Tuesday night Carlos Ruiz broke up Rich Harden's perfect game with a walk and Jimmy Rollins followed with a two-run homer to tie the game. The Phillies took a 3-2 lead into the 9th, but Brad Lidge blew the save. Ben Francisco hit the winning home run in extra innings and the Phils stole one 4-3.
Wednesday night was the debut of Pedro Martinez, but that was pretty much overshadowed by the Phillies' offense, which put 12 on the board early. Martinez went five and did pretty much as expected in his first start. It was an exciting game. Some dumb Cub fan dumped a cup of beer on Shane Victorino as he caught a sacrifice fly against the ivy. The wrong guy was apprehended but the culprit today turned himself into the police.
Thursday afternoon was again all Cliff Lee, with the help of a three-run homer from Ryan Howard and a solo shot by Pedro Feliz. Lee went eight innings, striking out eight and giving up just one run in the 6-1 victory. In three starts with the Phillies, Lee has given up just three runs. He has four hits in that time. This guy is simply fabulous to watch. I understand why he was reportedly the only trade that Ruben Amaro Jr. was targeting at the deadline.
