Kyle Lohse, the big deadline pick up by the Phillies’ GM Pat Gillick, delivered a pitching performance that could resonate deeper than just in the standings, after the 5-2 victory over the Braves. In turning in seven, efficient innings in which he gave up just two runs and only allowed one hit after the fourth inning, Lohse probably didn’t save the Phillies season, but he may have ruined things for the Mets.
By beating the Braves, Lohse not only gave the ragged and weary bullpen a rare short and easy (relatively speaking) night, he also helped drag the always fickle pendulum of momentum over to the Phillies’ side of things in the sprint to the finish in the NL East.
You don’t think the New York Mets and their fans don’t know what Lohse and the Phillies did last night? Guess again. The midnight callers to the late-night shows on WFAN weren’t as half as desperate sounding as the body language emanating from the Mets’ players during the last few innings of the loss to the lowly Washington Nationals.
Worse yet, how do the Mets get sweep by the Nationals with everything hanging in the balance? Seriously, the Nationals?
But perhaps more interestingly, Lohse very well could have earned himself a Brink’s truck full of money after beating the Braves last night.
Really?
Despite a 9-12 record and 4.63 ERA split between his time with the Phillies and the Reds, the 28-year old right-hander might be a sought after commodity on the free-agent wire this winter. For one thing, there aren’t too many pitchers Lohse’s age with six years of big league experience under their belt to go with three playoff appearances. Then – again, despite the numbers – Lohse just always seems to win games. At least that has been the case for the Phillies.
In 11 starts since joining the Phillies in the trade with the Reds in late July, Lohse is 3-0 with a 4.76 ERA. Opponents have hit a lusty .313 off him and he’s registered 39 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings. Nope, that’s nothing to write home about there. But in those 11 starts the Phillies are 9-2 and Lohse has taken the game to the seventh inning in seven of those starts.
In other words, you know exactly what you are going to get with Kyle Lohse.
“Looking back, getting Lohse is probably the best move we’ve made all season,” said Aaron Rowand, though his manager Charlie Manuel stated that the deal to pick up Greg Dobbs was a great move, too. “He has the stuff, the makeup and the intelligence to go and attack hitters. He’s been solid.”
But what do the Phillies think they can get from Lohse and his uber-agent Scott Boras this winter? After all, the Phillies did “rescue” Lohse from going through the motions and playing out the string for the lowly Reds this season, and put him right in the middle of a pennant race. Plus, admittedly Lohse enjoys his new teammates and the chemistry on the club.
However, if the Phillies want to talk to Lohse and Boras at the end of the season, they are more than welcome to extend an offer. If not, well, there are a lot of baseball teams looking for pitching.
“To be able to come here and jump in a playoff race with this group, it’s good to finish it off in this kind of atmosphere,” Lohse said after beating the Braves. “But I've kind of earned the right to go out there. I owe it to myself to see what's out there. This is a great situation, but we'll see how it works out. Every player, once he gets six years [of Major League service time] has earned the opportunity to see what's up.”
Undoubtedly, Lohse will get the chance real soon.
In the meantime, though, Lohse could be called on to make one more start for the Phillies this week. If that happens it would be in a playoff game for the right to go to the playoffs on Monday.
Victorino answers the call
Though he hasn’t started a game since Sept. 20, and has been in the lineup just three times this month since his late August return from the DL with a calf injury, Shane Victorino came through last night.
Pinch hitting for Lohse in the bottom of the seventh of a two-run game, Victorino turned on an inside pitch from the Braves’ hurler Tim Hudson and rocketed one deep into the right-field seats.
“It's exciting to hit a home run and all, but the bigger thing is that we won,” Victorino said. "Whatever opportunity I get I'm going to do what I have to do to help this team win.”
Hitting homers and helping the club is the easy part. The difficult part has been getting onto the field. After injuring his calf while running out a ground ball in Chicago in late July, Victorino has been hitting the brakes more than a car driving down a steep hill. In mid-August the right fielder returned to the lineup, only to tweak his calf again and miss even more time. Since then Victorino’s calf injury has flared up from time to time in such a way that he didn’t need to go back on the disabled list, but it was just enough to relegate him to pinch-hitting duties.
Plus, with Jayson Werth swinging a hot bat through late August and September, Manuel has opted to go with the right-handed hitter in right field.
Needless to say it’s been rather tough for Victorino.
“It was just frustrating. I tried to come back too quick and I just wasn't ready,” he said. “I just wanted to go out and play, but the next time I know to take my time.”
However, when Manuel gives the call, Victorino says he won’t be stopped.
“I'm ready. It's his decision to make,” he said. “But when things are going good like they are, it's kind of like you don't want to break your rhythm.”
Victorino’s homer off Hudson was his first since July 8 and just his 10th hit (in 34 at-bats) since July 31.
*** More coming later today ...