Phillies Recap: September 5, 2009

Houston Astros 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4
W - Valverde (3-2), L - Lidge (0-7)

For most of the night, Roy Oswalt shut the Phillies down. However, he left in the seventh inning due to a stiff back and Joe Blanton kept the Phils close. A couple of two-run innings late propelled the Phillies to a brief lead, but Brad Lidge blew yet another save. The Astros defeated the Phillies by a final score of 5-4.

Joe Blanton got off to a rough start as Hunter Pence drilled another two-run homer and later added an RBI-single. However, as always, Blanton battled tough and kept the Phillies and their struggling offense close. On the night, Blanton went six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out five. Brett Myers came back from his hip injury and pitched a scoreless frame before Brad Lidge blew his tenth save of the season.

For the Astros, Roy Oswalt was dominant for them. He racked up strike outs early and rarely allowed base runners. After going 6.1 scoreless innings, he exited the game with a sore back. The Phillies would go on to add two earn runs off of him, while striking out eight times. The Astros bullpen yielded two more runs in the eighth, keynoted by Ryan Howard's RBI-triple. But yet again, the Phillies failed to score tack-on runs, leaving the bases loaded in the eighth inning. It would eventually cost them the ball game.

This was a devastating loss for the Phillies, who have now dropped back-to-back games against the Astros. Another weak offensive performance was almost enough, before Brad Lidge surrendered the game winning runs. It has to be very concerning for the Phillies that their offense and their closer have struggled so much down the stretch. Fortunately, they have a large enough lead in the East to regroup before things get too tight.