Phillies Recap: August 25, 2009

Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Philadelphia Phillies 4

For most of the night, Joe Blanton pitched the Phillies into and out of trouble. However, this took a tremendous toll on his pitch count. Ross Ohlendorf battled tough on his home turf and kept his Pirates in the game for most of the night. Despite two long balls from Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies blew a near-certain win in the bottom of the ninth and lost 6-4.

Joe Blanton worked within a peculiar strike zone and gave up several hard hit balls, including a solo shot by Ryan Doumit. He seemed to settle down a bit as the game went deeper, but gave up a two-run homer to Steve Pearce to end his night. Blanton went six innings while giving up three earned run on six hits. He struck out seven Pirates hitters and walked a pair. In the last of the ninth, Brad Lidge (0-6) came in for the save and gave up three runs for the blown save (9) and loss.

To his credit, Ross Ohlendorf showed some grit. He gave up two solo homers to Jimmy Rollins, but aside from that, limited the Phillies' base runners and threats. Over the course of his night, Ohlendorf went 6.1 innings, while striking out six. He gave up just the two earned runs on the homers and allowed five hits and three walks. Matt Capps (3-7) blew another save against the Phillies, allowing two earned runs in the top of the ninth but picked up the win.

This was a terrible loss for the Phillies, who had the game all but wrapped up and let it slip away. Another blown save for Lidge is some cause for concern for the Phillies. But the bigger issue in this game, as with many of their recent losses, was their lack of run support early in the game. With the game within striking distance for the Pirates, they struck with a walk-off homer from Andrew McCutchen for the final margin.