Game Wrap 8/5/2011: Phillies 9 Giants 2

The Giants season hit a new low point in this one, which seems to be happening on almost a daily basis lately. The highlight of the game was a bench clearing incident ignited when Ramon Ramirez decided he'd had enough of the Phillies stylin' and rubbin' it in, and drilled Shane Victorino in the butt with a pitch in the 6'th inning. More on that later. Key Lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, 2B, SF. BA= .310. Pablo is the offense right now.

Eli Whiteside- 1 for 2, HR(4). BA= .213. Whitey hits an occasional HR. Tonight, he also played a central role in the bench clearing incident. He'll probably get a suspension and fine, but I think he did the right things out there.

Jonathan Sanchez- 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.10. Sanchez sailed through the first 3 innings then ran out of gas with a significant drop in velocity in the 4'th. Conditioning and stamina have always been issues with JSanch.

Brawl- Like I said in he opening, the Phillies were pooping on the Giants and rubbing their noses in it: Swinging for the fences on 3-0 counts. Stealing bases with a 6 run lead. Ramon Ramirez wasn't havin' it, had an open base(the game was down the tubes anyway), and drilled Victorino in the butt. Victorino immediately started toward the mound but was in no hurry to get there. The Eli Whiteside ran out to stand between Victorino and Ramirez with the ump right behind him. The whole thing would have died down pretty quickly had not Placido Polanco, who was a runner on 2B come charging in. From the video, I thought he as charging at Whiteside, but Carl Steward on Extra Baggs seems to think he was headed for Ramirez. Whitey turned and made a clean football tackle taking Polanco to the ground just as the reinforcements arrived from both benches. Huff got taken down and appeared to have suffered a blow to the side of the head. Phillies reserve catcher, Brian Schneider appeared to be roughed up a bit. Pablo got in a swing or two, and unfortunately, maybe a kick. Polanco didn't get ejected but I hope when MLB reviews the tape he gets a deserved fine and suspension, especially if Eli gets one. There would not have been a fight without Polanco's actions.

As Kruk was saying on the broadcast, these two teams really don't like each other right now. The Phillies still seem to be smarting from last year's NLCS loss and then the Giants took 2 of 3 in Philly last week. The Phillies seem to think they are the better team, which they may be, and the Giants got lucky and don't deserve all the attention and accolades they are getting. Now they are both once again division leaders and quite possibly headed for another collision in the NLCS this year. Tensions are high. Reminds me of the old Giant-Dodger feuds from the 60's. How great is it that it's turned into a cross-country rivalry?

The Loss left the Giants 0.5 games ahead in the NL West as the Dangerous D'Backs once again shrank from taking advantage of the Giants stumbles, losing to the Dodgers 7-4. The Dodgers and Rockies are both 10 games back. Maybe not totally out of it, but both teams have a long ways to go to get back in the race. The Pathetic Padres continue to bring up the rear in the division.

Matt Cain tries to be the stopper today facing lefty Cole Hamels. The Giants have a good record against LHP's but their lineup seems weaker against southpaws. We'll see if the Giants can right the ship today.