Myers Injured After Phils' Fielding Goes All Chico's Bail Bonds

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It's hard to win as ugly as the Phillies did last night in Florida, but then again, this is the Phillies. Thanks to a 3-run surge in the top of the 9th, the Phils led 7-3 heading into the bottom of the frame, when the wheels came off in the field. Brett Myers, the Phillies only reliable arm in the pen, came in despite it a non-save situation, which isn't abnormal, but there's been a lot of talk about Charlie Manuel needing to overuse Myers. Just a day before, Myers frustratingly responded to questions about his overuse, saying,  "I'm a little sick of answering those questions... I can do it. My arm bounces back. It's fine."

Myers gave up two runs on a triple by Dan Uggla after two quick singles. When Hanley Ramirez made contact on the next pitch, Greg Dobbs threw home, where he had no play on Uggla (and the Phillies had a 2-run cushion), letting Ramirez reach first safely. Two strikeouts and a hit batsman later, and Aaron Boone puts the ball into play, but not well enough to score Ramirez, or so you'd think. The throw was in time, and Rod Barajas was waiting to apply the tag, but he stood like a stone and left the five-hole open for Ramirez to slide under him. Of course, Barajas bitched about it and got himself and Manuel tossed (both huge losses late in the game...), but Ramirez was clearly safe. Then things got much, much worse.

On the next batter, Myers, whose pitch count had reached the mid-20s, felt something go wrong in his arm. He threw again, uncorking a wild pitch, which could be his last for a while as he left the game in some degree of discomfort. Clay Condrey came in to stop the bleeding, and the Phillies came back in the 10th to win on an RBI single by Abraham Nunez and a scoreless ending by Condrey.

Reports are that Myers will be cutting the road trip short and coming back to Philly for examination. With Tom Gordon still battling old age and an upper respiratory infection, the Phils may have to go to a closer-by-one-hell-of-a-shaky-committee (Alfonseca, Geary, Madson).

How did Dobbs feel after his mental mistake led to allowed this twist of fate? Marcus Hayes relays this sobering quote:

"I'm praying I didn't aid in Brett being out for a long time. I'm sick
to my stomach. I want to go over to him, but I can't even talk to him
right now. I'm praying to God he's going to be OK." 

You and the rest of the Phillies fans, Greg. Barajas, however, showed no remorse, and shrugged it off. It's time to put an end to his embarrassing season.

The .500 roller coaster keeps rolling. The Phils have yet to win a game after hitting the .500 mark this season, but they'll try again tonight before heading to Atlanta, in all likelihood with no closer on the charter.

>>Rod and Unreal [Marcus Hayes]

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