PHILADELPHIA – You didn’t think it was going to be Greg Dobbs, did you?
If the Mets’ division dreams were going to die, it had to be at the hands of Jimmy Rollins – or in this case, eveery inch of his 5-foot-8 body
Rollins made a diving stop and backhand flip to start a game-ending double play and give the Phillies a 4-3 victory over Washington and their second straight National League East title.
The play capped a tight game and another September comeback for Philadelphia, who caught the Mets from behind again and knocked the Amazin’s out a day earlier than last year when it game down to the final game.
A champagne-soaked Rollins had this announcement for fans when it was done: “Playoff tickets will be for sale.”
The Phillies entered today needing a Mets loss or a victory of their own to clinch. The Mets began play about two hours before the Phillies, so they were able to see Johan Santana dominate the Marlins, letting them know it was up to them to take the crown.
They led the Nationals 3-1 behind the pitching of 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, who threw six innings of one-run ball, but the Phillies’ bullpen nearly coughed up the lead. Former Met Lastings Milledge hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to cut it to one run. Pedro Feliz added an insurance run for the Phillies with an eighth-inning double that scored Shane Victorino.
Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who has no blown saves this year, came in to close the door but Washington scored a run when another former Met, Anderson Hernandez, singled in a run. The bases were loaded with one out and the score 4-3 as elation began turning to dread among the 45,177 towel-waving fans at Citizens Bank Park.
Ryan Zimmerman came up for the Nats and hit the ball hard up the middle. Rollins dove to his left, backhanded the ball and flipped it to Chase Utley for the first out. Utley turned it and threw to Howard to end the game and set off a celebration.
“If I’m 6-1, I probably don’t have to dive,” Rollins said. “I’ve always said I’m short but I’m a lot closer to the ground balls. That was a situation where I guess I was a little closer to a ground ball than, per se, a Derek Jeter, who wouldn’t need to drive. It adds a little more drama and that’s Philadelphia. You can’t get anything done without drama.”
The Phillies now hope to last longer in these playoffs than last year when Colorado swept them in the first round.
“We have a chance to do something special and hopefully we can do it,” Rollins said. “Hopefully it’s our turn.”