Monday, April 07, 2008

Different Closer, Same Result

After witnessing Brad Lidge's debut this afternoon as the Phils' new closer, I'm now convinced that there is no human alive or dead that could walk into a game in the 9th inning and consistently make it look easy. No matter who it is, our closer will make us sweat it out.

In case you missed it, here was Lidge's 9th inning:

Lidge, who came off the disabled list Saturday after recovering from knee surgery, walked Paul Bako with two outs to start the rally. So Taguchi dropped Corey Patterson's fly ball after a long run, and pinch-hitter Ken Griffey Jr. was intentionally walked.

Lidge bounced a wild pitch that let in a run, then struck out Javier Valentin on a 95 mph fastball that plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt judged to be on the outside corner.
Thank God I was at work and did not actually witness this near calamity. Lidge better not make this a regular occurrence.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

easy big fella. The defensive LF dropped a ball. and the wild pitch wasn't so terrible.


Gordon had a terrific 8th, hitting lo 90's and looking dominant.

George said...

The guy did look shaky. And I can't stand the intentional walks that put the tying run on base. The odds that the batter you are worried about hits a home run to tie are far less than the odds that he finds a way to come around and score once you put him on first.

Anonymous said...

Another solid outing by Gordon. 4-4.