“As it turned out it worked best for us because of Franco’s home run”. Despite giving up seven hits and three walks, the Dodgers got to him for only one run. Phillies players stood and clapped in the dugout. It was also the first by a Phillies rookie since Ryan Howard hit one against the Atlanta Braves on September 21, 2005. It lasted for about 40 seconds and prompted Rollins to doff his helmet twice.
Advertisement
Franco’s heroics propelled Philadelphia to its 13th victory in 16 games since the All-Star break.
He was the first domino to go down when the franchise finally began to rebuild, and the Phillies were always going to be near the floor of the National League East this season, if not lying facedown on it. But in light of their 16-17 record under interim manager Pete Mackanin, everyone can see that they didn’t have to be as bad as they were before Sandberg resigned on June 26.
With the bags jammed, Wood was removed from the game.
Rollins, typically, played it cool before the game, saying: “No, it wasn’t anything I circled on my calendar … at the end of the day, it’s just another baseball game”. “It was a great moment”. The Phillies have scored 20 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in seven of their last 10 games.
“Jimmy is Philly”, he said.
The Phillies appeared to take a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Ruiz raced home from second base when the ball slipped out of Wood’s hand on his delivery to the plate.
Instead, after a long chat, the umpires ruled a balk, sending Ruiz back to third. Wood walked Herrera on the next pitch, loading the bases with one out.
“He’s a gamer”, Mackanin said of Franco. “Because it didn’t cross the foul line, it’s a balk”.
In 2,090 games as a Phillie, Jimmy Rollins registered a franchise-leading 2,306 hits and 479 doubles, stole 453 bases, hit 216 home runs and had 887 RBIs.
Peralta’s third pitch was a curveball that Franco hit over the left-field wall for the grand slam. It probably felt good for them to cheer that much for their former All-Star player.
Wood pitched well, allowing four runs on eight hits, with eight strikeouts over 6.1 innings, but ran out of gas in the seventh after he walked Odubel Herrera to load the bases.
“Hopefully, that was a tip, but obviously whatever happened over here, he took it upon himself to say he didn’t really want to be a part of it anymore”.
Don Mattingly opted to bring in reliever Joel Peralta to face Maikel Franco with the bases loaded, and that decision would backfire.
The Phillies broke on top in the third inning.
Rollins’ return wasn’t quite like the ones in recent years across the street at Lincoln Financial Field.
Ethier’s RBI single in the fifth tied it 1-1.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Jimmy Rollins, right, a former Philadelphia Phillie, acknowledges the crowd before his at-bat as Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz looks on during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, August 4, 2015, in Philadelphia. “I think that helps because I have seen them come back regardless of how they finished here”. We have games to win and games to play. Before the game, the Dodgers reinstated C A.J. Ellis (right knee inflammation) from the disabled list and optioned C Austin Barnes to Triple-A Oklahoma City….
Advertisement
Woods went into his usual wind up and he was certainly looking to put the ball near the plate.
