Phillies lose 8th in a row….rollover to Tigers 12-4

The city of Detroit went broke last week, and now the Phillies are playing like a team that is busted, as a mediocre team with a high payroll was embarrassed for the 2nd straight day, losing 12-4 to the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Phillies ACTUALLY took the lead, which seems like an eternity. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, John Mayberry got a one out walk. Then, with Mayberry on the move, Laynce Nix hit a groundout to shortstop that advanced him to second. Finally, Carlos Ruiz hit a ground single to center that scored Mayberry, and that gave the Phillies, a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, the bottom of the Tigers lineup came up big again. Alex Avila led off with a ground-rule double to left center field. Then, Ramon Santiago hit a ground single to left that put men on the corners.

Then, to make matters worse, Austin Jackson walked to load the bases with no one out. After one out, in one of the strangest at-bats you will see Miguel Cabrera was ejected by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild, after BARELY complaining about balls and strikes, which shows once again that umpires in MLB are WAY TOO SENSITIVE. Then, to top it off manager Jim Leyland got booted for speaking his mind.

However, give it to Phillies starter Jonathan Pettibone, who then struck out pinch-hitter Matt Tuiasosopo, then got Prince Fielder to pop out to Michael Young, to get out of a bases-loaded no out situation.

In the top of the 4th, Kevin Frandsen hit a one out ground-rule double to right, then Mayberry lined a single to center, Frandsen moved to third, but came up gimpy, as it seems he hurt a leg or groin, but stayed in. With men on the corners, Nix then hit a grounder to right that scored Frandsen, and made the score, 2-0.

In the 5th inning, the newest Phillie, Steve Susdorf led off with a double down the right field line, his 1st major league hit. After Jimmy Rollins sacrificed Susdorf to third, Young struck out looking. Then, after Chase Utley was intentionally walked, Darin Ruf hit a single to center that scored Susdorf, and gave Philadelphia, a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Tigers mounted their comeback. Santiago, led off with a bunt single, as the ball got by Pettibone. Then, Austin Jackson hit a bloop single in front of Nix, and putting runners on first and second base. Don Kelly, then hit a line single to center that loaded the bases, and Tuiasosopo hit a ground single to center that scored Santiago, and made it 3-1. Fielder, then cut the deficit to 3-2, as he grounded out to Frandsen for a RBI. Detroit tied the game at 3-3, when Victor Martinez hit a grounder to Ruf, who tagged the base, but Kelly beat the throw home and slid under the tag of Ruiz.

In the 6th inning, new reliever Jake Diekman came into replace Pettibone, and well when Phillies relievers come in, things as of late goes bad. Andy Dirks led off with a walk, then Avila bunted the ball back to Diekman, but his throw to second base hit Dirks, and they charged Diekman with a error. Then, Santiago bunted the ball down the third base line to Diekman, but Santiago legged out a single, and once again the Tigers had the bases loaded with nobody out.

With one out, just when you think you have seen everything with this Phillies team, it got worse. Kelly hit a fly ball to left that should have been a sacrifice fly, but instead Susdorf dropped the ball in left, and that made the score, 4-3.

Diekman was then taken out for Luis Garcia, who proceeded to walk Tuiasosopo on four pitches, and making the score, 5-3. Detroit made it 6-3, as Fielder hit a easy grounder to first, but Ruf’s throw home pulled Ruiz off home plate, and Ruf was charged with a error, the third of the inning for the Phillies. After a bases loaded walk, which made the score 7-3, Jhonny Peralta took a 2-0 fastball from Garcia, and hit a no doubt grand slam, which made 11-3, and fortunately ended Garcia’s day, but unfortunately did not end his career as a Phillie.

So, in the bottom of the 6th…8 runs on 2 hits and 3 errors…sounds normal…..UGH. All eight runs UNEARNED!

After that fiasco, the Tigers made it 12-3, in the bottom of the 7th inning, as Antonio Bastardo gave up a RBI single to Hernan Perez.

In the 8th inning, the Phils cut it to 12-4, as Ruf lined a double to left, and then Frandsen hit a soft liner to left that scored RUf, but Frandsen was thrown out at second…down EIGHT runs!

The Phillies have now lost eight in a row, and the worst road trip of nine games since 1995 (1-8). Robert Porcello got the win, while Diekman took the well deserving loss.

The Phils are off tomorrow, but then return to CB Park on Tuesday, to play the defending champs, the San Francisco Giants.