PHILADELPHIA – As if nearly two months apart weren’t enough to build the anticipation for this series, the Braves and Phillies got nearly two hours of a rain delay Friday night in the series-opener and nine innings of suspense.
Brandon Beachy and Roy Halladay dueled to a 2-2 tie, leaving it up to the bullpens and the Braves finally flinched.
Raul Ibanez hit a walk-off homer off Scott Proctor with one out in the 10th to win it 3-2, after Proctor fell behind 2-0 and served up a fastball. As long as these two teams battled it out, for the better part of three hours after a rain delay of 1:54, it ended in a hurry.
“I’m not making pitches when it counts,” said Proctor, who’s given up three homers in his past 6 1/3 innings. “Bottom line is, when it comes down to (gut-check) time I’ve got to execute. I haven’t been doing that.”
The Braves have lost only twice in their past 11 games; Proctor has taken the loss in both of them.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez wasn’t going to use closer Craig Kimbrel in a tie game on the road, and he was hesitant to turn to the rookie Cory Gearrin.
“You’re talking about a rookie who just finished pitching in Triple-A, facing that middle of that lineup,” Gonzalez said. “And you feel really comfortable with Scotty Proctor in that situation to handle those guys. He just got behind in the count there to Raul Ibanez, and he’s a dangerous guy.”
With that swing, the Phillies evened the season-series with the Braves at 5-5 and opened their lead in the NL East back to 3 ½ games, assuring the Braves won’t leave Philadelphia Sunday in first place.
But the fact that they were right there until the last swing doesn’t bode too poorly either, Chipper Jones said afterward. They had chances against Halladay early and didn’t take advantage, getting only one run in the fourth inning after having runners second and third with nobody out following Jones’ double.
“We missed our chance there,” Jones said. “Getting one was good, but getting two might have put us over the hump. We made two mistakes on the hill, they hit for homers, but little by little I think these guys are starting to realize in here that we can stand toe-to-toe and play with them and be competitive. Now it’s just a matter of getting over the hump.”
Beachy remained winless in five career starts against the Phillies, dating back to his Sept. 20 major league debut on a spur of the moment in place of the injured Jair Jurrjens. But he’s seeing progress.
He got hurt by a second inning balk which led to one of the Phillies two runs off him. And he gave up a solo homer to Carlos Ruiz in the fourth. Otherwise, he hung tough with Halladay, giving up eight hits but only two runs in six innings.
“I feel like I’m starting to learn them a little more; it just comes down to executing,” Beachy said. “There were times where I did and there were times where I didn’t. That’s what it’s going to take for me to get over this hump. I’ve got to make those pitches in those situations.”
The Braves couldn’t beat Halladay – he got a no-decision -- but they took a small victory. By drawing 116 pitches from him, he was out of the game after seven innings, which is saying something for the pitcher with back-to-back complete games coming in and six overall.
But the Braves didn’t manage a baserunner in three innings against the Phillies bullpen either.
Halladay, still 11-3, hadn’t lost since he last faced the Braves on May 15. He’s gone 6-0 with a 2.68 ERA since, and the Phillies have won all 10 starts.
“We had chances,” Beachy said. “It’s tough losing a game like this to anybody, especially these guys in a series like this, as close as we are to them. It hurts.”
The Braves had five hits in the first four innings off Halladay, but stranded three runners, including a pair at third base. They wouldn’t have another chance like that until there were two outs in the seventh, following a triple by Nate McLouth. But Halladay got pinch-hitting Eric Hinske to fly out to strand McLouth there too.
“That’s why he has won all the hardware really,” Gonzalez said of Halladay. “He’s stingy. He doesn’t give up the big inning. He keeps his team in the game, even when he doesn’t have his good stuff.”
