Where’s Broxton When You Need Him: Phils Drop Opener 4-3

It looked like the Phillies were going to get crushed today.  Vance Worley returned from the disabled list with doctor’s orders to throw 75 pitches.  Apparently Vance attempted to throw all 75 in the first inning.  The Dodgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and stretched it to a 3-0 lead in the second.

The upsetting part about all of this is that last year’s Cy Young Award winner happened to be throwing for the Dodgers and considering that the Phillies have been held in check by much less competent hurlers than Clayton Kershaw, things looked pretty bleak early.  The bottom of the order got to Kershaw in the third inning with John Mayberry Jr. barely missing a home run and Freddy Galvis going the opposite way for a single.  The inning culminated with a two run home run from Placido Polanco and tied the game.

The game stayed tied after Kershaw settled in and the Phillies bullpen was really effective.  Jonathan Papelbon was called upon to keep the score tied at three in the ninth inning.  Dee Gordon tripled directly after a disputed pitch was called a ball and scored after Elian Herrera singled through the drawn in infield.  Jonathan Papelbon looked like he was going to punch home plate umpire D.J. Rayburn right in the nose.  The Phillies mounted little resistance in the ninth going down in order to converted catcher Kenley Jansen.

Personally, I was hoping that the team would make a call to Kansas City and reaquire Jonathan Broxton for old times sake.  Alas, it was not to be.  4-3 loss and a return to .500 for the Phillies.

The moment that everything went wrong in tonight’s contest was when Papelbon thought he had Dee Gordon struck out in the top of the ninth inning.  Gordon tripled on the next pitch and scored the go ahead run shortly thereafter.  Dee Gordon is really fucking fast.

The most attractive play of the game was one of the rarest sights in all of baseball, matched only by the Juan Pierre home run; the Placido Polanco homer.  As his average creeps up toward .300, it seems that people have stopped complaining about the Phillies’ giant headed third baseman.  He tied the game with a two run home run in the bottom of the third inning.

The hero of the game for the Phillies was Joe Savery.  He threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and kept the Phillies in the game after Worley’s early exit.

The villain of the game was Dee Gordon.  It was much more plausible for him to bunt his way on and steal second and third than it was for him to lace a triple into the gap.  As Wheels tells us over and over and over, that’s baseball.

Tomorrow Cliff Lee goes for his first win of the year.  Seriously.  The Dodgers counter with Chad Billingsley.