Werth Keys Phils Comeback Win

It wasn’t pretty, but it’s certainly a start.  The Phillies fell behind the visiting Washington Nationals early, trailing by three in the fifth inning.  After Shane Victorino tripled to start the Phillies half of the fifth, Nationals left fielder, Willie Harris, dropped a pop-up from Greg Dobbs allowing Victorino to score.  Dobbs would score later in the inning to trim the Nationals lead to 4-3.  Chris Coste tied the game in the seventh with a sacrifice fly.  Jayson Werth — who at this point needs to be playing everyday — crushed a hanging breaking ball from Steve Shell for his 17th homer of the season.  Brad Lidge closed to door for his 31st save in as many chances.

Last night marked the first game at Citizen’s Bank Park since Jimmy Rollins called the Philadelphia fans “front runners”.  Though Harry Kalas told viewers there was a mixed reaction when Rollins strolled to the plate for his first at bat, it was hard to tell.  For reasons unknown to me, Comcast played a clip of Rollins talking about his comments as he was being announced.  My guess is that the Phillies, or some executive from Comcast decided to play the clip instead of the fans reaction.  I think that Rollins comments were probably taken out of context by most fans, but I would wager that more than a few fans were disappointed that the reception that Rollins received was not heard.

As for the game, the Phillies won a game they desperately needed to.  The offense still has a long way to go to regain the form they displayed in May, but in the end, a win is a win.  With the home stretch drawing near, and a tough series with the Dodgers looming this weekend, the Phillies really need a sweep of the Nationals.  Anything less would be hard to swallow at this point.  Last night was a good start.