Broad Street Heroes

All it takes is a game against the Washington Nationals to get the Phillies (minus Brad Lidge) back on track. After losing four straight games which included a sweep by the Astros, the Phillies got a win by virtue of the long ball. Led by 6.2 strong innings from Pedro Martinez and a flurry of homers, the Phillies were able to put away the Nationals by a score of 5-3.

The heavy hitters in tonight’s game included Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, and Raul Ibanez. Raul seems to finally be finding his swing again, swatting two homers in the game tonight, giving him 30 on the season. The foursome of Utley, Howard, Werth, and Ibanez now have 30 home runs each on the season. They are the 12th foursome to accomplish this feat, and the first Phillies to do so.

The one bleak note on the game was Brad Lidge, who was given his last chance to be the Phillies closer, and he blew it. Once again Lidge let the lead off man reach first base, and Charlie Manuel finally was fed up with him after seeing the bases get loaded with only one out.

Ryan Madson took over for Lidge and got the last two outs, recording the save for Pedro Martinez, who is now 4-0 with the Phillies. Overall, the game showed us that the Phillies could be back to their hitting ways, a good sign for the reigning champs.

I want to extend a thank you to my readers who have stuck with me while I have been busy, and also a thank you to Charlie Manuel for finally saying “Enough is enough” and pulling the plug on Lidge. I know he was perfect last year, but enough is enough.