Philadelphia's Pennant Push

I love watching Rich Harden pitch. The smooth slinging Chicago Cubs hurler retired the first 16 defending World Series champion Philadelphia batters he faced Tuesday. He remained poised and composed on the mount, working like an artist and flirting with perfection through six innings. Harden harnessed a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning before issuing a pass to the Phillies’ Carlos Ruiz. The control pitcher then allowed Jimmy Rollins to exploit the situation and break up Harden’s no-hit bid. Rollins crushed a game-tying homerun into Wrigley’s right field bleachers to put the Phillies on the scoreboard and clear the bases. The flashy Philadelphia shortstop has been unleashing his power bat since snapping a difficult career-worst 0-for-28 streak. He’s clubbing an eye-popping .325 with eight long balls and 27 RBIs in his last 151 trips to the plate. Rollins was rocking in the sixth inning when he dished off Harden to start Philadelphia’s late inning rally, propelling them to a 4-3 victory in 12 innings.
The Cubs gave their starting pitcher some support on a Jake Fox single and Alfonso Soriano bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Pryor to Tuesday’s start, Harden had dominated Philadelphia. In 20 innings against the team, his era was .90 and he allowed just two runs. Harden gave up only one other hit after Rollins’ blast Tuesday, a Ryan Howard single in the seventh. The power hitter knocked an excellent pitch into the stands to give the NL run-leading Phillies the temporary edge. Reliever, Carlos Marmol, was summoned from the Chicago bullpen in the 8th. His contributions would soon like to be forgotten by Cubs’ faithful. The burly, bulky Marmol had control issues from the moment he manned the mound. He hit a batter and walked three, including a bases loaded pass to Howard. The reliever is usually hard to hit and can fool hitters with a deceptive fastball. But he has walked 52 batters and hit 11 in 53 innings this season. Marmols’ mechanics may be to blame for his wackiness. Once he starts walking batters, he seems to lose his motion and becomes inept and ineffective.
Philadelphia’s one-run cushion would not stand. It wasn’t enough to secure the win in nine
frames. Phillies closer, Brad Lidge, coughed up the lead, blowing his 7th save in 28 tries. A leadoff walk by Kosuke Fukudome instigated the Cubs’ offense in the ninth. Fukudome advanced to second on Ryan Theriot’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Milton Bradley’s line drove smothering to right. In extra innings, Ben Francisco made a winner out of Philadelphia’s Scott Eyre, who worked 1 1/3 perfect innings. Chad Durbin tossed a hitless 12th to pick up his second save of the season. Francisco smacked a dramatic leadoff dinger to cap off the visiting team’s comeback. He delivered the game-winning drive off Chicago’s closer, Kevin Gregg, to give the Phillies their fourth win in 12 games. It was Francisco’s second homerun of the year. This was came off a 1-1 fastball and was planted into the basket that hangs over Wrigley’s left field fence. Philadelphia leads the NL East by 3 ½, while the Cubs trail St. Louis in the NL Central by 3 games. Francisco was a throw-in player in the Cliff Lee deal with Cleveland just before the trade deadline. Since joining the team that plays in City Of Brotherly Love, the slugger has started five games in the outfield. He is hitting .345 in his last 16 games with Philadelphia and Cleveland.
It’s too bad another Harden effort ended on a sour note for the Cubs. The strictly heart-breaking loss was a wasted opportunity for the Cubs for their playoff aspirations. Harden is one of those pitchers you really enjoy watching. He brings no-hit caliber stuff to each and every start. It would be nice to see him in full health all year to realize his incredible pitching potential. The hurler has an unlimited ceiling and is blessed with a stylish, accurate array of right-handed offerings. Chicago’s defeat resulted in a no-decision but the hard-throwing Harden holds a 1.95 ERA in his last 37 innings. It is distinctly no picnic facing Harden.

Parting points: Happy Birthday Pete Sampras!

The Phillies throw Pedro Martinez tonight. It’s Petey’s season debut and first start with Philadelphia.