Phillies lose to Cardinals in bottom of ninth
ST. LOUIS - Pete Mackanin visited the mound in the ninth inning of Wednesday night's 5-4 loss just as Busch Stadium was starting to become unglued. The Cardinals had the bases loaded. The Phillies had a one-run lead. Mackanin, the Phillies manager, told his closer to get a ground ball. A double play would end it.
ST. LOUIS - Pete Mackanin visited the mound in the ninth inning of Wednesday night's 5-4 loss just as Busch Stadium was starting to become unglued. The Cardinals had the bases loaded. The Phillies had a one-run lead. Mackanin, the Phillies manager, told his closer to get a ground ball. A double play would end it.
Jeanmar Gomez listened. He induced Stephen Piscotty to hit a grounder, but the ball was slapped wide of shortstop Freddy Galvis. Galvis slid to field the hit, but the game was tied. A batter later it was over. Gomez blew his first save of the season after converting his first nine chances.
He dropped his head and slouched his shoulders as he watched Matt Holliday's winning hit - another ground ball - leave the infield. The Cardinals celebrated in shallow right field. The stadium rocked, and Gomez lingered near the mound before slowly walking to the dugout.
It was the first time since April 6 that the Phillies had lost a game when they led after seven innings. Galvis pulled up a chair next to Gomez in the clubhouse as he helped his fellow Venezuelan cope. The Phillies appeared set to enter Thursday's matinee with a chance to take three of the four games against the Cardinals. Instead, they now have to hope for a series split.
"For me, our team battled all game to try and get this win," Gomez said. "To get this blown save, you feel bad because your teammates played hard. I have to think about the mistakes I made and not do them in the next game."
The Phillies scored four runs in the first five innings but were silenced in the final four innings. All four runs came on home runs. Ryan Howard hit a three-run homer in the fourth and Odubel Herrera homered in the fifth. It was Howard's seventh homer in 85 at-bats. It is the quickest he has reached the mark in his career.
Gomez walked the leadoff batter, which proved to be a harbinger for trouble. He picked up an out, before pinch-hitter Matt Adams crushed a double off the top of the center-field wall. It was inches from being a walk-off homer. Instead, the game remained tied.
Gomez intentionally walked the next batter to bring up Piscotty. Galvis tossed Piscotty's grounder to third, where Andres Blanco and Carlos Ruiz were able to catch Carlos Martinez in a rundown. The rundown allowed Aledmys Diaz - the eventual winning run - to move from second to third.
But the rundown should have ended earlier as Cardinals third base coach Chris Maloney appeared to interfere with Blanco. The play instead went on, and Diaz reached third. Holliday then hit a grounder to left field, which Diaz may not have been able to score on if he started at second base instead of third. Mackanin said he asked the umpires, who told him the coach did not interfere.
Gomez would not have had a lead if it was not for the play of Tyler Goeddel. The rookie outfielder leaped against the left-field wall in the eighth inning and plucked Jedd Gyorko's fly ball before it could get over the wall for a game-tying homer. Goeddel, who was an infielder before last season, said it was the first homer he has ever robbed.
Goeddel finished Wednesday 0 for 3. He has just four hits this season in 28 at-bats. This season was his first time playing above double A. The adjustment has been a challenge. But none of that mattered as the 23-year-old closed his black mitt on the baseball. The eighth inning was over. Hector Neris, the pitcher, pumped his hands into the air. The Phillies still had a lead. But it was waiting to slip away.
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