Fans jam the left field gate before last night's game, the second part of a day/night doubleheader. I thought the Phillies might lose their consecutive sell-out streak this holiday weekend but in fact they drew more than 90,000 for the two games. Game 1 was the fourth-largest crowd ever in the history of the park.
My seat was in right field and the fans there were cool. They always are out in right field. The first game of the doubleheader literally put me to sleep. In his starter's debut, Vance Worley gave up two runs in the first two innings, then did quite OK for another three. He was lifted in the fifth for a pinch-hitter. By then I was napping, to wake only after the bullpen allowed more runs to score. It didn't really matter as the Phillies mustered just one hit (again!) against the Fish rookie starter, 28-year-old Adalberto Mendez. They scored late in the 7-1 loss.
Game 2, against the talented Anibal Sanchez, was a different story. The Marlins scored first, on a solo homer, and the Phillies answered with five, mainly generated by walks and singles. The Fish again homered two more times to make it 5-4 but the Phillies again answered with more hits and runs for a 7-4 lead. Roy Oswalt was again a bulldog, despite giving up three home runs. If you're counting, that makes three bulldogs at the top of the rotation. (We'll take it.) The bullpen made it hold up. Ryan Madson is looking fab these day. When Brad Lidge came in for the save, the feeling was electric. After two outs, we were all standing.
