It was an IronPig kind of day for the last game of the season at Citizens Bank Park. It was all reserve players except for Jayson Werth, who needed just one RBI for 100 and starter J.A. Happ started, who was pulled after two innings for more bullpen auditions.
Miguel Cairo, playing second, had a homer (his first in four years) and Andy Tracy, at first, had a triple. Wrap your mind around that! Cairo also added a triple to his afternoon's work. But it was in the 10th, with the score tied 6-6, that the IronPigs got it done. John Mayberry Jr. led off with a single, Cairo singled him over, and with two outs Paul Hoover, just into the game, lined one off Wes Helms' glove to score Mayberry and give the Phillies the 7-6 win. A sweet ending to a back-and-forth game that was unexpectedly entertaining. I listened to it in the kitchen.
The Phillies finish what has been for the most part a difficult year at 93-69. Final attendance figures a franchise-record 3,600,693, including 73 sell-outs. Of the eight games that were not sell-outs, only three were below 40,000.
Werth, by the bye, went one for four. He was walked in the 10th, to boos from the crowd and a moue of disappointment from Ryan Howard in the dugout. Werth did, however, steal his 20th base of the season. Not a bad number to go with his career-high 36 home runs in what has been his first year as a fulltime player.
Thanks for the season and on to the postseason!
