Philadelphia – Travel down Broad Street, and self-improvement assaults the senses.
There are stores offering the perfect tan, the perfect date over pasta, with a dry-cleaned suit and Payless shoes, of course.
In that same vein, the Philadelphia Phillies attempted to help themselves by fixing Citizens Bank Park. They pushed the left-field wall back five feet and added two-foot barriers atop the fence.
The idea was to make it more difficult to hit home runs and aid their maligned pitchers a bit. Excuse Rockies starter Jason Jennings if he appears something less than gracious this morning. His only appearance in Philadelphia ended miserably as David Bell devoured a fastball like a cheesesteak, bulling the Phillies to a 9-5 victory Wednesday night.
“I should have thrown him a slider; it was a bad pitch. But even if I had, I am not sure I would have put it where I wanted,” Jennings lamented after a loss that kept the Rockies from taking sole possession of first place in the National League West. “That was kind of the theme all night.”
Bell entered this season fighting for playing time with offseason acquisition Abraham Nuñez. Bell is threatening to make Nuñez a ghost in a uniform with a strong series, which to this point has been noteworthy for the small crowds and the Philadelphia Flyers highlights on the JumboTron.
With the game still within reach, the Rockies trailing 4-1 in the third inning, Bell crushed a 369-foot flyball into the left-field bleachers. The park’s new dimensions had no chance of holding this rocket, a three-run shot.
“David’s home run really broke open the game,” Phillies second baseman Chase Utley said.
Jennings reacted to the home run with disgust, shaking his head and kicking at the dirt on the mound. His anger was motivated not by another uneven first month – he finished with a 6.60 ERA and is 7-12 lifetime in April – but what it meant. Bell’s blast represented the sole reason the Rockies lost for the first time with Jennings on the mound this season.
“We need better from him, and he’s capable of better,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We know he can deliver more.”
The Rockies, as is their wont, proved annoying in their persistence. They crawled back to within 7-5, tagging Ryan Madson with a rugged line – five innings, four runs. Phillies starters have an ERA above 6.00, a number Cory Sullivan inflated with more helium with four hits, including his first home run.
But with Todd Helton gone – he could return as soon as May 5 – the lineup doesn’t function as well. Matt Holliday has struggled in Helton’s third spot, and Hurdle is considering moving Eli Marrero there, except he’s hurt. Marrero, who has four home runs in his last seven starts, strained a right rib-cage muscle and doesn’t think he will be ready to play again until Saturday.
“If I can’t go on the fourth day, then something’s wrong,” Marrero said. “But I would rather miss three games than 20. I want to be out there, but this type of injury can be serious if you’re not careful.”
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
