Jimmy Rollins Lifts Phillies Past Indians in Ninth Inning

Jimmy Rollins had a slow start, coming off the DL Tuesday going 0-for-4 and not really contributing to the Phillies’ 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Wednesday, however, was a different story—kind of.

Rollins was more of a liability than anything through the first eight and a half innings. He was once again 0-for-4 at the plate, and even had a throwing error to his credit (rare for Rollins) that allowed the Tribe to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth inning.

But when Jimmy messes something like that up, he usually comes back and makes up for it in a big way—which is exactly what he did in the bottom of the final inning.

With a 1-1 count, one out, and a man on second, Rollins blasted a pitch right down the middle, just this side of fair, down the right field line, for his very first walk-off homerun of his career.

That’s right, for all the years Rollins has been around, that’s the first time he’s ever hit a walk-off homerun.

Brian Schneider and Jayson Werth both had key homeruns to keep the Phillies in the game as Kyle Kendrick got knocked around early and couldn’t even make it through five innings. He’s been a pleasant surprise this season, but he’s got to make sure he rebounds in his next start or Ruben Amaro, Jr. might have to put Pedro Martinez on speed dial.

Either that or pray J.A. Happ ever comes off the Mark Prior list.

For weeks, we’ve been looking for something to get this team jump-started. They’ve been playing on auto-pilot for so long and, unless something wakes them up very soon, it’s going to start getting very, very ugly.

I’m not sure if this walk-off shot will be enough to get the team energized, rally around one another, and start putting a stretch together, but it’s certainly nice to enjoy it for the time-being.

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