Phils Lose Fifth Straight

J.A. Happ struggled his last two starts. Tonight he left a lot of runners on base and battled through six innings. He left the game losing 2-0. Brian Bergesen was on the hill for the O's and through six innings he was really good. The Phillies only had two hits off of him to that point. In the seventh somebody hit a switch and the Phillies offense started hitting. Shane Victorino and Chase Utley hit back-to-back doubles then Matt Stairs hit a single to load the bases. Greg Dobbs singled in Chase. Then, with two outs a sick Ryan Howard came to the plate. Now Ryan wasn't in the lineup tonight because he had flu symptoms and last night he was sent to the hospital and there his temperature was 104 degrees. Howard came to the plate and hit a three-run homerun into the Phillies bullpen and gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead. Ryan Madson came in to redeem himself from his blown save against the Bue Jays. He failed. Madson gave up three runs in the ninth inning. This is an extremely tough loss to swallow.
UP NEXT
Phillies:The Phillies will turn to their ace Cole Hamels to stop the bleeding. Hamels has pitched well this season, but his pitch count often has left him leaving earlier than he would like. That is exactly what happened in his previous start Tuesday against the Blue Jays. Toronto made him throw 110 pitches in six innings. Could he have started the seventh? He could have, but the way Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee figured, Hamels would have needed a perfect seventh inning to get out with 10 or fewer pitches. So they pulled him after six. Hamels is hoping to be a little more economical against the Orioles and give the overworked bullpen a much needed rest.
Orioles:Jeremy Guthrie fell into some unfortunate luck in his last start, against the Mets on Tuesday. After starting the first three innings allowing just one batter to reach base, a costly error opened the door to a four-run inning, a hole Guthrie could never climb out of, resulting in his third straight loss. The right-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on six hits.
Here's Some Good News
Brad Lidge threw a pain-free rehab in Reading tonight. He pitched one ininng and only gave up one hit. He also had two strikeouts, on 15 pitches total. Brad is eligible to be activated on Tuesday and is likely to rejoin the Phillies sometime next week.

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