Phightin’s take 3 of 4 from Phish

8/21-8/22 - Citizens Bank Park
GAME 1 - Marlins 2, Phillies 0
Brad Penny tamed the mighty Philly lineup for 7 innings by scattering 5 hits and fanning 4.  His control was impecable as he did not walk a batter.  Braden Looper pitched a scoreless 8th and Urgeth Urbina did the same in the 9th for the save.  Cole Hamels was the unlucky starter for the Phigtin's.  King Cole gave up only 2 runs in 7 innings of work, which on most nights would be more than enough to win with the offense that his team has.  On this night Penny and company were dominant.  Florida broke a scoreless tie with a solo run in the 5th thanks to a 2 out double by A Gonzalez that scored Pudge Rodriguez, who led off the inning with a single.  Juan Pierre was responsible for manufacturing the Marlins second run when he led off the 6th with a single and proceeded to steal both 2nd and 3rd before Miguel Cabrera hit a sac fly to deep left to score him.

GAME 2 - Phillies 4, Marlins 3
The Phightin's solved Dontrelle Willis early on by scoring 2 in the 2nd and 2 in the 5th.  Willis had control issues with 4 walks and 4 hits in less than 6 innings worth of work.  Like Ole Man River the ageless Jamie Moyer baffled the free swinging Marlin hitters for 6 2/3 innings.  The old man scattered 9 hits for only 2 runs before giving way to the young turks in the pen.  Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his first save of the season.  Jayson Werth and Pat "the Bat" Burrell hit back to back 2 out solo shots off Willis in the 5th to break a 2-2 deadlock.  Florida played some small ball and manufactured a run to cut Philly's lead to 1 in the 8th.  Derek Lee was caught stealing second with 1 out and took away the big inning potential, which helped reliever Ryan Madson get out of a tough inning.  The run scored was charged to J.C. Romero, who finished out the 7th for Moyer and stayed on to start the 8th.

8/23-8/24 - Pro Player Stadium
GAME 3 - Phillies 12, Marlins 11
Kyle Kendrick and Josh Beckett served as fodder for their opposing offenses.  Neither starter was deserving of a win, which is fitting since neither starter was around for the decision.  Philly had a 8-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th when Kendrick ran out of gas or more accurately was like gas on an open flame.  The Marlins scored 5 in that half of the inning cut the lead to 1.  The Phightin's struck back for 3 runs in the top of the 7th to go up by 4, which seemed like a safe lead with 6 outs to go.  Unfortunately the pen let Phils down as Seanez gave up 4 runs and had to be replaced by Durbin and then J.C. Romero who finally stopped the bleeding.  Heading into the top of the 9th the score was now tied at 11 and everyone in South Florida was either exhausted or long since gone from the ballpark.  Braden Looper started the inning and immediately served up a big double to pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins.  Cory Coste put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Jenkins to 3rd.   Pedro Feliz, who came on as a pinch hitter in the 8th was given an intentional pass in order to setup a double play possibility.  Curiously the same strategy was employed vs J-Roll, which now loaded the bases for the "Flyin' Hawaiian", Shane Victorino.  The Phightin's hard nosed centerfielder hit a slow roller to second that scored Jenkins as Castillo's only play was to first.  Brad Lidge came on and recorded his second save in as many nights to close out the victory.

GAME 4 - Phillies 11, Marlins 1
Once Philly's bats come alive they stay alive.  The first inning results looked more like a score for a Eagle/Dolphin game, not a Phillies/Marlins games.  Marlin starter Mark Redman couldn't even register an out and was gone after yielding 6 runs after facing 6 batters.  Carl Pavano gave up a run of his own, but did pitch 6 innings of decent ball.  All the while Brett Myers was cruising with zero pressure.  Philly tacked on a solo run in the 4th and 3 more insurance runs in the 5th off of Mordecai.  That 7 run 1st inning was a KOD franchise record for Philadelphia.  Ryan Howard had 7 RBI's after going 2 for 4 and 2 homers.  Howard had a grand slam in the 1st and a 3 run shot in the 8th as Philly scored 11 runs on 11 hits.