Boos for Jhoan Duran’s entrance, where Jimmy Rollins would bat in Phillies lineup, and more from Game 2 broadcast
It was an emotional night for Phillies fans — from honoring the late Roy Halladay to Duran’s signature entrance being accompanied by boos.
The Los Angeles Dodgers took a 2-0 National League Division Series lead with a 4-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 Monday night. Game 3 in the best-of-five series is set for Wednesday at 9:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Here are some of the best and worst moments from the Phillies’ broadcast …
» READ MORE: Roy Halladay’s son wants to ‘make my own mark’ on baseball by working in a front office
Honoring Roy Halladay
Monday was the 15th anniversary of Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds in 2010. In his first postseason start, the former Phillies pitcher threw 104 pitches, recording eight strikeouts in the Phillies’ 4-0 win.
The Phillies honored the late Halladay ahead of Game 2, as both of his sons, Braden and Ryan, threw out the first ceremonial pitch to former Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz.
Praise from Pedro Martínez
During TBS’ playoff pregame show, The Leadoff, former Phillies pitcher Pedro Martínez previewed the pitching matchup ahead of Game 2.
With two lefties starting in the Phillies’ Jesús Luzardo and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, Martínez believed Snell was heading into the matchup with a lot of confidence. In his last start against the Phillies on Sept. 17, Snell pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and recording 12 strikeouts.
“I’m sorry to say, but with all those lefties, he has to feel like ‘I have my area. This is my comfortable area,’” Martínez said of Snell. “If Philadelphia tries to do too much on this guy, he’s right now at a point where he should be feeling great. ... It’s going to be difficult with just three [pitches], and he has five of them and he’s adding that changeup.
“Right now, at this point, he’s in midseason form. Only 12 outings so far. He’s fresh. He’s strong. He can throw four pitches that he can actually throw around the strike zone and they’re all effective. The best thing I saw about him is that he’s utilizing his changeup a little bit more in key situations … That makes him even more lethal than he was.”
The eight-time MLB All-Star’s prediction for the game? “Luzardo pitches the game of his life and Snell comes out shaky and they unload today and they win it. Philly, I would say 5-1,” Martínez said.
He was certainly right about one thing: Luzardo pitching the game of his life.
Luzardo had allowed three hits through six innings before giving up two runs in the seventh. But Snell was far from shaky. The left-hander had another great outing against the Phillies, pitching six innings with nine strikeouts and allowing just one hit.
‘Pitchers are athletes’
It was Luzardo who provided one of the best highlights of the night.
In the fifth inning, Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas connected on a 97 mph fastball, sending it straight up the middle to Luzardo, who caught the comebacker for the out.
“Pitchers are athletes,” said play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson. “What a redemption for Luzardo after the last one that he played.”
Analyst Jeff Francoeur responded: “I’m sorry Jesús, I take back what I said. That was very athletic right there.”
Where would Jimmy Rollins bat in today’s lineup?
During the TBS pregame show, three-time All-Star and World Series champion Jimmy Rollins was asked where he would bat in today’s lineup. “Ninth,” Rollins responded.
”The thing is, it wasn’t my defense that got me released,” Rollins said. “That’s what I’m saying. Like, I got hands, I can do that. It was just when that 92 [mph pitches] started to feel like 98. And I’m like ‘That has to be at least 95′ and it was 92. And then they repeated it, I’m like ‘OK, it has to be 96’ and it was 92 again. I was like ‘OK, the end is here, bro. The end is here.’”
Rollins spent 15 seasons in Philadelphia before joining the Dodgers in 2015. He’s the Phillies’ all-time hits leader and was a key part in the 2008 World Series championship. In honor of the former NL MVP working as an analyst for this NLDS series, we have to break out this old clip of the last time the two teams met in the postseason.
Jhoan Duran’s entrance welcomed with boos
Although Citizens Bank Park may not have been as loud as it was when Rollins hit a walk-off double in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Dodgers in 2009, it was still electric — at least at the start of things.
“This place was so fired-up Saturday,” said Francoeur during Shohei Ohtani’s first at-bat. “But you can feel a little anxiousness in the crowd.”
That anxiousness slowly started taking over when the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead and the cheers began to die down from the crowd. Not even Jhoan Duran’s cinematic entrance could get the fans on their feet. The entrance had a mixed reaction, with some boos taking over the ballpark.
“They’ve been able to play the big intro for Duran, which kind of took baseball by storm,” Anderson said on the broadcast. “One of the more entertaining closer introductions to the game. But the Phillies fans just didn’t have their heart in it, with Duran coming in with the Phillies down.”