Philadelphia's beleaguered closer
stranded runners at first and second base on a bitterly cold night when
he got Troy Tulowitzki to fly out to shallow left field Sunday,
preserving the Phillies' 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 3 of
their NL playoff series.
Huston Street allowed Ryan Howard's
sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth that scored Jimmy Rollins with
the tiebreaking run after another apparent blown call by the umpires.
In a game played in temperatures near
freezing that ended past midnight, the defending world champs took a 2-1
lead in the best-of-five series. They can wrap up this NL
divisional series Monday in Game 4 when they send Game 1 winner Cliff
Lee to the mound to face Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
The save was surely sweet redemption
for Lidge. He converted all 48 save chances last year, capped when he
struck out Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske in Game 5 to clinch the Phillies'
World Series title. But he lost his perfect touch this season — he led
the majors with 11 blown saves, went 0-8 with a 7.21 ERA and briefly
lost his job in September.
After Rollins led off the ninth with
a single and moved up on Shane Victorino's sacrifice bunt, Chase Utley
hit an infield single to put runners at the corners.
The ball appeared to hit Utley's left
leg while he was still in the batter's box and should have been ruled a
foul ball, but home plate umpire Jerry Meals didn't call the ball dead.
Umpires have had a rocky first week
of these playoffs, including an admitted missed call in the eighth
inning in Game 2 of the Yankees and Twins series.
In the bottom of the ninth, Lidge retired pinch-hitter Brad Hawpe before walking Carlos Gonzalez, who swiped second.
Jason Giambi, pinch-hitting for
Dexter Fowler, fouled out to third baseman Pedro Feliz before Todd
Helton walked, bringing up Tulowitzki.
The Rockies' cleanup hitter has
excelled in these situations this season, but not tonight. He flied out
meekly to left to end it.