Put another one in the Phillies' unlikely wins column
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Put another one in the Phillies' unlikely wins column
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
DENVER -- By the end of the long, hot evening, Shane Victorino was pointing at his mother and father as they celebrated his game-winning home run from the seats behind home plate at Coors Field.
On the list of unlikely things that have happened during the Phillies' stunning run of success that started with a division title in 2007, Monday night's 4-3, 10-inning win over the Colorado Rockies ranked high.
Down two runs and down to their last strike, John Mayberry Jr. delivered a two-run, pinch-hit home run that tied the game in the top of the ninth inning to keep the game alive and Victorino followed in the 10th by bashing a 3-2 fastball from reliever Rex Brothers into the left field seats.
"It starts with Mayberry's at-bat," Victorino said. "I only got a chance to do what I did in my at-bat because Mayberry battled in that situation. Again, I give all the credit to him for coming up big in that situation and battling."
It was a classic eight-pitch battle between Mayberry and Rockies closer Huston Street.
After Carlos Ruiz kept the game alive with a two-out double, Mayberry hit for pitcher Michael Stutes. Street threw him eight straight sliders. With the count at 1-2, Mayberry laid off consecutive pitches to run the count full, then fought off two more sliders by hitting them foul.
On the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Mayberry whipped his bat at a hanging slider and crushed it into the left-field seats. It was Mayberry's seventh home run of the season and the 13th of his career. None has been bigger.
"It feels great to be in that spot and to come up with the game-tying home run," Mayberry said. "As a bench guy, you normally get one at-bat and I tried to make the most of it. I was able to do that today."
Mayberry, a Stanford University product, had never faced Street at the big-league level, but he remembered going against him in the College World Series.
"I got a good memory," Mayberry said. "He was pretty much untouchable in those college days (at Texas). He's still very tough. I definitely knew I was in for a tough battle."
Mayberry won the battle with Street just days after losing his bid to become the right-handed bat in the middle of the order. That job, of course, went to Hunter Pence, whom the Phillies acquired at the trade deadline, but Mayberry knows he is now a valued member of manager Charlie Manuel's bench.
"I'm going to be ready for whatever situation Charlie chooses to put me in there and try to be as prepared as I can," Mayberry said.
The win over the Rockies pushed the Phillies to 30 games over .500 and a season-high seven games in front of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. The Phillies also improved to 9-2 at Coors Field since being eliminated in Game 3 of the 2007 National League Division Series here.
That run to the 2007 N.L. East title was triggered by an amazing September comeback and the Phillies have made a habit of remarkable rallies ever since. This was clearly another.
"A lot of it has to do with the makeup of our team," Manuel said. "We expect to win."
Manuel said the Phillies also are able to overcome mistakes.
One of the biggest ones Monday was made by Victorino in the third inning when he got an atrocious jump off first base and was thrown out at home on a double by Chase Utley. It appeared as if Victorino may have thought Utley had homered, but he denied that was the case.
"I was upset at myself for being out on that play, but not at any point did I think Chase's ball was out," Victorino said.
All was forgiven anyway when he homered seven innings later to account for the winning run in another unlikely Phillies victory.
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That's how the great teams win -- down by two in the ninth, with two outs and two strikes on the batter.— Freedom Fries- Note this..Mayberry Jr. had this great at bat against a righthanded pitcher who throws nothing but sliders...Jr. kept fighting them off and really on the battle..He has developed into a great role player for the team..I think he has even more to offer!— bearsfriend
- Wow! Have the Phils ever been 30 games over .500 at anytime in history?— BobbyD
- Last year's Phillies team finished 32 games above .500. So did the '93 team. — starman76
- Two or three of the teams from the late '70's won 100 games or so. That means they were 40 games over .500 at the end of the season.
- BobbyD, the '78 Phils (arguably the most talented Phils team ever) finished 101-61, or 40 games over .500 - I believe the '77 team was close as well.— Dave14
- Differnt guy every game........the way it used to be (2008).Team, team, team!!!!!
— recGUY - Rolling!!!! Report card series this weekend.— shawnmac
- Amazing at bat by Mayberry! It reminded me of some of Werth's huge at bats over the years. He fought off nasty slider after nasty slider until finally he got two in a row that didn't slide.— stanbro
- Phillies still can't hit Giants pitching, tho. What are you going to do when the lineup goes to sleep again? play small ball? — tmurphy
- Wow - I know where to report abuse; what about this guy? Check out the team batting averages in the Giants series. You will find that the team that had the most trouble hitting the other team's pitching was...the Giants! — danderooski
- Mayberry has earned his spot on the roster and has done everything asked off him. He can help the most now by being a spot starter, defensive replacement and a potential long-ball pinch hitter off of the bench. Now we need to find someone that can do the same from the left side. Lyle Overbay was designated for assignment Sunday be the Pirates. He could be that guy and wouldn't cost much to obtain.— Jersey_Joe
- That at-bat by Mayberry was a textbook example of plate discipline. Everyone on the team needs to go watch the film and learn from it.— roque32
- roque.....I'd be real happy if just Howard watched it........— Mark1npt
- The 1978 Phillies squeaked in the playoffs carried by Bowa and the midseason reacquisition of Dick Ruthven. It was the '76 and '77 teams who both won 101 games.— jtj06
