Tuesday, July 31, 2012

New-look Phillies shut down Nationals

By RYAN LAWRENCE
rlawrence@delcotimes.com
@ryanlawrence21
WASHINGTON – Stephen Strasburg threw three straight fastballs to Jimmy Rollins in the fourth inning of the first game the Phillies played after the Fire Sale of 2012.
The first was a 94-MPH heater high and outside. The second came in at 93 and was even further outside.



Then Strasburg, the ace flamethrower of the best team in the National League, dialed it up. He let loose on a 95-MPH ball of cheddar that was placed out over the heart of the plate, which also happens to be known as JRoll’s happy place.
Rollins turned his hips and jumped on the pitch quick and then motored around the bases even quicker.
The ball hit off the right field wall, where rookie Bryce Harper accidentally implanted himself in an awkward attempt to catch it. It then caromed toward the right field line as a teenage outfielder laid up along the warning track.
Since Cliff Lee stole second base during Rollins’ at-bat, he didn’t get in the speedy leadoff hitter’s way. Rollins easily made the 360-feet trek around the bases for his fourth inside-the-park home run and first since 2007.
On a day when the Phillies season unofficially came to an end, with a pair of trades that sent Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence to the west coast, the longest tenured player provided a highlight for the team video yearbook and the highest paid player reminded everyone of his worth.
Rollins’ home run and Lee’s dominance on the mound led the Phils to a 6-0 win over first-place Washington Tuesday night at Nationals Park.
“I thought we played good, we came out with life,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “I like the way we played.”
“We’re going to try to play each game for what it is and try to win each game,” Lee said. “No one has given up. No one has folded yet. It’s game on.”
Lee pitched his best game since April, holding the Nats to five hits in seven shutout innings.
The loss snapped a three-game losing streak. It also began a final two-month run of baseball that will be foreign to most young Philadelphia baseball fans.
Earlier in the afternoon, the trades of Victorino and Pence prior to major league baseball’s trade deadline signaled a white flag on a lost season. One year removed from winning a franchise-record 102 games, the Phils officially became sellers on deadline day, which sent a not-so-subtle message form the front office that the focus has moved to 2013.
“There was a lot of talk, but until you do things, there is always a lot of talk and it seems like every day there is a story, every day is kind of like the world is coming to an end or something,” Manuel said of the team’s first midsummer fire sale since 2006, when he was in his second season as the Phils’ manager.
“I remember (former general manager) Pat Gillick made the deals in 2006 and he stood up and said we won’t contend until 2009,” Manuel continued. “I came right behind and said I knew our guys in our clubhouse and I know we’re going to still compete.
“I still have that same attitude. I still have that same attitude I had then and tonight when we come out to play, we’re going to try our best to win. We’ll see where it takes us. I don’t look as nothing as given up. We’re still playing.”
Nearly three months since their last trip to Washington, a three-game series when the Nationals sent a message that they were through being pushovers for the five-time reigning NL East champion Phillies, there was a role reversal again at Nationals Park. Matched up against the team with baseball’s best record, the Phils apparently heard Manuel’s message and played like a team not ready to roll over.
Carlos Ruiz doubled off Strasburg to lead off the second inning. Two batters later, new third baseman Kevin Frandsen ripped a two-run home run.
The new-look Phils were off and running.
Juan Pierre, who curiously wasn’t traded Tuesday, singled in the third and went on to steal both second and third base. He put the Phils up 3-0 when Washington catcher Jesus Flores’ errant throw, in attempt to catch Pierre stealing, sailed into left field.
In the fourth, Lee singled in a run, stole a base and made sure he didn’t get lapped when Rollins ripped his inside-the-park homer.
The inning was Strasburg’s last, matching his shortest start of the season. The eventual win was Lee’s second of the season.
Lee collected that victory a little more than 24 hours after his own name was knee-deep in trade rumors. Before Victorino and Pence were shipped out, Lee was reportedly was there for the taking on the trade market.
“They told us that was rumors and there wasn’t anything really in the works,” Lee said. “Ruben (Amaro Jr.) told me some teams proposed some stuff to him but nothing that ever made even close to sense for the Phillies.”
Despite trading off two All-Star outfielders Tuesday, the Phillies season isn’t over. They have two months of baseball remaining.
Lee hasn’t given up on 2012 or on his reasons for signing a five-year, $120 million deal to join the Phillies instead of the Yankees and Rangers two winters ago.
“I signed here to win here,” Lee said. “Obviously nobody is happy with the way this year has gone but, yeah, this is where I want to be. Obviously we still have a lot of talent, we’ve had a tough draw this year with injuries and stuff. If we can finish this year strong, who knows what’s going to happen. With the moves they made, hopefully it makes us that much better in the future.”

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