Heading into last night, saying the Phillies were in a must-win situation was an understatement.  They were riding a two game losing streak, where they were shut out in both losses (a streak of 23 innings).  The pitchers were getting their job done, but the offense had been unable to bring anyone home.  Also, the Mets were heating up, winners of two in a row (and three of their last four), and were only a game behind the Phillies in second place.  Well the Phillies finally showed some life last night.  Behind the arm of Brett Myers and the bat of Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies beat the Pirates 4-2.

The Phillies got on the board early.  Rollins opened the bottom of the first ripping Ian Snell’s first pitch down the right field line for a triple.  He jogged home when the next batter, Shane Victorino, followed with a double to right field.  After Chase Utley struck out, Victorino scored when Ryan Howard singled to center field, giving the Phils and early 2-0 lead.

The score remained 2-0 until the fourth when Doug Mientkiewicz scored all the way from first on a Nate McLouth double, cutting the Phlis lead in half.  The Phillies added runs in the seventh (Victorino singled home Rollin), and the eighth (Greg Dobbs singled home Jayson Werth), to give the Phillies a 4-1.

This game wasn’t about the offense but about Myers, and his swagger.  Myers from the first pitch he threw, Myers dominated the Pirates.  He established his fastball early, and mixed in his curveball and cutter, keeping the Pirates guessing.

Myers came out in the eighth innings and after getting Luis Rivas to ground out, he gave up a ground-rule double to pinch hitter Chris Gomez.    With a man on second and one out, Freddy Sanchez lined to Rollins for the second out. With lefty Mientkiewicz coming to the plate, Charlie Manuel opted to pull Myers in favor of J.C. Romero.

While Myers left to a standing ovation, he lost it in the dugout.  He and Manuel were nose to nose exchanging words until he finally headed toward the clubhouse.

“It’s my fault.  I’m a competitor,” Myers said. “I like competing and I wanted to stay in and finish the game. But sometimes your emotions get the best of you and you might do something irrational out there. He thought I did. That’s part of the game. It’s all patched up now, though. We’re buddies.”

With Brad Lidge unavailable due to arm stiffness, Chad Durbin pitched the ninth.  While he gave up a run on a Brandon Moss single, he got Jason Michaels to pop out to Utley to earn his first save of the season and a win for the Phillies.

While the offense still looked sluggish and the Phillies left eight men on base, they did show some life.  Rollins finished 4 for 4 with two triples, Victorino was 2 for 3 with two RBI’s, Werth was 1 for 3 with a triple, and Dobbs was 2 for 3 with an RBI.  Unfortunately the heart of the Phillies order (Utley, Howard, & Pat Burrell) went a combine 1 for 11.

It’s good to see the fire back in Myers.  Since being recalled from Triple-A, Myers is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA.  What’s more impressive is he’s only allowed one home run in 25.2 innings. Quite the difference from the 24 he allowed in 101.2 innings prior to his demotion.

Jamie Moyer (10-7, 3.78), takes the mound this afternoon as the Phillies look to take two of three from the Pirates.  He’l go up against Jason Davis (1-1, 2.57).