Choooooch!
Friday, August 13th, 2010
Chooch Ruiz gets mobbed after winning hit.
The Phillies grabbed momentum by the throat last night and this time they are not going to let it slip away.
What an amazing comeback last night. If you changed the channel and never looked back after the Phillies slipped into a 9-2 hole in the top of the eight, you missed the most amazing win of the season. How amazing? Danys Baez was the only relief pitcher who didn’t give up a run and he got the win.
The Phillies made it a game in the eighth inning by scoring four runs to make the score 9-6. Then in the ninth the team got to torture Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton once again. He must have nightmares when he sees Phillies pinstripes.
He hit Placido Polanco. Mike Sweeney fought off some tough pitches and earned a nine-pitch walk. Jayson Werth then walked to load the bases for Ben Francisco. Ben hit a double play grounder, but … oops! Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake let it go through his legs for a two run error. Now the score was 9-8 with Mr. Clutch, Carlos Ruiz, coming to the plate. He scalded a Broxton slider off the centerfield wall and the Phillies celebrated a 10-9 victory as a nice appetizer before a three game set against the Mets in New York beginning tonight.
A small measure of credit goes to Larry Bowa, the Dodgers third base coach. According to Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy, Bowa told him before the game he was worried about “Johnny Bench” tonight. “Johnny Bench?” asked McCarthy. Said Bowa, “Yeah, Carlos Ruiz kills us!”
That he does, Larry, that he does.
Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

I am trying to curb my enthusiasm. I looked at the schedule and saw that the Phils have been given games with Washington, Houston and Washington again to start the season.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly
On paper, the Phillies-Dodgers showdown for the National League Championship looks like an evenly matched battle. The starting pitching is solid, but not outstanding. Both these teams can hit, and hit with power and both have a monster clutch hitter in Ryan Howard and Manny Ramirez, respectively. The Phillies come into the series on the high of a for-the-ages comeback win to clinch their divisional showdown with the Rockies. The Dodgers, meanwhile, swept the dangerous St Louis Cardinals despite the Card’s outstanding pitching. Since they faced each other last year with basically the same team make-up, they know each other.
