I prefer Yuengling but this stand at the Reading park looks good. Nelson Figueroa, last night's starter, didn't figure in the decision but he gave the Phillies all they could wish for, with five solid innings of work in a spot start for the ailing J.A. Happ. He made just one mistake, resulting in a two-run homer by Kelly Johnson that put the D'backs up 2-1. The Phillies bullpen pitched four scoreless. Raul Ibanez tied the game with a solo homer and Jayson Werth, who is looking almost alarmingly attractive, put the Phillies up in the 9th with a transcendent solo shot. Werth had given them a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the 2nd. He also made two defensive gems: a catch and a throw-out for a double play assist.
The Phillies won 3-2. So did the Reading Phillies, while the IronPigs chimed in with a 6-2 victory.
I was in San Francisco last July for the Phillies at the Giants. I was in the Denver airport when I heard the news that the Phillies, playing that night in Arizona, had acquired Cliff Lee, then saw Lee's debut days a couple of days later in SF. The Phillies won that game but played the rest of the four-game series in a daze. A win today would make me feel more sanguine about this current NL West swing, but the offense has got to start showing up again. Today's pitchers: Rodrigo (of the thick, sexy hair) Lopez vs. Kyle Kendrick.
