THURSDAY ROUNDUP: Phillies Cool With Flukey Win, Mike and Mike Think Andy Reid’s Under LBJ Pressure, Hockey Players Heckle LeBron

AUDIO (CSN Philly): Chahhhlie Manuel wonders aloud whether Wednesday’s (flukey for Colorado, timely for Philly) 7-6 win over the Rockies will prove the Phillies tipping point. Even with a last play like that, he said, the Phillies need more games like it. Speaking of endings: Said he wasn’t fazed by the whole “Todd Helton’s Un-Todd Helton-Like Gaffe” thing. (Quantified below.) Said he’s seen them end just about every way.

AUDIO (CSN Philly): Placido Polanco , who’s considerably less ancient, hasn’t. Said he was stunned, if only because he thought he was out on the knock that scored Hunter Pence for the walk-off winner.

AUDIO (CSN Philly): Ultimately, Polanco at this point, he’d take the W. Samesies for Shane Victorino.

AUDIO (ESPN): With LeBron James on the precipice of his first NBA title tonight, ESPN’s Mike and Mike figured they might as well roll up their sleeves and start trolling the farm in search of sports next No. 1 goat. Their question: Once LeBron gets his ring, who’s fills his shoes as the guy facing the most pressure to win a championship? (And no, the debate wasn’t exclusive to not-yet-first-timers.)

The two came up with a whole mess of names, some very usual suspects for a very usual national conversation: Tony Romo, Philip Rivers, Jerry Jones – and, per Golic, Andy Reid.

SCRIPTUALS (NHL.com): Guess who made the cover of EA Sports NHL 2013….?

SCRIPTUALS ( Philly.com): The latest on Chase Utley: He went 2-for-3 with a (gasp!) HOME RUN!!! in Single-A Clearwater (womp, womp…). Also played 8 innings in the field, and added a single. Pandemonium, ensue.

SCRIPTUALS (Times-Herald): In case this wasn’t already abundantly clear, Ryan Lawrence wants you to know, the Phils offense has been handling bid-ness all year.

SCRIPTUALS (The Big Lead): Tweet-o-bot Darren Rovell is returning home — to the Mother Ship. (Worked for ESPN in the early 2000s, took gig at CNBC in 2006.)

SCRIPTUALS (Patriot-News): A guilty verdict isn’t quite the sure-thing you’d think (hope?) it would be in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial. Pivotal, writes Matthew Kemeny, are today’s closing arguments.

SCRIPTUALS (CBS): Could this be it for LeBron Hate? Will the 2012 NBA Finals change EVERYTHING?!?

SCRIPTUALS (FOX Sports): If so, these heckilng hockey players (who should know what real calf cramps feel like) are squeezing the last of it in. Fast.

STATISTICALS (Elias): Phillies scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over the Rockies. Prior to that rally, Philadelphia had been the only team in the major leagues that had not won a game this season in which it trailed in the eighth inning or later.

STATISTICALS (ESPN Stats and Info): Integral to that feat was a fluke hiccup by Todd Helton, whose ninth inning-error (thought he had his foot planted on the bag, but didn’t) let Placido Polanco reach base, scoring Hunter Pence to send the Phillies off winners — and make for the first-ever walk-off loss in Rockies franchise history in which the final batter reached base on an error. Worth noting: Helton’s career .996 makes puts him at No. 6 on the all-time fielding percentage for first baseman list. Ryan Howard is No. 159. Jim Thome is tied for No. 57.

STATISTICALS (Matt Gelb, Philly.com): No, no — really. Jonathan Papelbon isn’t a sure-thing mushroom cloud in non-save situations.

Career Splits (Baseball-Reference)

STATISTICALS ( Todd Zolecki, MLB.com): Speaking of timely hitting and what is actually lowly pitching… “Entering Wednesday: Since May 1, the Rockies (4.95) and Phillies (4.80) ranked first and second in the National League in runs per game. In that span, Phillies (4.42) and Rockies (5.80) pitchers ranked 13th and 16th in the NL in ERA.”

STATISTICALS (Mandy Housenick, Morning Call): 43,729 at Citizen’s Bank Park last night makes for No. 237, No. 253 including postseason. (Thank you, secondary market and sketchy sellout accounting practices.)

STATISTICALS (John Hollinger, ESPN): If under-seeded Miami win Game 5 tonight, that’ll be two years in a row that five teams won series without home court. (Clippers, Celtics, Sixers, Thunder, Heat.) The per-year average? 3.6. How likely is that? Teams trailing 3-1 in Finals are 0-30 in series history.

ON THIS DAY:

1932 – Heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling lost a title fight by decision to Jack Sharkey. Schmeling’s manager, Joe Jacobs, exclaimed “We was robbed!”

1939 - Lou Gehrig retired from baseball due to illness, his eventual namesake.

1942 - Ben Hogan recorded the lowest score (at the time) in a major golf tournament. Hogan shot a 271 for 72 holes in Chicago, IL.

1954 - Australian John Landy ran the mile in 3 minutes and 58 seconds. He was the second person to achieve the feat.

1963 – In St. Louis, Bob Hayes set a record when he ran the 100-yard dash in 0.09.1.

1970 - Tony Jacklin became the second British golfer in 50 years to win the U.S. Open golf tournament.

1997 – The Women’s National Basketball Association made its debut. The New York Liberty defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 67-57.

1999 - Pantera rode a float in the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup victory parade in downtown Dallas. Pantera wrote the Stars’ theme song.

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