In 1938 Johnny Vandermeer pitched no hitters in two consecutive starts, a record that is unlikely ever to be broken, especially in this era of five-inning starters. Undaunted, your Philadelphia Phillies tried a new twist this past week, namely having two consecutive no-hitters thrown against them. But, alas, as with every other endeavor by this mediocre team, they failed. Just when it looked like they might not manage to scratch out a single base hit someone spoiled the party.
On Wednesday Randy Johnson limited the Phils to one hit over six innings. Last night Matt Morris did the same. The Phils made Wednesday's game interesting by rallying in the ninth inning and nearly coming all the way back were it not for Michael Bourn's base-running gaffe. Last night the Phils were out of it after two innings, trailing 5-0 on their way to being embarrassed 13-0.
There were exactly two highlights for the Phils last night and both came in the first inning on the same play when Shane Victorino gunned down his eight base-runner of the season and Carlos Ruiz made the tag at home. Ruiz never drops a throw to the plate unlike his predecessor Mike Lieberthal who, it seemed, dropped every other one. By the second inning the Giants weren't taking any chances as they smoked bomb after bomb against Adam Eaton and a succession of so-called relief pitchers.
Eaton almost escaped that fateful second inning when it appeared he'd struck out Morris, but he didn't get the call and Morris responded with a base hit (one of three on the night). Three batters later a grand slam home run unofficially ended the evening. It would take seven more innings of phutility to put an official seal on the procedures.
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