Posted By Christina Angelos
Courtesy of Daylife.com
Every fan thought this game will be canceled because of the crazy weather outside. Yea let's guess again. However, after a delay of 1 hour, 54 minutes at the start, the game was played straight through without any stoppage after the first pitch. The teams were set to start after a 90 minute delay, but the rain began falling harder and umpires told the grounds crew to put the tarp back on the field.
At 8:59pm, let's play ball!!
Roy Halladay looked like he was having trouble adjusting to the mound or something. In the second inning, a wild pitch and a passed ball helped the Braves get an early lead. Freddie Freeman scored Chipper Jones at the start of the inning, giving the Braves the lead. Then Phillies answered. Back-to-back singles by Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz set up a sac fly by Wilson Valdez, tying the game at one a piece.
In the fourth inning, Halladay labored again. A pair of leadoff hits gave the Braves two runners in scoring position. Brian McCann would score on an infield single by Dan Uggla. Once again, a tied ballgame after Carlos Ruiz smack a solo homerun (his fourth of the year).
Nothing really happen much until Michael Stutes (8th) and Antonio Bastardo (9th) took to the hill as they each threw a perfect inning. Onto extra innings!!
Here comes Juan Perez for the 10th inning. Perez threw nine pitches to Jason Heyward, Nate McLouth, and Wilkin Ramirez, and struck out all three of them. That’s right, nine pitches, nine strikes. Welcome to the Pig Pen, Braves. (Juan Perez became the first Phillies pitcher to strike out the side on 9 pitches since Andy Ashby on June 15, 1991.)
Onto the bottom of the 10th… The Braves turned to right-hander Scott Proctor to pitch with no lefties left in their bullpen. Howard lined one toward the gap, but was robbed of a hit on a great diving catch by Jordan Schafer in center. Raul Ibanez followed Howard, he crushed the 2-0 from Proctor deep to right and out of the park for a game-winning, walk-off home run.
The Phillies managed to beat the Braves and their bullpen in ten innings, 3-2. Perez picked up the win, the first of his career. And Charlie Manuel wins No. 600 during his tenure.
