Phils Cough Up Game to Rockies, 6-2

So much for the afterglow.

One day after resoundingly jumping off the schneid with a 7-1 win Tuesday night, the Phillies find themselves within the throes of a losing stretch. Wednesday night's 6-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies in Veterans Stadium gives the Phillies five losses in their last six outings. But through 6 2/3 innings in Wednesday’s tilt, it seemed that the team might have mastered the hot-hitting Rockies.

Think again.

In what has been a disturbing trend in both wins and losses this season, the Phillies stranded runners, failed to move runners over with fewer than one out and gave no support to a solid outing by the starting pitcher.

The Phillies were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and failed to capitalize on three different scenarios: Runner on second with no outs; runner on third with one out; and runners on first and second with no outs.

Wednesday’s only clutch hit was a two-out single by Travis Lee in the fourth inning to score Mike Lieberthal, who had doubled one pitch prior off Rockies starter Brian Bohanon. The first run came earlier in the inning when Jimmy Rollins belted his first career home run into the bullpen in left.

At the same time, the team wasted a solid performance by starter Robert Person, who came just one out -- or perhaps even one pitch -- away from any harm and a probable 2-1 victory.

But it wasn’t to be.

After giving up a second inning home run to Todd Hollandsworth, Person was cruising. He retired 15 of 17 after the homer and clung to a 2-1 lead like a security blanket.

But in the seventh inning, Person (2-3, 4.66), in the words of manager Larry Bowa, “ran out of gas.”

Things got started on a positive note with two quick outs. He struck out a game Todd Helton, who fouled off pitch after pitch with a 3-2 count, and then whiffed Greg Norton. But then Person became the living, breathing embodiment of the old baseball cliché that states: “The third out is always the toughest.”

The Phils right-hander gave up a single to Hollandsworth and walked light-hitting Neifi Perez. Rather than challenge eight-spot hitter Brent Mayne, Person walked him too, loading the bases and ending his night.

“We didn’t want Mayne to beat us because he has great numbers with runners in scoring position,” Person explained. “We didn’t want to give him anything good to hit.”

Bowa then called on Wayne Gomes to wriggle out of the bases-loaded jam, but the reliever just wasn’t slippery enough.

Brooks Kieschnick, who had just been called up from the minors Tuesday, ripped a two-run single off Gomes to give the Rockies the lead they would never relinquish. What makes it even more frustrating for Person –- lack of run support notwithstanding -– was the fact that he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s very frustrating,” Person said of the fateful seventh inning. “After I got that second out, I didn’t want to relax, and I easily could have gotten out of there. It was just a matter of making one pitch.”

Bowa had a different take on Person’s trouble.

“I thought he threw good, but he just ran out of gas,” Bowa said. “We had the right match-ups but we just didn’t get him any runs. We wasted our opportunities.

“We have to give him some breathing room to make some mistakes.”

At this point, Person is used to not having any run support. In Person’s six starts this season the Phils have scored just nine runs while he’s been on the mound –- and three of those were knocked in by him. Twice, the Phils have been shut out when Person took the hill, and three other times they only got him two runs.

It isn’t a statistic that escapes the right-hander, but Wednesday he was faced with a double-whammy. Not only did the Phils' bats come up dry, but also Gomes let the two inherited runners score on Kieschnick’s single.

“It’s a little frustrating,” Person admitted. “But it wasn’t the problem [Wednesday]. The bullpen has been helping us out all year so I understand being taken out in that situation. I’m just mad because I had two outs and couldn’t put a guy away.”

If Person is frustrated just imagine how Bowa feels. Despite boasting a 7-3 record with a 2.66 ERA, the ‘pen hasn’t been too good with runners in scoring position. In those situations, the ERA jumps to 8.25 and only Gomes, Chris Brock and Ricky Bottalico are under 3.00.

“Nobody is expecting them to pitch lights-out all year,” Bowa shrugged.

For the Rockies, Bohanon continued his success away from the thin air at Coors Field. Heading into the game, the lefty was 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA. However, his ERA was 2.84 on the road (versus 11.93 at home). Against the Phillies, he lasted six solid innings and gave up just the two runs.

He also was consistently ahead in the count all night. During his stint, Bohanon threw 68 pitches –- 47 of which were strikes. Six times he retired a Phillie on just one pitch.

"(Bohanon) didn't get out of his pattern and got his first win when we really needed it," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said. "It's all about pitching. He kept us close tonight so then we didn't need anything huge."

Also, Kane Davis pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and closer Jose Jimenez faced two batters to notch his seventh save.

Despite the loss, first place softens a lot of the Phillies problems. At 15-11, the team is still looking down on the rest of the NL East and is a whole three-games ahead of the 13-15 Atlanta Braves.

Can’t complain about that.

The Phils and Rockies play the rubber-game of the series Thursday in a mid-afternoon matinee at the Vet. Amaury Telemaco (2-0, 3.25) faces Pedro Astacio (3-1, 3.09). Friday, the San Francisco Giants arrive in Philadelphia for a three-game, weekend series before the Phils hit the road for a six-game swing that will take them to Houston and Arizona.

Notes: Hollandsworth extended his hitting streak to 15 games, which is the longest in the National League this season. ... Glanville is 2-for-25 with runners in scoring position this season. ... The Phillies turned three double plays, a season high.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com