without an end.
These next three months -- yes, the losingest franchise in sports history has reached a point where Octobers are expected -- are where the real season lies. And with two more games in the fickle air of Colorado, the fun has only just begun.
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Where was I? I have no clue about Lloyd and Harry in 1994.— Stang59- I am not very high brow at all. However, thankfully I never saw the movie Dumb and Dumber; just looked up the Harry and Lloyd. One week suspension of reading in order. Thanks.— Stang59
- I disagree,that comment made the article for this guy.You sir,are worse than Hitler.
— j byrnes - The pence deal was no big deal. Are you telling over the last two months of the season that a right fielder would make that much of a difference. (especially when they could have just put mr Mayberry in right). What is going to potentially kill the Phils is their bullpen. We'll see, that is why they play the games.— bobcitydoc
- @Stang- that was a reference to the movie "Dumb and Dumber." Took me a while to figure it out. As for the Phils, they look like they have that "never give up" attitude again. One day Utley carries the team, another Howard goes 4 for 4, then big hits by Victorino & Mayberry. It's like they pick straws before each game to see who is going to be the impact guy. Pence has been OK so far, but remember the guy has logged some travel miles recently. Give him some time to settle in. As for who goes down, I'd go with Francisco- we have younger guys who could use more seasoning and Francisco's contract is up this year, correct? I am just enjoying the heck out of this season. 7 up on the Braves!— verve
- Sorry big Ben but Mayberry beat you out fair and square.— Joe at the shore
huge win— jamarder- Pence will not make or break the Phils but he certainly puts a new wrinkle in their lineup. I think it was a very smart move. I've said all along, the fortunes of this team will lie in how well the regulars hit for the remainder of the season as a collective. If you look up and down the line up, on any given day, each one is capable of hurting you. The talent is there. I have faith that on most nights, someone will step up. If and when they all get hot, look out. History says the will be fine but only the baseball gods know for sure.— esesjay
- Actually Pence had two hits lost while with the Phillies; he was obviously safe on the ball in his first at-bat with the Phillies but was called out and he also had a hit lost when Howard unwisely went to third on the ball in the hole, which means that Pence would be 5-14. Posters criticizing Pence in the five-hole are trolls or clueless.— chuckw
- Whether it's Valdez or Francisco leaving to make room for Oswalt, it won't make any difference. The team is fine without either, and if they clear waivers they could be back in September (Francisco may even have options). Both are now clearly expendable, but if it was my choice I'd keep Valdez.— Phils Phan 28
- chuckw agreed.....amazed at the amount of trolls coming out of the woodwork....gotta be some other hobbies for these people. Francisco has an option left and I would think he'd be the odd man out here, however.....since our stars are LH hitters and Pence was brought in to offset the late inning LH reliever....maybe the contrarian thinking amongst the brass would be to keep another RH hitting OF who usually is a pretty good PH (though not with Mayberry's power) to have as another RH hitting option late in the game or extra innings?????— Mark1npt
- Since Francisco has options left, he will probably be the one sent down, because he doesn't have to be exposed to the waiver wire. Valdez can play EVERY position on the field except catcher, and I believe he would even put on the "tools of ignorance" in a pinch. Besides, Francisco could use some teaching in the Minors about not trying to pull every pitch he sees. Kendrick will slide into the long-man role, where he is best suited— southpaw57
- Murphy refers to the Phillies as "the losingest franchise in sports history," and as we all know that's true, courtesy of their 10,000 loses, which was a HUGE national media event when it happened. Did anybody notice that the Braves are now the second losingest franchise in sports history as a result of them absorbing their 10,000th loss over the weekend? Sort of shows you that Philadelphia is still the redheaded step-child of the national sports media. When are we going to get the credit we deserve for being a great sports city with the best fans in all of sports. We may not be "baseball heaven," but we're certainly not baseball or sports hell. Athletes WANT to play in Philadelphia.— mike 1717
- Valdez vs Francisco? No brainer.— Alpheratz
