The Phillies, perhaps coincidentally, have started to play better since firing long-time manager Charlie Manuel and replacing him with Ryne Sandberg. With tonight’s walk-off victory, their third consecutive walk-off, they have won five of their last six games.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Phillies victimized Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt, who we later found out was suffering from a sprained right elbow. Tonight against the D-Backs, the Phillies continued to fight back after falling behind early. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth, catcher Carlos Ruiz doubled with the bases loaded to knock in two runs and tie the game at three apiece.
Diamondbacks closer Heath Bell relieved lefty Joe Thatcher in the eighth inning, recording the final two outs. Manager Kirk Gibson had him come back out in the ninth, but Bell couldn’t get the job done. Cody Asche and Jimmy Rollins both singled to start the frame, putting runners at first and third with no outs. Gibson ordered bell to walk Michael Young -- one of the catalysts in the previous two comebacks -- intentionally, bringing up Kevin Frandsen with the bases loaded and no outs, the winning run just 90 feet away. Frandsen struck out on a curve, bringing up Chase Utley. Utley worked the count to 2-0, Bell fought back to 2-2, and Utley took two more balls for the walk-off walk as the Phillies won 4-3.
Starters Cole Hamels and Wade Miley more or less matched each other as Hamels allowed three runs in seven innings and Miley allowed three runs in six innings. Hamels remains at 5-13, the 13 losses tied for the National League lead. The Diamondbacks fall to ten games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and 7.5 games out of the second Wild Card. The Phillies improve to 58-70 but their playoff aspirations have long since disappeared. Too little, too late for the Sandberg-led bunch.
