Phillies Recap: August 22, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies 4, New York Mets 1

The start of the game was not what the Phillies wanted. Their offense scuffled once again tonight and J.A. Happ looked uncharacteristically shaky. Meanwhile, Tim Redding tossed one of his best starts of the season, holding the Phils to a single hit in the first five inning. The Mets held the lead early, but once Redding left the game, the fortunes reversed and the Phillies battled back to win the game 4-1.

To his credit, Jay Happ (10-2) fought hard despite having poor command at times during the night. He worked a lot of deep counts and frequently found himself pitching from the stretch. He ended up tossing seven effective innings, allowing just one earned run and notching one strike out. The Mets hitters managed to work out eight hits, including three doubles, but some stellar defense, led by Jimmy Rollins, helped to mitigate the damage. The Phillies bullpen was sharp and threw up two perfect innings in relief, as Brad Lidge threw a perfect ninth for the save.

Tim Redding continued his dominance of Phillies hitters, allowing only a bloop single to Chase Utley in his five inning of work. Redding walked three and struck out four. Once into the bullpen, Utley wasted no time giving the Phillies lead as he cranked his 26th homer of the season. The Phillies as a team were much more patient at the plate, and despite not scoring a lot, they made the most of their opportunities, for the most part. Pat Misch (0-1) took the loss for the Mets.

The Phillies offense picked it up tonight and Happ showed some real mental toughness tonight. The Phils picked up an all-important victory, their 70th of the season, with the Braves and Marlins trying to close the gap. The series is now tied and the Phillies will look to duplicate their success in tomorrow afternoon's affair.