The Phils scored early and often as the bats produced ten runs behind Cole Hamels’ shut out pitching as the Phils defeated the Marlins, 10-6. Their lead in the East remains at half a game as the Braves avoided a sweep at the hands of the Pirates.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with two men on, and with one man out, Ryan Howard hits a two-run single, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier doubled, and then stole third as the lead man in a double steal, and Chase Utley, who had just walked, and stole second as the back end of the double steal, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead, before going on to second base on the late throw to the plate. The Phils made it a 3-0 lead in the second as, with the bases loaded, via a double by Raul Ibanez, a walk to Carlos Ruiz, and then a throwing error by Wes Helm as he tried to throw out Phils’ starter Cole Hamels on a sacrifice bunt attempt, as both Ibanez and Ruiz moved up a base, and with nobody out, Victorino hits into an RBI ground out, 5-3, scoring Ibanez, while both Ruiz and Hamels would move up a base. The Phils added to their lead in the third as, with two men on, and with two men out, Ruiz hits an RBI single, scoring Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier doubled, making it a 4-0 Phils’ lead, while sending Ibanez, who had just walked, up to second base. The Phils busted the game wide open in the fourth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Howard hits a three-run bomb to left, his twenty-eighth home run of the year, scoring Placido Polanco and Chase Utley, who had both singled, with Polanco stopping at second base on Utley’s single, giving the Phils a 7-0 lead. The Phils then made it 9-0 in the fifth as, with the bases once again loaded, via a single to Hamels, a double to Victorino, his second in the game, with Hamels stopping at third, and a walk to Polanco, and with nobody out, Utley hits a two-run single, scoring Hamels and Victorino, while sending Polanco up to second base. They added to their lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with one man out, Howard hits an RBI single, for his sixth RBI of the game, knocking in Victorino, who had earlier singled, and then went to second when Utley was hit by the pitch, making it a 10-0 Phils’ lead, while sending Utley, who had just been hit by the pitch, to second base. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels had pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only four hits and a walk to the fish, while striking out five. The Phils’ bullpen then came unglued in the eighth, as Nate Robertson took the mound in relief of Hamels. After striking out the lead-off batter, Mike Rivera, swinging, Robertson then gives up a single to Emilio Bonifacio, who then went to second on a Robertson wild pitch. Logan Morrison then followed with a walk, putting two men on base. The next batter, Gaby Sanchez, then puts the Marlins’ on the scoreboard as he hits a three-run home run, his seventeenth home run of the year, knocking in both Bonifacio and Morrison, making it a 10-3 Phils’ lead. Dan Uggla then walks. Mike Stanton then follows by striking out, swinging, for the inning’s second out. The next batter, Wes Helms, then gets on base with an infield single, as he beats Utley’s throw to first, while Uggla would move up to second base. The Marlins then cut down the Phils’ lead to 10-5 as Cameron Maybin hits a two-run double, scoring both Uggla and Helms, with Helms scoring as Paul Hoover is unable to hold onto Ibanez’s throw to the plate, for an error, as he allows Maybin to reach third on the throw. The Phils then made a pitching change, replacing Robertson with David Herndon, who is then greeted by pinch hitter Scott Cousins, who hits an RBI double, scoring Maybin, to make it a 10-6 Phils’ lead. Herndon then finally ended the inning by getting Rivera, who had started the inning as the Marlins had batted around, to ground out, 4-3. That would be the final score, as Ryan Madson would end the game by striking out Uggla, swinging.

Cole Hamels gets the win as he pitches seven scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and a walk, while striking out five. His record is now 10-10 with a reduced ERA of 3.06. Nate Robertson pitches two-thirds of an inning, as he gives up six runs on four hits and two walks, while he strikes out two. David Herndon pitches two thirds of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk. Ryan Madson also pitches two-thirds of an inning, getting out both men that he would face, one by strike out. Andrew Miller took the lost as he pitches four innings, giving up seven runs on eleven hits and three walks, while he strikes out five. His record is now 1-1 with a 6.16 ERA. Chris Leroux pitches an inning, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Jose Ceda pitches an inning and a third, giving up a run on two hits. Jay Buente and Burke Badenhop combine for a scoreless one and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits (one hit each), while striking out four (two batters each).

The Phils pounded out eighteen hits in the game, with every regular getting at least one hit. Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard both lead the team with three hits each, with Victorino’s hits being two doubles and a single, as he knocked in a run, while Howard’s hits were two singles and a three-run bomb, knocking in six runs. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins (before he was taken out of the game because of tightness in his right quad) and Raul Ibanez next follow with two hits each, with Utley’s hits being both singles, knocking in two runs, Rollins hits being a single and a double and Ibanez’s hits being also a single and a double. Placido Polanco, Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Wilson Valdez and Ross Gload had the other six Phils’ hits, with Polanco, Werth, Ruiz, Hamels and Valdez’s hits being singles, with Ruiz knocking in a run, and Gload’s hit being a double. In the game, the Phils had six extra-base hits (2B (5), HR (1)). The bats came out to pound the fish in support of Hamels, giving him plenty of runs support.

The Phils (81-60 1st) have the day off today, before they begin a three-game series with the Mets this weekend (69-71, 4th). The Phils will be hoping that they will be in New York with a full game lead in the East, as the Braves tonight start a four-games series with the Cardinals in Atlanta.