The red hot Phillies leave Atlanta with a sweep. Head south to wreck further havoc in Miami.
The Phillies have finished their sweep of the shellshocked Braves by defeating Atlanta with a three run ninth to win the game, 6-3. The Phillies would start the game off by taking the lead in the first inning, when Ryan Howard hit a RBI double, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier singled, to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The lead would increase to 2-0 two batters later, when, with the bases loaded and two out, Geoff Jenkins would ground out to first, scoring Chase Utley who has earlier singled. The Braves would tie it up in their half of the first, when Mark Teixeira hit his tenth home run of the year off of Phillies’ starter Adam Eaton, scoring Yunel Escobar, who has earlier doubled. The Phillies would retake the lead in the third, when Howard would hit his second RBI double of the ballgame, scoring Victorino, who has earlier singled, making it 3-2 Phillies. In the fourth, Atlanta would come back to tie it at three all when Josh Anderson hit a RBI single, knocking in Omar Infantine, who has reached base earlier with a single. The game would then become a battle between the two teams’ bullpens, once Eaton and Braves’ starter Jorge Campillo were both taken out of the game by the end of the sixth inning. The bullpens would keep both teams off of the scoreboard, until the ninth. With Blain Boyer pitching for the Braves, the Phillies would retake the lead, when, with one out, and with runners on first and second, Victorino would hit a RBI single, scoring pinch hitter Eric Bruntlett, who has earlier singled, making it 4-3 Phillies. Now, with the bases loaded, and with still one out, Howard would hit his third RBI double of the game, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who has singled earlier and Victorino, giving the Phillies a 6-3 lead. Brad Lidge would then be brought in to pitch the ninth, and he would pitch a 1-2-3 inning to record his seventeenth save in seventeen tries.
Adam Eaton would get a no-decision as he would go six innings, giving up three earned runs on eight hits. Chad Durbin would get the victory as he pitches two scoreless innings while giving up two hits. His record is now 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA. Brad Lidge would pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, as he records his seventeenth save of the season. Jorge Campillo would also get a no-decision as he pitches five and one-third innings for the Braves, giving up three earned runs on seven hits. Buddy Carlyle would go two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Will Ohman would pitch two innings, giving up no runs on no hits. Blaine Boyer would take the lost as he pitches a third of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. His record is now 1-4 with a 4.08 ERA. Manny Acosta would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.
The Phillies have swept their third series of the season, and they did it in the ballpark of the team that used to own the Eastern Division. For the third straight game, the Phillies’ offense would get some timely hits late in the game to win it, while the relievers continue to shut down the opposition, allowing the offense to be able to win the game in the late innings.
The win put the Phillies (39-26) thirteen games over .500 as they head to Miami to visit the Florida Marlins (34-28) for a three games series starting Tuesday night. The first place Phillies are still three and a half games ahead of the second place Marlins, who won their game against the Reds as they wait for the red hot Phillies to arrive. With the lost, the third place Braves are now six and a half games behind the Phillies. The fourth place Mets are now seven and a half games behind the Phils as they have lost once again to the Padres. As the Phillies take the day off and travel south to Miami, the Marlins will play the final game of their four games set with the Reds, while the Braves travel to Chicago to start a series with the Cubs and the Mets will also be taking the day off.
Edit: The Phillies’ win on Saturday was Charlie Manuel’s 300th victory as the Phillies’ manager.
Phillies Red Pinstripes 
I am still so happy after the sweep I hardly know what to do with myself! And it is an off day, school is out, and I am completely bored…bad combo. Sounds like trouble… :o) So anyway, it is almost sad about the off-day with all the momentum the team has right now. But nice for our bullpen to rest…we need to get JC back! Also great to see how durable Brad Lidge is…he pitched how many days in a row? Not sure, but it was a lot. So, I think Atlanta is in real trouble now…Smoltz is gone, probably for the year, if not for good. And now they’ve lost Chipper for some time with that leg injury. Looks like a good time to go ahead and bury the Fish! Maybe the Reds can help us out today… :o)
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
I look forward to watching the Fish play the Phillies again. Good news for the series is that the Marlins will have Olsen and Nolasco pitching, and Hanley is getting hot…..bad news is that Andrew Miller will also be on the mound, Hamels is coming off a shutout and the Phillies are the hottest team in the NL right now. Great job sweeping Atlanta IN Atlanta! Either way, I’m happy the Mets lost 4 in a row to the Padres!
Yes, it was nice to sweep the Braves and to do it in their home ballpark. If
this does not represent a true changing of the guard in the National League
East, nothing will. Well, I see the day off a bit differently, while momentum is
good, if you don’t give the body some rest, especially in hot weather like we
are experiencing right now, you are going to see that same body go weak from lack of rest. So, rest is good. Lidge pitched in all three games of the series against Atlanta, all in the ninth inning. So, that day off is going to do him good.
And it’s going to be nice for the entire bullpen to get rested. Yes, Atlanta is in
trouble, and if I’m right, it’s the beginning of the end of the Atlanta dynasty of
the 90s and 00s. I think Smoltz, even if he gets through the operation, will
probably end up retiring because of his age. As for Chipper, yes, he will be
out for a while, but I hate to be the first few pitchers he’ll face when he comes
back if he stays as hot as he is right now, I mean, he’s still hitting over .410. That guy is a danger as long as he can keep hitting that good, and I haven’t heard of someone hitting that well before the All-Star break since George Brett’s attempt to stay over .400 in the late ’70s. As for the fish, this woiuld definately ie the right time to bury them while the Phillies’ express train is running on all four cylinders. And if the Reds do help us, we’ll all learn that by the end of the night.
Yes, the Phillies are hot, and they certainly are planning to remain hot for a while. I’m wondering if we’ll see the fish fry in Miami this weekend. 🙂 Yes, it was nice to see the Braves get swept at home. If the Phils can do it there, they can do it anywhere. Even if Olsen and Nolasco are pitching, I get the feeling the Phillies’ batters will soon won’t care who is on the mound as long as they can raise their ERA by the time the ballgame is over. And with Hamels, I’m hoping he has gotten his mechanics fixed in that game, since he needs to continue showing that he’s the team’s ace. As for the Mets….hee hee hee, a bad team swept them. Goodness, I’m beginning to think that last year’s collapse has affected them. 🙂
So nice that we can all hate the Braves and the Mets together…makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :O) Sorry Mr. Marlin about your Fishies last night, but nice to see Mr. Griffey get #600 out of the way. He looked oh so relieved. So, another FUN series this week for our teams again! And yes, it is nice to see our pitching get some rest finally. I was beginning to wonder when Brad’s arm might fall off…good that it did not 🙂 Hopefully they all used the day off to sleep instead of playing with Flipper at the Seaquarium…hee! Although, I have done that and I have to say, it is tempting 🙂 Gotta love Miami…
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
I don’t hate the Braves, per se, I was just getting tired of seeing them at the top of the division every year after the divisional realignment back in ’94. I mean, who do they think they are, Yankees south? I mean, the Yankees, after all, are a bunch of … ahem, I’m trying to keep things nice here. 🙂 Anyway, where were we. Oh yeah, the end of the Braves’ dynasty. Let’s just say I won’t be sorry that they’ll soon be seeing the Phillies’ driving away from them and leave it at that. On Junior and no. 600, I’m sure he’s gald that it’s finally over since he can concentrate on other things. On Brad’s arm, I think that the only way it’s going to fall out is for the starters to get rocked early like they were during the early part of last year and the bullpen was being run ragged. At this point, I seriously don’t see it coming, as the starters have not gotten rocked for several games so far this year. I’m hoping that they keep it that way, as I’m tired of seeing and hearing people self-destructing on the mound as they pitch for us. I hope that they took it easy as well, although Im thinking a few of Flipper’s relatives are hoping that they aren’t on… oppps, sorry, wrong species. 🙂