Not Fair

It's just not fair. The Phillies lost the final game of their three-game series against the Nationals today, failing to finish the sweep. However, the loss could prove to be the least impactive part of the day. Chase Utley, after being hit on the hand by a pitch, broke a bone in his hand and was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game. Granted, it is a "mild" break and is expected back in a few weeks, even if elects surgery. But Utley, in the midst of an MVP-caliber season, can not be afford to miss any games for the sake of his team. With a weak pitching staff, the Phils have needed to win a number of their games this season with offense alone. And trying to make a run at the playoffs (just 5 out of the division and 3 out of the wildcard), means that they can't afford to lose any offense; let alone their best offensive weapon. But perhaps the most infuriating part of all of this is that he was hit intentionally.
Here's the run down of what happened:

It's the bottom of the 3rd and the Phils are down 2-1. With two straight groundouts to the rookie pitcher, John Lannan, by Rollins and Victorino, it looked like a 1-2-3 inning in the making. But then Utley, like he so often does, keeps the inning alive and drives a 2-out single up the middle. The next batter, Ryan Howard, another MVP candidate, did what he does so often: hits a homerun to give the Phillies the lead. Their next time around the batting order, Utley and Howard both get beaned by Lannan, leading to his and his manager's ejections. Utley, while in obvious discomfort, stayed in the game and went on to go 0-2 in a heart-breaking 7-6 loss.

The loss hurts, especially since the Phils had a comfortable lead until the bullpen took over, but the fact that some rookie pitcher, making his first career start no less, lost his cool, taking the team's MVP down with him makes my blood boil. The Phillies, despite all the pitching problems this season, are still in striking distance of the playoffs, and they were just beginning to catch fire. They were on their way to winning their 6th straight. Utley was playing about as good as he ever has. Ryan Howard had regained his MVP form of last year. And bullpen help was coming with Tom Gordon getting re-acclimated to his role and Brett Meyers due back from injury this weekend. Everything was clicking. Then this happens.
Outsiders wonder why Philadelphians are so frustrated. Well, this is one item of the long, Santa Claus-esque, list of things that have gone wrong. And put an asterisk next to this one on that list because of the depressingly ironic and maddening way it happened. Even with the pitching help coming, it is hard to see this team making up 5 games in two months with Utley missing a third of those games. And on a personal note that makes this even worse, I was talking about the lack of depth behind Utley (and Rollins) and how few games they miss. Here is the online conversation I had not more than a day ago:

ME(7:03:25 PM): we have no depth at any posistion
MIKEY(7:03:31 PM): yeah
ME (7:03:48 PM): think about what happens if anyone in the infield gets hurt
ME (7:04:13 PM): when was the last time you saw utley or rollins out of the lineup
MIKEY (7:04:25 PM): never
ME (7:05:36 PM): scary thought if one of them goes down
MIKEY (7:05:43 PM): yeah
ME (7:05:46 PM): i literally can't picture anyone else there

I hate it when I'm right.