Phillies Walk-Off Against Royals

    The Phillies squeezed out a late victory over the Kansas City Royals tonight.  The Phillies won by a score of 4-3 tonight in front of a crowd that was under 40,000 for the first time in recent memory.  The team bounced back after a rough day for their pitchers yesterday as they fell 13-4.

    John Lannan made his Phillies debut, receiving the starting nod for the Phillies against Kansas City's Luis Mendoza (no not the kid who can't stop skating from "D2: The Might Ducks").  Lannan was solid on the night, pitching seven innings while allowing 3 runs and striking out 5 batters.  Mike Adams and Antonio Bastardo came on after Lannan and each pitched a scoreless inning, and the Phillies mustered up just enough offense to win the game.
    The Phillies offense was atrocious for the first eight innings on the night, only scrapping out two hits.  Ben Revere and Michael Young each collected a single on the night, as Revere went 1 for 4, while Young went 1 for 3.
    It was a different story in the bottom of the ninth as the Phillies got the help of some erratic pitching from the Royals.  After Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Michael Young drew back-to-back-to-back walks to load the bases, Dom Brown and John Mayberry Jr. both struck out.  That left things up to pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth.  Frandsen smacked a bases clearing double to give the Phillies the walk-off victory.
    The Phillies had stumbled out of the starting gate in 2013, failing to piece together a complete effort aside for the victory in the series finale against the Braves.  The offense and pitching simply did not seem to be on the same page, and when one performed well the other seemed not to.  That changed in the bottom of the ninth, as the offense came alive to get the win after a solid night by the pitchers.
    The Phillies now head into the series finale against the Royals tomorrow, looking to win their first series of the 2013 season.  Cole Hamels will take the mound for the Phillies, looking to bounce back from a rough season opener.