Phillies pull of dramatic comeback win to beat Brewers

It seemed like old times at Citizens Bank Park. Ryan Howard’s two-run single put the Phillies in position to post a dramatic, come-from-behind 7-6 win in the ninth inning over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Big Piece’s clutch hit helped set up a Ty Wigginton sacrifice fly for the win. The Phillies were 0-42 when trailing after eight innings before posting four runs in the ninth.

It felt just like 2009 when Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit back-to-back homers in the first inning.

Roy Halladay struggled giving up six runs in six innings. But the bullpen, which has been as porous as the Titanic, didn’t give up a hit or a run in three innings and Jonathan Papelbon didn’t throw a pitch. Remember those halcyon days of 2008 when Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge were infallible during the late innings?

The Phillies have won two in a row at home and Halladay, who was off-kilter and watched his ERA rise to 4.32, claims he is fine.

“I feel good,” Halladay said. “The results aren’t what I want. The execution isn’t what I want. It’s extremely frustrating. I understand that I haven’t had a lot of time back on the mound, but I expect more. I expect to go out and compete better and I feel like I can. It’s a matter of consistency and getting the feel for things.”

Halladay wasn’t impressed with his performance, but he smiled when he spoke of the team’s comeback.

“It shows a lot of life,” Halladay said. “That’s something we haven’t shown a lot of this year, coming back. Especially from a deficit like that.”

Well, it hasn’t been that easy coming back without Utley and Howard. It’s very different with the heart of the team back. The right side of the Phillies’ infield each hit their fourth homers of the season.

Howard believes the team can ride a wave of back-to-back, walk-off wins.

“It’s huge,” Howard said. “We have to build on that momentum.”

Reliever Joe Savery was ecstatic after the game. He had appeared in 17 games, all losses, prior to earning his first major league victory.

“I’m going to savor this moment,” Savery said. “No pun intended.”