Top of the 8th inning, Ryan Madson on the mound and Rafael Furcal at bat. Most of the sellout crowd of 45,000+ are still on hand.Last night with one out in the 7th, Jayson Werth singled. He then swiped 2nd. He next took off for 3rd, again without a throw from Dodgers' catcher Russell Martin. With Pedro Feliz at the plate, Werth completed the trifecta, stealing home. The roar of the crowd was instantaneous and delirious. It was one of those unbelievable, did-I-just-see-that moments. We of course wanted a replay but settled for a curtain call from the dishy thief.
The Phillies had six stolen bases last night; Werth had four of them. After the game, he credited 1st base coach Davey Lopes, a master thief, for preaching aggression on the base paths. Base stealing was a key component of the Phillies' game last season. Going into last night's game, the team had only 12 stolen bases this season, in large part owing to slumps by the two speedsters Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. It was great to see guys, including Ryan Howard, off and running last night.
After a bumpy first inning, starter Chan Ho Park settled down and pitched effectively. He gave up one run in the 1st but was saved from a big inning by an unusual 9-2-6-4-7 put-out, when Orlando Hudson tried to stretch his RBI single into a double. Park allowed just one more run, in the 3rd, but the Phillies took the lead 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, then Jayson Werth added another in the 7th. Brad Lidge was again teetery in 9th, giving up one run but getting the 5-3 save. Also of note, Pedro Feliz walked four times.
On the way home, I chased five separate deer off the road. But it was the baby fox that I shall remember. I first saw it running down the middle of the road and thought it was a young cat. Then it veered into my lane and I saw it was a fox. I tried to chase it off the road but it kept running from one side to the other, dashing again and again down the yellow line. At one point it came back to my lane, wheeled around and stood there, facing me down. It was a sweet little thing but sadly lost. At last it ran onto the opposite shoulder. I hoped it would find its hole but did not feel good about it.
