Phillies Fall To Dodgers 4

Jimmy Rollins acknowledges the crowd before his at bat during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

“From the parking lot all the way around, I thought, damn, this is a pretty long walk”, Rollins said. I can’t worry about the potential of going here or there.

After years of resisting the type of change necessary to course-correct the trajectory of the organization towards returning to the World Series, the Phillies front office finally started to chop away at the foundation that brought them their greatest success.

“I was able to sneak in everywhere, even in the airport”, said a smiling Rollins.

Rightfielder Jeff Francoeur capitalized on his team’s superb relief pitching in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Phils a pulse with a two-run blast, the 150th of his 10-year career, for the final margin. The 2007 NL MVP finished 2 for 5.

Despite not coming through in such situations, Los Angeles escaped with a 4-3 win over the Phillies to split the first two games of the three-game series.

“It was cool”, he said.

The Philadelphia Phillies have simply not been getting the job done behind Jerome Williams in recent contests.

New Phillies closer Ken Giles came in for a four-out save in the 8th and struck out Jimmy Rollins with two men on to preserve the victory. He went five innings and allowed four runs and seven hits while striking out one and walking five.

The Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Harang, left, during the first inning. However, the umpires put their heads together and ruled it a balk.

Odubel Herrera walked on the next pitch to load the bases. “We all know that”. “He’s a gamer”, interim manager Pete Mackanin said. He was 5-9 with a 3.89 ERA in 21 games before Milwaukee traded him and star outfielder Carlos Gomez to Houston last week. He does not feel sorry for himself. “He doesn’t pout. He does damage”. The shortstop tipped his hat to the crowd in gratitude before stepping into the box. Prior to him, the Phillies had Desi Relaford, Alex Arias, Mike Benjamin, Kevin Elster, Juan Bell, Wilson Valdez, Roger Cedeno, Ivan DeJesus, Kevin Stocker and Bobby Wine play the position for only a year or two.

The Dodgers missed chances in the third and fourth. Rollins led off with a single but was erased on a fielder’s choice. But Howie Kendrick bounced out to third, Adrian Gonzalez struck out and Andre Ethier grounded out to first. Francoeur made a one-hop throw and Maikel Franco tagged him on the leg. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but managed to squander it all aside from one run. Singles by Yasmani Grandal and Alberto Callaspo preceded a pinch-hit RBI double by Carl Crawford. 283 with an RBI double to open the scoring against the Dodgers. Phillies 2B Chase Utley, on the disabled list since June 23 with an inflamed right ankle, continued his rehab assignment with Double-A Reading on Tuesday, going 1-for-4. Before his start Tuesday in Philadelphia, he was being touted as the club’s missing piece.