By RYAN LAWRENCE
rlawrence@delcotimes.com
PHILADELPHIA – On an uncomfortably sultry afternoon at the ballpark, a herd of reporters surrounded Phillies manager Charlie Manuel for his daily pregame press availability.
“Big crowd,” Manuel said with a chuckle before Wednesday’s game.
“Win two in a row and it’ll get even bigger,” a reporter responded.
For just the second time this month, the Phillies have won two in a row. Placido Polanco finished off a two-out, ninth-inning by reaching on what looked like a routine ground out to shortstop as the Phils collected a walk-off, 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies Wednesday night.

Two batters after Hunter Pence ripped a game-tying double to left, Polanco stepped to the plate with the bases loaded against Colorado closer Rafael Betancourt. Polanco hit a ground ball up the middle where shortstop Marco Scutaro scooped it up and threw to first, but Todd Helton came off the bag at first and Pence crossed the plate at the game-ending run.
“As I was getting close, I thought he was off the bag and that I had a chance,” said Polanco, whose lead foot wedged between Helton’s and the bag on the play.
The Phillies entered the night 1-9 in games that they were tied in after eight innings. But Polanco’s walk-off ground ball, which was preceded by Shane Victorino legging out an infield single, showed the Phils late-inning offense might have a pulse after all.
“Two outs, last inning – we kept taking tough at-bats and it paid off,” Polanco said.
“That was a big finish for us,” Manuel said. “Just hustling at the end got us a win. That’s why you hustle.”
When the Phils take the field Thursday night, they’ll have a chance to sweep the Rockies and win more than two games in a row for what would be just the third time this season. The Phillies, 14-19 at Citizens Bank Park this year, haven’t won three straight at home since May 15.
“These are the kind of games that can raise your spirits… it’s good that we came back at home, too,” said Manuel, whose team plays 11 of its last 14 games before the All-Star break at home. “We need to start playing better. We need to have a big homestand.”
Wednesday’s win kept the Phils eight back of the Washington Nationals in the NL East. The come-from-behind win was only made possible with a shaky performance from Jonathan Papelbon.
Papelbon entered in a tie game for the third time this season and exited having given up the lead in his third straight tie game.
After recording the first two outs of the ninth, Papelbon gave up a double to Willin Rosario and a go-ahead single to Dexter Fowler. Papelbon, the highest paid reliever in baseball history, has watched opponents hit .545 (6-for-11) with four extra-base hits against him in ties games this season.
Joe Blanton’s wobbly performance before the $50 million closer entered didn’t get the Phils off to a productive start Wednesday.
Blanton allowed at least five runs for the sixth time in his last seven starts. Six days removed from giving up one run in his second complete game of the season, Blanton yielded three home runs in the first four innings against the Rockies.
The first put the Phils in a 3-1 hole, the second tied the game at 4-4 after Michael Martinez launched a three-run home run and the third gave Colorado a 5-4 lead.
But Blanton’s night surprisingly ended well – he retired the last 11 batters he faced and needed only 83 pitches to get through seven innings. His strong finish, however, couldn’t erase the fact that he lost leads twice during his seesaw start.
“I felt in control the whole game,” said Blanton, who has given up 15 home runs in his last seven starts. “It was just one of those games where you throw pitches to a spot and they get hit.”
Blanton exited a 5-5 game after seven. The offense still had a chance to lead the Phils to their second straight win.
But, curiously, Manuel left one of his hottest bats on the bench when the situation called for a run producer at the plate.
After Antonio Bastardo skated his way out of trouble in the top half of the eighth, Carlos Ruiz got hit with a pitch to begin the eighth. Two batters later, after Shane Victorino bunted Ruiz over and Colorado chose to walk Placido Polanco, the Phils had two on and one out.
But nine pitches later, the rally went bust. John Mayberry Jr. struck out before Martinez grounded out to second to end the inning. Jim Thome, who hit four home runs and drove in 14 runs on the recently completed nine-game road trip, remained on the bench.
Making the managerial decision all the more curious: Manuel brought Ty Wigginton in to play first and moved Mayberry to left when Bastardo entered, but he didn’t double switch. The failure to double switch meant Bastardo – and not Wigginton – was in the ninth spot in the order.
Instead of having the ability to hit Thome for Martinez, and then using Mike Fontenot to play second base in place of Martinez, Manuel was holding Thome back for Bastardo. But Bastardo’s spot never came up.
“(Thome) is going to get a lefty there,” Manuel explained of not hitting Thome for Martinez. “At home, in a tie game, I want to keep my defense on the field.”
Thome eventually hit in the ninth, grounding out to first to begin an inning that ended with the Phils erasing a two-run deficit.