PHILADELPHIA – Rafael Betancourt couldn’t keep the ball down – or hold a lead in the ninth.
Michael Young hit the winning single with one out in the ninth inning after Carlos Ruiz tied the game with a double, pushing the Philadelphia Phillies past the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Wednesday night.
“I threw one good pitch,” Betancourt said. “If you miss up against those hitters, then they are going to do that. Everything was up in the strike zone and middle-in, especially to right handers, and in that situation they are going to be looking for fastballs.”
Erik Kratz opened the ninth with a double off Betancourt (2-4). Pinch runner Casper Wells advanced to third on a grounder and scored the tying run on Ruiz’s pinch-hit double to left. Jimmy Rollins was walked intentionally, and Young followed with the winning single to left.
Jake Diekman (1-3) tossed a scoreless ninth for the win. Betancourt is 16-for-18 in save opportunities.
The Phillies stormed out of the dugout and mobbed Young in their biggest celebration yet in six games under interim manager Ryne Sandberg.
“We battled right to the end,” Sandberg said.
Nolan Arenado’s two-out single in the eighth inning put Colorado up 3-2. Arenado made a game-saving stop at third base in Colorado’s 5-3 win Tuesday. One game later, he poked an opposite-field single to right off reliever Justin De Fratus.
Betancourt just couldn’t make it stand.
“I’d take Rafi with a one-run lead every time,” Rockies’ manager Walt Weiss said.
Ruiz hustled home for the winning run for one of his few bright spots in a down season for the former All-Star catcher. Ruiz, who only has three homers and 16 runs batted in, was suspended the first 25 games for using a banned amphetamine.
“With everything that happened, it was tough for me,” he said. “But that’s no excuse. I’m just trying to do my best and help the team win.”
Wilin Rosario homered for Colorado. Chase Utley went deep for the Phillies.
De Fratus hit Charlie Blackmon to open the eighth. Michael Cuddyer hit a one-out single, and Arenado made it 3-2 after his run-scoring single.
After losing three of four at Baltimore, the Rockies have dropped two of three so far in the four-game series against the Phillies.
Rockies’ starter Juan Nicasio allowed two runs – one earned – in 5 2/3 innings and worked out of several jams to keep it close.
“He stayed away from the big inning that was getting him the first time he was up,” Weiss said. “When it starts to slip away, he’s been able to close out the inning and not let it get away from him.”
Phillies’ starter Cliff Lee remained winless since July 5 and is 0-4 with two no-decisions since beating Atlanta. He kept the Phillies in this one, striking out six and walking none over seven innings.
The Phillies blew several opportunities to help out Lee and bust the game open. They stranded runners on second and third when Lee struck out swinging to end the second. They scored only one run after loading the bases with no outs in the fifth. Young grounded into a double play to score one run and make it 2-2. Utley fouled out to end the inning.
Nicasio was chased with runners on first and second and two outs in the sixth. Wilton Lopez fanned John Mayberry Jr. on a check swing to escape the jam.
They had some timely hitting in the first when Utley’s 16th homer of the season staked Lee to a 1-0 lead.
Rosario tied it 1-all on a solo shot to right in the second that extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Dexter Fowler ripped an RBI single to left later in the inning for a 2-1 lead, but Domonic Brown threw out Jordan Pacheco at home to end the inning.
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