The Daily Philadelphian

The bullpen has been the Phillies Achilles heal for most of August and September. On Friday, the heel completely ruptured and cost the Phillies a potential 2-0 lead in the NLCS.

The usually reliable Chan Ho Park, JA Happ and Chase Utley all combined to waste an impressive performance by starter Pedro Martinez, as the Dodgers staged an eighth inning comeback to win the game, 2-1.

Martinez, who had thrown just 84 pitches in one start since Sept. 19, tossed seven strong innings in Friday’s heartbreaking loss. He allowed just two hits and struck out three before leaving with a 1-0 lead.

The 37-year-old matched Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla pitch-for-pitch. Padilla went 7.1 innings, surrendering four hits and striking out six batters. Padilla’s only mistake was sent over the outfield wall by Ryan Howard.

Then, Chan Ho park entered the game for Pedro in the eighth. Fresh off of a hamstring injury, Park did not look nearly as effective as he did in Thursday’s game, although the loss was far from his fault alone.

Chase Utley threw the ball away for the second time in as many days as the Phillies fell to the Dodgers, 2-1, on Friday.

Pedro Feliz, who is usually a vacuum at third base, botched a ground ball to start the inning. Ronnie Belliard then bunted, but neither Park nor Howard could field it, leaving runners on first and second with no outs.

Russell Martin then grounded to Feliz, who threw to Utely for a force at second. Utley then airmailed a ball past Ryan Howard, allowing Juan Pierre to tie game at 1. Jim Thome then singled off of Scott Eyre, moving Martin to third. Ryan Madson later struck out Matt Kemp with bases loaded.

Then, JA Happ entered the game and walked Andre Ethier with the bases loaded to force in Martin with the winning run.

Happ and Park have been two of the most consistent pitchers all year. Utley had just four throwing errors all season. They all came up small on Friday.

For Utley, the error marked his second in as many days, and that play likely cost the Phils the game. Park was responsible for both runners and ended up taking the loss.

In all, Uncle Charlie had to use five pitchers in the eighth inning with neither Scott Eyre nor Happ recording an out, as each faced just one batter.

Instead of coming back to Philly with a 2-0 series lead, the teams are now knotted at one game each.

Cliff Lee will look to continue his impressive postseason when the teams play again in Game 3 on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park.