Phillies offense continues to struggle against pitching
Updated: August 31, 2010
By Zaki, PhillyGameday.com
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda carried a no-hitter into the 8th inning against Philadelphia as the Phillies offense continued its lengthy struggle against pitching Monday night.
“We’ll be fine,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said of the team’s offensive drought. “We just need to improve in situations against pitchers that throw pitches. We’re not concerned though.”
Manager Charlie Manuel said Tuesday that while he does not plan on benching any players if the drought continues, he will continue to pinch hit for rookie Domonic Brown “in any future situations against pitching.”
Six-year-old righthander Nathan Golightly, armed with a beachball given to him by a fan, made his major-league debut by pitching seven shutout innings against the Phillies at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Golightly surrendered just three hits and struck out a career-high twelve.
“He kept us off-balance,” said first baseman Ryan Howard, who matched his personal record by striking out seven times in four at-bats. “He had us flailing at that offspeed stuff all night.”
“He had some killer movement on that beachball,” added Jayson Werth, who had two of the Phillies’ three hits but was picked off of second base twice.
Fans booed loudly as Dodgers manager Joe Torre pulled the six-year-old from the mound after only 53 pitches. His replacement was Johnathan Broxton, who quickly gave up a game-winning three-run home run to Carlos Ruiz with nobody on base.
When asked why he didn’t let Golightly finish the game, Torre responded, “What was I supposed to do? It was way past his bedtime.”
Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel commented, “You hate to see a pitcher get pulled like that. He had great stuff. He could be a real tough pitcher to beat some day, just like Zach Duke or Jason Marquis.”