It was almost as if people were conceding first place right back before the game even began. After all, Kyle Kendrick has struggled of late, and Johan has been the most dominating pitcher in baseball the last few Augusts. But Kendrick actually outpitched Johan, to an extent. Honestly, he struggled much more than Johan, threw more pitches and had worse location, but Kendrick surrendered just two runs, while the Phils picked up three of Santana. No one saw that coming.
The game went to the bullpens, with both were hurting for arms. The Phils more so, as Jamie Moyer only managed three innings on Tuesday night. And that's where the world was really turned upside down on its head. Scott Eyre did do a marvelous job for the Fightins, going two perfect innings and striking out three. But thin on arms, it was Rudy time, and old man Seanez couldn't get the job done, blowing a save in the eighth. And even Brad Lidge couldn't get the job done, allowing the Mets to take a sizable lead. He sure picked an awful game to do that.
Meanwhile, the Mets bullpen pitched flawlessly, going a combined three shutout innings and yielding just one hit. That's not a misprint. It really happened.
Considering the lack of bullpen arms available, it wasn't a shock the Phils lost, allowing the Mets to get right back in first. It was, however, quite odd the way it unfolded.
Oh, and keeping with the opposite theme, how about Pat Burrell this year? He's having the complete opposite season as last year, where he struggled most of the year and turned it on in July, August and September. This year, Pat's been scorching most of the year, but now, when it really matters, he sucks donkey balls.
And it's not the, "He's hitting the ball hard or just in a funk" kind of Pat Burrell. It's the old, dreaded "Looking at strike three" Pat Burrell. That's not good for anybody. If he doesn't snap out of this soon, the Phils could be in trouble.
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