Brad Lidge had the night off. He pitched in 4 consecutive games so he was not available to close the game in the ninth. The Phillies then turned to their 8th inning guy with the 97 mph fastball Ryan Madson. In true closer form this year for the Phils Madson let up a home run to tie the game at 1 and take it to extra innings. Cole Hamels who has not won a game since July 28th pitched a gem last night, going 8 strong innings without letting up a run, only walking 2 and striking out 7 in 123 pitches. The only run support Hamels got was a solo homer by Chase Utley in the 1st inning. The Phils had runners in scoring position a few times but failed to score any more runs. Madson came in and threw some heat reaching 99 on the radar gun but he put a fastball right in the wheelhouse of Brandon Moss who turned on the pitch and tied it 1-1. In the 10th inning Pittsburgh reliever Steven "I'm Sorry Miss" Jackson came in and walked J-Roll and let up a single to Victorino and the Phils had runners on the corner. Up stepped Ryan Howard to crush one over the right field wall and put the Phils on top 4-1. It was Howards 35th of the year and he now has 107 rbis for the year. If Albert Pujols wasn't having a monster year, then Howard would be right up there in talks for the NL MVP. And this is the time of the year when historically the big man starts getting hot.
With the lead now at 4-1 Madson came back out in the 10th to try and salvage his 1 run hiccup that cost Hamels the win and shut down the young Pirates team. Luckily he got the job done and collected the win for the Phils. The Phillies are now 73-51, 22 games over .500 and have won 13 out of their last 15. They still hold a 7 game lead over the Marlins in the NL East. Tonight J.A. Happ(10-2) can help the Phillies win another series when he goes against Charlie Morton(3-6). The Phillies need to continue to win series in the final weeks of the season and they should easily cruise to another NL East title.
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