The Phillies’ bat, after being silent last night, come back alive late in the ballgame, as Jamie Moyer pitches well enough to win, as the Phillies beat the Marlins, 7-5, to retake the lead in the National League East. The Phillies, like last night, would score first in their half of the first as Chase Utley, after getting on base with a single, and then steal second, would score on Ryan Howard’s RBI single, giving the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. The Marlins would then tie the game in the second inning, as Mike Jacobs launches a home run off of Phillies’ starter Jamie Moyer, who came into the game with a 7-0 record against the fish, for his twelfth home run of the year. The Marlins would then take the lead in the third. With two out, and two men on, Jorge Cantu would hit a RBI single, scoring Hanley Ramirez, who has gotten on base with an infield single, making the score 2-1 Marlins. The Marlins would then increase their lead to 5-1, as Jacobs hits a 3-run shot, his second home run of the game off of Moyer and his thirteenth home run of the year, scoring Jeremy Hermida, who has earlier been hit by the pitch and Cantu. The Phils would then start a comeback in their half of the fourth when Utley hits his twentieth home run of the year, a two-run shot that knocks in Jimmy Rollins, who has reached base earlier on Cantu’s throwing error to first base, cutting the Marlins’ lead to 5-3. After neither team is able to score in the fourth and fifth innings, and after Moyer puts down the fish in the sixth, the Phils would tie the score in their half of the sixth as pitch hitter Geoff Jenkins hits a two-run home run, his fifth of the year, scoring Pat Burrell, who has earlier walked. Then in the seventh, as they were getting ready to take out Moyer, the Phillies would rally to take the lead. With two men on and two out, Burrell would hit a two-run double, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier singled, and Howard, who has been hit by the pitch, giving the Phils a 7-5 lead. That would be the game as Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge would come in to pitch the last two innings and get six of the seven men that they would face, with Lidge recording his thirteenth save of the year in thirteen tries.

Jamie Moyer is the winner, going seven innings, giving up five earned runs on seven hits. His record is now 6-3 with a ERA of 4.65, while his career record against the Marlins is now a perfect 8-0. Tom Gordon would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits and one walk. Brad Lidge would pitch a perfect 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out two batters as he gets his thirteen save of the year. Andrew Miller would go five innings for the Marlins, giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on three hits. Doug Waechter would take the lost, while also being credited with a blown save, as he pitches an inning and a third, giving up three earned runs on two hits. His record is now 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA. Taylor Tankersley would pitch one third of an inning, giving up an earned run on no hits, as Ryan Howard’s run in the seventh is charged to him. Logan Kensing would pitch one and a third innings of relief, giving up no runs on one hit, Pat Burrell’s game winning double.

The Phillies’ offense, although not as potent as it was during the first four games of the ten games home stand, was potent enough to win the weekend series from the fish, 2 games to 1, and sends the Marlins packing, as they dropped back to second place. The win makes the Phils so far 1-0 for June, after coming off a 17-12 May and a 15-12 April. The Phillies now wait for the arrival of Ken Griffey, Jr. and the Cincinnati Reds (28-29, 4th National League Central), who have just finished sweeping the Braves, for the final four games of their so far very successful home stand. Junior is just one home run away from reaching a milestone in home runs, as he now have a career total of 599 of them. He will be hoping to accomplish the deed at Citizens Bank Park, while the Phillies’ pitching staff will be doing everything they can to not become the victim of such a major event, while at the same time cool down the Reds, while also hoping that the bats of the offense will become hot once again.

The first game of the Phillies’ four game series with the Reds will be a night game at Citizens Bank Park. The game will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 4.84), who is coming off a win against the Rockies on May 27. In that game, he would pitch seven and a third innings, giving up two earned runs on seven scattered hits, in the Phils’ 7-4 win. He hopes to pitch well enough for another win, while giving the Phillies’ offense a chance to rebound from their last two games and return to their double digits run productions. The Reds will counter with Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 5.29), who is coming off his second straight victory, as he would defeat the Pirates on May 28, going six innings, giving up only one earned run on three hits, in the Reds’ 9-1 drubbing of the Bucos. He will be trying to improve his record and give the Reds a four games winning streak, while trying to be the third straight starter to quiet down the Phillies’ recently hot bats.

The once again first place Phillies (33-25) are leading the Marlins (31-24) by half a game, as the fish go on to Atlanta for a four game set with the struggling Braves. The Braves are now trailing the Phils by three and a half game, as they go back to Atlanta to meet the Marlins, after being swept by the Reds in Cincinnati. The Phils lead the Mets by four games, as they prepare to face the Dodgers tonight for the final game of their four games series, before getting ready for a three games series in San Francisco with the Giants.

Edit: It wasn’t until I’d looked at the boxscores for all three games that I’d discovered one of the main reasons that the Phillies were able to fry the fish this weekend. They kept Dan Uggla’s very potent bat real quiet during the series, as he would go only one for twelve with a single, while striking out four times. I really hope that the pitchers are able to do the same thing to Junior’s bat this week.