Three Philadelphia Phillies' players light up All-Star game despite poor record by club - MLB
Carlos Ruiz, Jonathan Papelbon and Cole Hamels fetch a fair amount of spotlight during the All-Star Game. Yet the fact remains that their club the Philadelphia Phillies languishes at the bottom of the National League East Division table.
As soon as the ASG ended, Carlos Ruiz admitted that they have to improve in the second half if the kind of performance the National League put up against the American League is to be repeated by their own club.
It is interesting that a team which has been struggling from day one in the season sees three of their players playing an important role in the success of the National League.
Cole Hamels threw a scoreless single inning, while keeping the pressure on the opposition intact. He did not dither and lost composure even in the face of the fact that American League hitters were h**l-bent to bounce back into the game.
Similarly, Papelbon pitched the inning which turned out to be the last one as the victory had been clinched afterward.
He was also scoreless. While his throws cannot earn a direct attribution for the success, concluding the game and being looked upon by the fans as they braced for winning moments were a great honour.
Likewise, Ruiz caught knuckle-balls in the game, a task for which he was assigned by the National League manager. Reading R.A. Dickey’s knucklers and making appropriate plays was an incredible effort from his part.
“I told everyone in the bullpen this is my first All-Star Game and I have to catch a knuckleball guy,” Ruiz said. “It’s not easy. At first I was nervous. But it was fun. I’m so happy he pitched well.”
Meanwhile, Ruiz is looking forward to witness the Phillies showing up in a different shape in the second half and delivering splendid performances.
“Yeah, we need that,” Ruiz said. “We have to push the first half away. We still have the second half. We’ll see what happens.”
Confidence of these three players is high at the moment. They will be looking to carry their momentum forward and help the club win more games in the season.
Only thing they will want is a better performance from the rest of the players on roster.
Tags: