Phils' Comeback Falls Short as Streak Stopped at Seven

If you're trying to figure out these Phillies, stop right now. If you think you've figured this team out, you're wrong. You don't have a clue. This Phillies team defies all logic and there is no rhyme or reason to them. If you're looking for the proof, try Saturday night's extra-inning, 6-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Vet.

Yeah, it was a loss but for some reason it feels OK.

Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, the Phils mounted an inexplicable comeback against Randy Johnson, Byung-Hyun Kim and the defending World Champs that forced a game heading for an ugly loss into extra innings. Using the long ball and dynamic fielding, the Phils pecked away at Johnson until Tomas Perez could launch a game-tying home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

	Junior Spivey connects for the game-winning hit in the 10th inning of the Phils' loss to the D'backs, Saturday night. (AP)

Logically, it is assumed that when Johnson, a four-time Cy Young Award winner, has a 5-0 lead going into the sixth inning, he's going to finish the deal. Allowing just three hits heading into the sixth after retiring 12 of the first 14 he faced, Johnson looked like he was on cruise control and heading for his 12th win in his last 13 decisions.

"It's tough to give Randy Johnson a 5-0 lead," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "He's a dominant pitcher. But we battled hard."

Then, after lights-out closer Byung-Hyun Kim became just the 33rd pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches during the eighth inning, it seemed as if he would shut the door in the ninth. That is until Perez conjured up ghosts of Kim's World Series past.

But just when it appeared that the pendulum was swinging in the Phillies' direction, the World Champs reversed the momentum and escaped with a one-run victory.

Barely.

The winning run scored when Junior Spivey smacked a two-out double to right off Jose Mesa to drive in Steve Finley. Spivey's drive looked as if it was going to be caught just before it reached the gap, but hard-charging Ricky Ledee couldn't quite get enough leather on the ball for an over-the-shoulder grab.

All week, Mesa looked about as unhittable as Johnson and Kim by nailing down five saves and a win in consecutive games. Saturday just didn't seem to be the night for sure things.

Regardless, Ledee -- who hit a game-winning homer in the ninth on Wednesday night -- thinks he should have run the ball down.

"I should have had it," Ledee said. "It was not an easy play but I should have caught it."

Bowa disagrees.

"No, [he shouldn't have caught it], Bowa said. "He'll tell you he should have but he had to run a long way just to get the tip of his glove on it."

The fact is, the game should not have come down to Ledee missing a ball by inches.

Johnson was cruising, throwing a 98-miles per hour fastball and a slider that made hitters look like a deer in the headlights. The Unit faced the minimum through three innings and retired 12 of the first 14 hitters he faced. With seven strikeouts through the first five innings, the question wasn't if Johnson would win but if he'd pitch all nine and get the shutout.

The last question was answered in the sixth when Doug Glanville hit his second homer (first to leave the park) in as many games to make it 5-2. The first part was answered an inning later when the Phils scored two more, one on a screaming liner solo shot by Pat Burrell and another on a broken-bat single to left by Glanville.

Following Glanville's single, Bowa ordered a gutsy double steal with Jimmy Rollins on second that worked like a charm and seemed to have rattled Johnson and the D'backs. But with 32,634 screaming for more and the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Johnson got Jason Michaels -- in just his fourth big league start -- to foul out in from of the tarp down the first base line.

Still, that was enough to chase Johnson.

"He started to get the ball up more," said Glanville of Johnson's slide in the sixth and seventh. "He wasn't spotting it well but he still had the velocity."

With Kim it was the same story as with Johnson only the demise came quicker.

After seeing Kim set down the first four guys he faced on 12 pitches, Perez went to the plate with a plan: Hit the first fastball.

When he fouled the first-pitch fastball off, he looked for a slider, got it, and put it over the fence to tie it up. It also brought back memories of Kim's three, last-inning home runs against the Yankees in the World Series.

Unlike the Series, manager Bob Brenly stuck with Kim and let him pitch in the 10th to earn the win. He even sent him to the plate with two outs in the 10th and the side-wheeling Korean came through with a single.

"We had every intention of taking him out after the ninth because he had thrown 26 pitches, but after we scored the run, he insisted he was fine to throw one more,'' Brenly said. "Pitchers aren't robots. They make mistakes. BK is no different."

Last autumn, Kim allowed a game-tying home run to Tino Martinez in the ninth inning of Game 4, and a game-winning homer to Derek Jeter moments later. He surrendered a game-tying, two-out ninth inning shot to Scott Brosius in Game 5 and then didn't warm up in games six or seven.

"I hope there are no flashbacks. I don't think they'll be any lasting effects," Brenly said.

Bowa is hoping the same thing for his starter, David Coggin.

Filling in for injured starter Robert Person, Coggin made his first start since losing to the Braves on April 11. He got through the first three innings allowing only a hit and a walk, but wasn't so lucky in the fourth. That's where Finley hit a no-outs, two-run homer followed by a one-out, three-run blast by slap-hitting Craig Counsell.

Bowa turned to the 'pen after Counsell's shot and Cliff Politte, Jose Santiago and Ricky Bottalico held the Diamondbacks scoreless until the 10th.

Despite the loss, the Phils are feeling pretty good with themselves. Sure, the seven-game losing streak (the team's longest in seven years) is gone, but they didn't quit when Johnson and Kim were delivering knockout punches. After a 9-18 April, the team could have rolled over an exposed its rounded belly. Instead, they traded haymakers with the best of the best.

"We played well and it's a bit of a bitter taste, but it's a boost to our confidence to battle back against one of the best pitchers in the game," Glanville said. "It was a lot of fun."

There's more fun to come.

The Phils complete the series and the successful homestand on Sunday with Terry Adams (0-3, 4.05) facing Miguel Batista (2-1, 5.22). Adams is still looking for his first win in Phillie pinstripes after coming close to getting it last Tuesday. He lasted just four innings in a 7-4 victory against the Houston Astros and was hamstrung by three errors, including one of his own.

Errors and no runs have plagued Adams this season. Ten of the team's 22 errors have come in games started by Adams and he has received just 3.8 runs per game in his starts.

Batista allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings for a no decision against the Pirates in his last start. He left the game with a 6-3 lead, but the Diamondbacks' bullpen blew the lead before the team added a run to get a 7-6 victory.

After Sunday's game, the Phils hit the road for seven games beginning on Monday. They start in Houston for three against the Astros and then move on to Phoenix for four more against the D'Backs.

Notes: The last pitcher to strike out the side with just nine pitches was Johnson, who did it last Aug. 23 in Pittsburgh. The last time it happened at the Vet was on June 15, 1991 when Andy Ashby did it to the Reds. ... Finley's homer was the Diamondbacks' first in 25 innings. ... Perez is 7-for-11 during the homestand with three doubles, a homer and six RBIs.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com