BY TODD ZOLECKI
Knight Ridder Newspapers
BOSTON - This latest loss left Charlie Manuel at a total loss.
His players can’t explain it, either.
“I don’t know what we can do,” Manuel said after Monday’s 8-7 loss in 12 innings to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. “I don’t know what we can do” right. . . . It seems like everything we do kind of backfires on us. I think about everything I possibly can. We have a hard time knocking runners in. It always comes back and gets us. And we can’t hold people. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
The Phillies have lost 13 of 16 to drop to 35-40, the furthest they have been under .500 since April 29. The series started horribly before they even reached Fenway. Boston police arrested Brett Myers on Friday on a domestic assault and battery charge in an incident involving his wife, Kim. The Sox then crushed the Phillies that night, 10-2. The Sox won the final two on walk-off extra-inning hits from designated hitter David Ortiz.
“I’m not exactly sure where we are,” closer Tom Gordon said. “I know we’re still second, but if you ask anybody in the clubhouse, they’ll tell you that we’re not playing like a second-place team. We’ve got to figure out what we can do to pick one another up. We’ve got three months left in the season. We can’t continue this play.”
In other words, it’s time to fish or cut bait. The Phillies are 12 behind the New York Mets in the NL East, and 5 1/2 back in the wild card - with seven teams in front of them.
“We’ve got to turn it around,” Gordon continued. “That’s the thing. If things don’t happen soon for us, and we get nine or 10 games back in the wild card, it’s going to be kind of tough to catch up. If you’re looking at maybe three or four or five games in September - that’s tough.”
So, what went wrong Monday?
Righthander Cory Lidle had allowed two hits through five innings before he got into trouble in the sixth. After a leadoff walk to Ortiz, Lidle allowed three hits to his next four batters to score two runs to make it 2-0.
Manuel removed Lidle, who had thrown 109 pitches.
Lidle stalked off the mound and whipped his glove into the dugout. He eventually headed up the damp runway to the clubhouse. Manuel pursued, and a team source said they exchanged words in the runway. The source said Lidle, who also expressed his frustration in being pulled after a start June 15 against the New York Mets, wanted to clean up his own mess.
Lidle didn’t make himself available to comment afterward.
The Red Sox scored four more runs in the sixth to make it 6-0. The Phillies scored five runs in the seventh to make it 6-5. Chase Utley hit a solo homer off typically unhittable Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth to tie it.
But the Phillies blew numerous chances to win throughout the game.
First, they were 3 for 18 with runners in scoring position. They left runners on first and second in the 10th. They had a runner on second with one out in the 11th, but couldn’t score. They took a lead in the 12th on Jimmy Rollins’ double to left, which scored Shane Victorino.
The Phillies just needed to hold the Red Sox.
Clay Condrey pitched because the Phillies had used Gordon earlier, and because Arthur Rhodes wasn’t available for personal reasons. Condrey allowed a leadoff double to Coco Crisp before he recorded the next two outs. Then Kevin Youkilis singled to left-center. Crisp rounded third and headed home, but Victorino bobbled the ball before he had a chance to throw home.
“If I don’t bobble it, I have a chance,” Victorino said. “But I would have had to have made a perfect throw.”
Condrey then walked Mark Loretta to put runners on first and second.
That’s when Ortiz stepped up and laced a single to left-center to score Youkilis and win it. Ortiz had hit a game-winning two-run homer in the 10th inning in Saturday’s 5-3 victory.
“When things get rough, you’ve got to hang with them,” Manuel said. “Because they can get rougher.”
That’s hard to believe.
Written by on June 27th, 2006 with no comments.
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The New York Yankees hope to gain some ground on the high- flying Boston Red Sox in the American League East race with another victory over the Atlanta Braves, who again visit the Bronx Bombers in the middle contest of a three-game series this evening.The Yankees trail their bitter rivals from Boston, which is currently riding a nine-game win streak, by 2 1/2 games for first place in the division. With the Red Sox beginning a tough three-game interleague set against the National League’s best team, the New York Mets, on Tuesday, the Yanks may have an opportunity to close the gap against a Braves club that has endured a miserable June.
New York kept pace with the red-hot Sox on Monday, receiving a strong performance from Randy Johnson to record a 5-2 victory over Atlanta in Monday’s opener.
Johnson struck out a season-high nine batters over seven shutout innings in his first start against the Braves since he threw a perfect game at Turner Field as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 18, 2004.
Jason Giambi provided the offense for New York, winners of five of its last six games, by knocking in all five Yankee runs on a pair of homers. Andy Phillips finished 3-for-3 in the win, while Mariano Rivera worked out of a ninth-inning jam to notch his 17th save of the season.
Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the ninth for Atlanta, which fell to 4-20 in June. The Braves haven’t won back-to-back games since May 27-28.
Tim Hudson (6-7) was saddled with the loss, giving up both of Giambi’s blasts in his five innings of work. He also walked four batters and struck out just one.
Taking the mound for the Yankees tonight will be Jaret Wright, who is coming off one of his best outings of the year. The oft-injured right-hander tossed five scoreless innings Thursday in Philadelphia, allowing three hits and fanning a season-best six hitters, before turning the game over to the New York bullpen, who preserved the 5-0 win.
The Yankees’ relief corps figures to get some more work this evening, as Wright hasn’t pitched more than six innings in any of his 11 starts this season.
The 30-year-old resurrected his once-promising career while with the Braves in 2004, winning a personal-best 15 games and posting a 3.28 earned run average in 32 starts. Wright then signed a lucrative three-year contract with the Bronx Bombers the following offseason.
Wright has made four previous appearances versus his former club, all in relief, and has no record and a 9.28 ERA over 5 2/3 innings.
Atlanta counters with Horacio Ramirez, who worked around six walks in his last start to hold Toronto to a run over 6 2/3 innings on Thursday. He left with a 2-1 lead, but the Braves’ shaky bullpen failed to hold it and the left-hander was stuck with a no decision.
Prior to that outing, Ramirez was rocked for seven runs — six earned — and lasted just 1 2/3 innings in a loss at Houston on June 11.
The 26-year-old, who will making his first career appearance against New York, is 1-1 with a 9.26 ERA in three road starts this season.
Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano sat out Monday’s contest with a strained left hamstring and is questionable to play tonight.
The Yankees, who defeated the Braves in the World Series twice during their run in the late 90’s, are 9-8 against Atlanta in interleague action.
Atlanta, which has won just two of its 10 interleague games this season, is 88-73 all-time against the American League, while the Yanks have posted a 100-69 mark versus the Senior Circuit.
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cycling
TEAM ASKED TO WITHDRAW The Astana team was asked to withdraw from the Tour de France in the wake of the doping scandal in Spain, organizers said yesterday. If the team, formerly called Liberty, refuses to withdraw, organizers will apply to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Astana is under the spotlight after its manager, Manolo Saiz, was implicated in a scandal in which the police uncovered a network of blood doping in a series of raids. Alexander Vinokourov, who rides for Astana, is considered one of the top contenders for the Tour’s overall title. (AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)
horse racing
WOODWARD STAKES ON THE MOVE After more than 50 years at downstate tracks, the Woodward Stakes will move north this summer to anchor the last weekend of racing at Saratoga Race Course. The six-week meeting at Saratoga usually peaks with the Travers Stakes, run on the last Saturday in August. New York racing officials hope the Woodward will carry the momentum — and the fan support — into Labor Day weekend. The race will be run Sept. 2. (AP)
golf
BOOZ ALLEN CLASSIC AWAITS A WINNER The completion of the Booz Allen Classic at Potomac, Md., and Ben Curtis’s long-awaited first victory since the 2003 British Open was postponed for another day, setting up the PGA Tour’s first Tuesday finish in 26 years. More rain was in the forecast. (AP)
college football
CALIFORNIA SUSPENDS QUARTERBACK California suspended the senior quarterback Steve Levy indefinitely after his arrest on felony assault charges stemming from a bar fight. According to the police, the weapon was a pint glass from Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. (AP)
track and field
CHAMBERS HAS TITLE ERASED The British sprinter Dwain Chambers had his European 100-meter title erased yesterday along with his other results over the past year and a half because of his doping record. Chambers was barred for two years after testing positive for the steroid THG in November 2003. (AP)
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