Results tagged ‘ Back-to-Back Home Runs ’

2008 World Series: Game 3: The Phillies win Game 3 on a Walk-Off Single by Carlos Ruiz with the Bases Loaded in the bottom of the ninth. The Phillies take a two games to one lead in the series.

The Phillies have now taken a two games to one lead in the 2008 World Series on a bases loaded, no one out, walk-off single down the third base line by Carlos Ruiz, as the Phillies would defeat the Rays, 5-4.

After a long rain delay, the game would start around 10 pm Eastern time. The Phillies would take a quick 1-0 lead in the first, as, with runners on second and third, and no one out, Chase Utley would hit a RBI ground out to first, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who has earlier singled, moved up to second on Jayson Werth’s walk, and would both move up to third and second on Rays’ starter Matt Garza’s wild pitch, and send Werth on to third. The Rays would tie the game up in the second when, with a runner on third and one out, Gabe Gross would hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Carl Crawford, who has earlier doubled and would then steal third. The Phillies would retake the lead in their half of the second when, with two outs and no one on, Carlos Ruiz would hit a home run to left, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead. The game would then become a pitchers’ duel between Garza and Phillies’ starter Jamie Moyer, who would both refuse to give up another run for the next three innings. The Rays, in the top of the sixth, would come close to taking the lead, as, with a runner on second (B.J. Upton (single and stolen base)), and two men out, Evan Longoria would hit a deep fly ball to left that would be caught by Pat Burrell in front of the left field wall for the inning’s final out, as the winds would help keep the ball in the field of play. Then, in the Phillies’ half of the sixth, they would increase their lead as Utley would hit a lead-off home run, his second home run of the series, to give the Phils a 3-1 lead. Ryan Howard would then follow with a solo home run of his own, his first of the post-season, to make it 4-1 Phillies. But the Rays would come back in the seventh. The inning would start with a bunt single by Crawford, who was actually out, as shown in various instant replays, as Moyer, after catching the ball in the air, would throw it over to Howard, who would catch the ball barehanded before Crawford would actually touch the base, but an out of position first base umpire Tom Hallion would instead call him safe. Dioner Navarro would then follow with a double to left, sending Crawford over to third. Gross would follow with a sharp grounder to first that Howard would make a spectacular catch on and would then beat Gross to first base for the inning’s first out, as Crawford would score, cutting the Phillies’ lead down to 4-2, while Navarro would move on over to third. That would be the ballgame for Moyer as Charlie Manuel would come out of the dugout and take him out to the cheers of the crowd, and then replace him with Chad Durbin. Durbin would then give up a RBI ground out to Jason Bartlett, 4-3, which would knock in Navarro, making it a 4-3 Phils’ lead. After pinch hitter Willy Aybar walks, Manuel would come back out and take out Durbin and replace him with Scott Eyre to face Akinori Iwamura. Eyre would proceed to strike out Iwamura swinging on a 3-2 fastball. The Rays would then tie the game in the eighth, as, with a runner on second and one man out, Upton, who has earlier singled and then stole second, would try to steal third. He would reach third with the stolen base, and then head for home with the tying run, as Ruiz’s throw would hit him and bounce towards the Phils’s third base dug out for an error. Ryan Madson, who was on the mound at the time, would then get Longoria to ground out, 4-3, for the inning’s second out. Manuel would then replace him with J.C. Romero, who would end the inning by getting Crawford to fly out to right on one pitch. The Phillies would attempt to retake the lead in their half of the eighth, as Werth would start the inning off with a walk, and would then steal second. After Utley would strike out swinging, Werth would be picked off second by Rays’ reliever J.P. Howell. Howell would then end the inning by striking out Howard looking. Madson would then proceed to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, as he woukd first strike out Navarro, get Gross to ground out, 4-3, and then get Bartlett to also ground out, 6-3. In the Phillies’ ninth, Eric Bruntlett, a late inning replacement for Burrell, would bd hit by a pitch from Howell, taking first base. The Rays would then proceed to replace Howell with Grant Balfour. Balfour would then throw a wild pitch, which would quickly come back to Rays’ catcher Navarro. But, Navarro, as he tried to throw out Bruntlett at second, would instead throw the ball into right center field for an error, allowing Bruntlett to reach third base with nobody out. The Rays would then intentionally walk both Shane Victornio and pitch hitter Greg Dobbs to load the bases, while the Rays would bring in right fielder Gross to set up a five men infield, while leaving only two men in the outfield, with both of them playing shallow, to face Ruiz. On a 2-2 fastball, Ruiz would hit a slow roller down the third base line. The Rays’ third baseman Longoria, after grabbing the ball, would try to flip to Navarro to force out Bruntlett at home plate. But Longoria’s throw would fly past Novarro, allowing Bruntlett to score the winning run for the Phillies’ 5-4 walk-off win.

Jamie Moyer would get a no-decision as he would pitch six and one-third strong innings, giving up only three earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out five. Chad Durbin would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs and no hits and a walk. Scott Eyre would also pitch a third of an inning, striking out the only man he would face. Ryan Madson would get a blown save as he pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up an earned run on one hit, while striking out one. J.C. Romero would get the win as he would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs or hits, while striking out one. His series record is now 1-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Matt Garza would also get a no-decision as he would pitch six innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Chad Bradford would pitch an inning plus one batter, giving up no runs and no hits and a walk. J.P. Howell would get the lost as he would also pitch an inning plus one batter, giving up an earned run on no hits and a hit batsman, while striking out two. His series record is now 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. Grant Balfour would face three batters, getting none of them out, as he would give up no runs on one hit and two intentional walks.

Jamie Moyer would pitch a strong game, returning to his second half form, as he constantly outpitched the Rays’ batters, before finally being taken out of the game in the seventh, thanks in part to first base umpire Tom Hallion’s blown call at first base that would help lead to two runs scoring later in the inning. Meanwhile, the Phillies’ bat, while they would still do very little scoring, would produce three solo shots by Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard off of the Rays’ starter Matt Garza, who would get very upset after Howard’s solo shot, while they would also score a run via a ground out in the first, before Ruiz’s slow single down the third base line would bring in the final run. Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollin would finally get on base with two singles, scoring a run shortly after getting his first hit of the series, while Howard would finally do some post-season damage with the long ball.

The 2008 World Series will continued later tonight with the fourth game of the series from Philadelphia. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 8:29 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Joe Blanton (0-0, -.–), who is coming off a no-decision against the Dodgers in the NLCS on October 13, as he would go just five innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out four, in the Phillies’ 7-5 win. In the post-season, his record is 1-0 with an ERA of 3.27, as he would pitch eleven innings, giving up four earned runs on twelve hits and four walks, while striking out eleven. His regular season record is 9-12 (4-0) with a 4.69 (4.20) ERA in thirty-three starts, where he would give up 110 runs, 103 of which were earned, on 211 hits and 66 walks, while striking out 111 batters in 197 and two-thirds innings. He will be trying for his second post-season win and to put the Phillies in position for clinching the crown at home. The Rays’ starter will be Andy Sonnanstine (0-0, -.–), who is coming off a win against the Red Sox in the ALCS on October 14, as he would pitch seven and one-third innings, giving up four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits and a walk, while striking out two, in the Rays’ 13-4 win. His post-season record is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA, as he would pitch thirteen innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks, while striking out six. His regular season record is 13-9 with a 4.28 ERA in thirty-two starts, where he would give up 105 runs, 94 of which would be earned, on 212 hits and 37 walks, while striking out 124 in 193 and one-third innings. He will be trying for his third post-season win while trying to even the series up at two games apiece.

The keys in this game will be for the Phillies to find some way to get to Sonnanstine with their bats, especially since he seems to give up very few walks. At the same time, Joe Blanton will need to use whatever knowledge he will have from pitching against the Rays’ batters in the past to his best advantage. The Phillies have a chance to take a commanding three games to one lead and giving the ball back to Cole Hamels to possibily clinch the crown on Monday with a win in game four.

National League Divisional Series: Game 4: Four bombs and Joe Blanton’s pitching help get the Phillies into the Championship Series. Bring on the Dodgers!!!!

Four long bombs from Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell (2) and Jayson Werth and six strong innings of work from Joe Blanton would help propel the Phillies into the National League Championship Series as they defeated the Brewers, 6-2. On the sixth pitch of the ballgame from Brewers’ starter Jeff Suppan, Jimmy Rollins would help to silence the Brewers’ faithful as he would hit a solo home run, giving the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. As Joe Blanton would keep the Brewers’ bats silent, the Phillies would increase their lead in the third, when, with runners on first and second, and two men out, Pat Burrell would hit a three-run home run, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier doubled, and Ryan Howard, who has been intentionally walked, to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. One batter later, Jayson Werth would hit a solo shot of his own, making it 5-0 Phillies. That would be the score until the seventh, when Prince Fielder would hit a lead-off solo home run of his own off of Blanton, his only hit in the series, to make it a 5-1 Phillies’ lead. The Phillies would get the run back in the eighth, as, with two outs, Burrell would hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot that would make it 6-1 Phillies. The Brewers would score their second run of the game in their half of the eighth, as, with a runner on third, and two outs, Ryan Braun would hit a RBI single, scoring Mike Cameron, who has earlier singled, moved to second on defensive indifference and would move on to third on Ray Durham’s ground out, 4-3, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 6-2. That would be the final score as Brad Lidge would come in to pitch the ninth in a non-save situation and easily put down the Brewers, getting the final out on a Jason Kendall ground out, 6-3.

Joe Blanton would get the win, as he pitches six strong innings plus two batters, giving up only one earned run on five hits, while striking out seven. His post-season record is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.50. Ryan Madson would pitch two innings, giving up an earned run on two hits. Brad Lidge would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. Jeff Suppan would get the lost, as he pitches only three innings, giving up five earned runs on six hits and walking three batters, while striking out three. His post-season record is 0-1 with a 15.00 ERA. Yovani Gollardo would pitch three shut out innings, giving up only one hit, while striking out one. Manny Parra would go one and two-thirds innings, giving up no earned runs on one hit and striking out three. Guillermo Mota would pitch an inning and a third, giving up an earned run on two hits.

With the win, the Phillies have won their first post season series since their defeat of the Atlanta Braves in the 1993 National League Championship Series. Also, this is the first game in the series that the Phils have scored in more than one inning, scoring a run in the first, four more runs in the third and a final run in the eighth. And Joe Blanton would pitch a rather superb game, keeping the Brewers off-balanced in the process, never allowing them to have more than one man on base during his six innings of work, before being relieved after giving up a home run and a single in the seventh. The Phillies will now rest until Thursday, when they will face the Dodgers for the first time in the playoffs since their defeat of LA back in the 1983 National League Championships Series. GO PHILLIES!!! BEAT LA!!!!!

Final Countdown to the Playoffs: Game 1: Sweeping the Nationals and ending the regular season on a high note.

The Phillies, behind a bunch of rookies and bench players, defeated the Nationals, 8-3, ending the 2008 regular season on a high note. They will now be facing the Brewers in the National League Divisional Series starting this coming Wednesday afternoon.

The Phillies took a quick 1-0 lead in the first as, with two men on base and one out, Eric Bruntlett, who has earlier singled and then moved to third on Tadahito Iguchi’s double, would cross the plate on Nationals’ starter Odalis Perez’s wild pitch, while Iguchi would move up to third. The Nationals would tie the game in the third, as the Phillies’ surprise starter Kyle Kendrick would give up a lead-off home run to Luke Montz, his first career home run. The Nationals would then take the lead in the fourth as, with a runner on second and no one out, Kory Casto would hit a RBI double, scoring Anderson Hernandez, who has earlier doubled, to make it 2-1 Nationals. Two batters later, with Casto now on third, after moving up on Ryan Langerhans’ ground out, 4-3, he would score on Alberto Gonzalez’s RBI single, making it 3-1 Nationals. The Phillies would strike back in their half of the fourth, as, with runners on second and third and two outs, So Taguchi would hit a two-run single, scoring Lou Marson, who has earlier singled, his first hit in the majors, and would move up to third on pinch hitter Jayson Werth’s single, who would later steal second, tying the game up at three all. Eric Bruntlett would then follow with a RBI double, knocking in Taguchi and giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead. The Phillies would add to their lead in the sixth, when, with a runner on first and two outs, Taguchi would hit a RBI triple, knocking in pinch hitter Ryan Howard, who has earlier singled to the left of the shift that most major league teams would put up against him, making it 5-3 Phillies. Then in the eighth, the Phillies would put the game away, when, with a runner on first and two outs, Marson would hit a monster two-run home run to left, his first career home run, scoring Greg Golson, who was earlier safe at first on a force play, which has wiped out Mike Cervenak, who has earlier reached base on a fielding error by Nationals’ shortstop Hernandez, giving the Phillies a 7-3 lead. Pinch hitter Matt Stairs would then follow with a solo home run to right, his thirteen home run of the year, to give the Phillies an 8-3 lead. That would be the ballgame as Clay Condrey would come in to pitch a scoreless ninth, although he would give up a walk and then a single before recording the final out of the Phillies’ 2008 regular season by getting Emilio Bonifacio to ground out, 3-1.

Kyle Kendrick, the surprise starter, would get a no-decision as he pitches four innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits. Kendrick, who is not on the Phils’ post-season roster, will now be sent down to the Florida Instructional League to rebuild his confidence in his pitches as well as being taught two more pitches to help compliment his slider, before he comes back to join the team for spring training 2009. Les Walrond would get the win as he pitches two scoreless innings, giving up two hits as he struck out four. His record is now 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA. J.A. Happ would pitch one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief, giving up two hits as he struck out three. Rudy Seanez would pitch a third of an inning, getting out the only batter he would face. Clay Condrey would pitch a scoreless ninth, giving up a hit and a walk. Odalis Perez would get the lost, as he is only able to pitch three and two-thirds inning, leaving the game early because of a possible injury and with the Nats not taking any chances with his career, giving up four runs, only three of which were earned, on eight hits while striking out five. His record is now 7-12 with an ERA of 4.34. Shairon Martis would pitch two innings and a third, giving up an earned run on two hits while striking out three. Marco Estrada would pitch two innings, giving up three runs, only two of which were earned, on three hits.

The Phillies (92-70) would end the year with a sweep of the Nationals, winning the third game of the series with rookies and bench players, although two of the regulars, Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard would both come up to bat as pinch hitters, both getting singles and both scoring. Among the bench players, So Taguchi would lead the way by going 3 for 5, getting a triple, knocking in three runs while scoring one. Eric Bruntlett and Tadahito Iguchi would be next as they each went two for five, with Bruntlett knocking in a run and scoring one. Geoff Jenkins would be the other bench player who would get a hit. The only one among the rookies with a good day would be Lou Marson, who would go 2 for 4, getting his first major league career hit, a single, score his first run, knock in his first RBI and hit his first home run of his career, all in the same game. He also threw out his first base stealer of his career, as he caught the Nationals’ Emilio Bonifacio when he overslid second base on a steal attempt, tagged out by Iguchi when he tried to put his foot back on the bag. Also, all three pinch hitters that the Phillies would send up to the plate would hit safely as Matt Stairs would add a solo home run to Werth and Ryan’s singles. The victory gives the Phillies the second best record in the National League, beind the Central Division Champions Chicago Cubs, and the fifth in the majors, behind the American League Western Division Chmpions Los Angeles Angles, the American League Eastern Division Champions Tampa Bay Rays and the American League Wild Card Winner and Current World Champions Boston Red Sox.

The Phillies ended the season in first place in the National League Eastern Division, with a record of 92-70 for a winning percentage of .568, ending twelve wins over .500. They ended up being three games ahead of the Mets, who ended up with a record of 89-73 .559, seven and a half games ahead of the Marlins, who ended up with a record of 84-77 .522, twenty games ahead of the Braves, who ended up with a record of 72-90 .444 and thirty-two and a half games ahead of the Nationals, who ended up with a record of 59-102 .366.

The Phillies will now have today and tomorrow to rest up before they get ready to face the Wild Card Winner Milwaukee Brewers for a five games National League Divisional Series, which will start in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The Phillies use the long ball to win their first series of the second half as they defeat the Braves, 12-10.

The Phillies would use a combination of the long ball and situational hitting to come from behind again to defeat the Braves as they win their first series of the second half, 12-10. It didn’t look that way at the start as the Braves would score two runs in the top of the first off of Phillies’ starter Joe Blanton. With two men on and one out, Brian McCann would hit a RBI single, scoring Yunel Escobar, who has earlier singled, making it 1-0 Braves. Mark Kotsay would follow with a RBI double, scoring Mark Teixeira, who has earlier walked, to give the Braves a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the second, with Eric Bruntlett batting, the rain would come down, delaying the game for over two hours. The long rain delay would force the removal of both teams’ starters, Blanton and Jorge Campillo. The Braves would increase their lead in the top of the fourth off of Adam Eaton. With a runner on second and one out, Eaton would give up a two-run home run to Kelly Johnson, his ninth home run of the year, scoring Kotsay, who has earlier singled, to make it 4-0 Braves. Omar Infante would follow with a solo shot, his second home run of the year, to give the Braves a 5-0 lead. The Phillies would then come back in their half of the fourth. With two men out, and a runner on first, Chris Coste would hit a two-run home run, his eighth home run of the year, scoring Jayson Werth, who has earlier walked, cutting the Braves’ lead to 5-2. The next batter, pinch hitter So Taguchi would then get on base with a pinch single. Jimmy Rollins would follow by working a walk. Shane Victorino would then hit a three-run home run, his eighth home run of the year, scoring Taguchi and Rollins, tying the game at five all. In the fifth, the Phillies will take the lead as Pat Burrell would hit a solo home run, his twenty-sixth home run of the year, making it 6-5 Phillies. The Phils would then break the game wide open in the sixth. With Royce Ring now on the mound, he would be greeted by pinch hitter Carlos Ruiz with a pinch double. Ruiz would then go to third on a single by Rollins. Victorino would follow with a RBI single, scoring Ruiz, and sending Rollins to second to make the score 7-5 Phillies. Chase Utley would then strike out, making the first out of the inning. With Ryan Howard at the plate, Rollins and Victorino would perform a double steal, with Victorino just beating McCann’s throw from behind home plate. Howard would then hit a RBI single with the infield pulled in, scoring Rollins easily, and then scoring Victorino, as he knocks over McCann, as McCann tries to catch left fielder Jeff Francoeur’s throw from left on one hop, and then tries to turn around quickly to tag out Victorino, making it 9-5 Phillies. McCann would then lay on the ground for the next several minutes, with Victorino and Rollins, among others, looking to see if he was alright, before he is finally taken out of the game, and replaced by Corky Miller. Meanwhile, Royce is replaced on the mound by Blaine Boyer. Burrell would then fly out for the second out of the inning. Werth would then follow with a two-run home run, his fourteenth home run, to give the Phillies an 11-5 lead. Bruntlett would then end the inning by flying out. In the seventh, Rollins would increase the Phillies’ lead by hitting a solo home run, his seventh home run of the year, to give the Phils a 12-5 lead. The Braves would then make it close in the eighth. With Rudy Seanez on the mound, Kotsay would start the inning off with a single. After Francoeur pops up for the first out of the inning, Johnson would get on base with a walk, sending Kotsay to second. Infante would follow with a RBI double, scoring Kotsay and sending Johnson to third, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 12-6. Greg Norton would then load the bases as Seanez commits an error on his ground ball. Ryan Madson is then brought in to relieve Seanez. Gregor Blanco would then walk, scoring Johnson, while leaving the bases loaded as the Phillies now lead 12-7. Escobar would then pop out to Bruntlett in foul territory for the second out of the inning. Pinch hitter Martin Prado would then hit a double that a diving Werth would be unable to catch, scoring Infante, Norton and Blanco after it gets past Werth, making it a 12-10 Phillies’ lead. Madson would finally end the inning by getting Miller to ground out, third to first. In the ninth, Brad Lidge would proceed to nail down his twenty-fourth save of the year to finally end the ballgame.

Joe Blanton would get a no-decision thanks to the rain delay, as he pitches two innings, giving up two earned runs on three hits. Adam Eaton would also pitch two innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits. Clay Condrey would get the win as he pitches two innings, giving up no runs on one hit. His record is now 3-2 with a 3.72 ERA. J.C. Romero would go an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Rudy Seanez would go one-third of an inning, giving up four earned runs on two hits. Ryan Madson would go two-thirds of an inning, giving up an earned run on one hit. Brad Lidge would pitch an inning, as he records his twenty-fourth save of the year, giving up no runs on no hits. Jorge Campillo would also pitch a no-decision because of the rain delay, going one and two-thirds innings, giving up no runs on two hits. Jo-Jo Reyes would go two and two-thirds innings, giving up five earned runs on four hits. Julian Tavarez would take the lost as he goes two-thirds of an inning, giving up an earned run on one hit. His record is now 0-3 with a 6.48 ERA.Royce Ring would pitch a third of an inning, giving up four earned runs on four hits. Blaine Boyer would pitch two-thirds of an innings, giving up a run on one hit. Buddy Carlyle would pitch an inning, giving up one run on one hit. Will Ohman would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits.

The Phillies (56-49) have finally won their first series of the second half as well as the short home stand, while also starting a two game winning streak. For the second straight game the Phillies’ offense would score ten or more runs, this time with them doing it with a combination of the long ball and situational hitting. Does this mean that the offense is back? I’m going to wait until after the next several series before saying yes or no. The next Phillies’ game will be played on Tuesday as they meet the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.

With the win, the Phillies continue to trail the Mets by a game, as they won their game against the Cardinals. The Marlins would drop to third place, a game behind the Phillies, as they lost to the Cubs. The Braves now trail the Phillies by six and a half games. As the Phillies take the day off before starting their series with the Nationals in D.C., the Mets go to Miami to start a three games series with the Marlins, while the Braves prepare for a four games series with the Cardinals.

The Phillies’ offense vanishes again as they lose to the Mets, 6-3.

The Phillies’ offense would perform its usual vanishing act as they fall to the Mets, 6-3, once again ending up being tied with the Mets for first place in the East. The Phillies’ returning starter Brett Myers would start out with his familiar first inning problems. After getting Jose Reyes to ground out, second to first, Myers would give up three straight walks to Endy Chavez, David Wright and Carlos Delgado to load the bases. He would then give up his fourth straight pass to Carlos Beltran, forcing in Chavez, to give the Mets a 1-0 lead, while leaving the bases still loaded. Marlon Anderson would then make it 2-0 Mets, as he would hit a ground ball that would get pass Ryan Howard, but would be grabbed by Chase Utley, who would throw it over to Myers for the second out, while Wright scores and Delgado and Beltran both move up a base. Myers would finally get out of the inning on a ground out by Damion Easley, third to first. The Phillies would then tie the game in the second when Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins would hit back-to-back home runs off of Mets’ starter John Maine. Victornio’s home run would be his seventh home run of the year while Jenkins’ would be his ninth home run of the year. The Mets would retake the lead in the third as another walk would get Myers into trouble. After getting Chavez to ground out, second to first, Myers would give up his fifth and final walk to Wright. He would then hit Delgado, after getting ahead of him, to put two men on base. Beltran would then get a single, the first Mets’ hit of the game, to load the bases. Myers would then get Anderson to strike out for the inning’s second out. But he would then give up a single to Easley, which would knock in Wright to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Brian Schneider would then ground out, second to first, to end the inning. The Phillies would retie the game in the fifth, as Jimmy Rollins would hit a RBI double, scoring Carlos Ruiz, who has earlier singled. The Mets would then take the lead for good in the sixth inning as Reyes would hit a three-run home run off of Ryan Madson, his eleventh home run of the year, scoring Easley and Schneider, who have both gotten on base with singles, to give the Mets a 6-3 lead. That would end up being the final score as Billy Wagner would come in the ninth to record his twenty-fifth save of the year.

Brett Myers would get a no-decision as he pitches a somewhat awful five innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits, while walking five batters and hitting another, three of whom would later score. Ryan Madson would take the lost, as he pitches an inning, giving up three earned runs on four hits. His record is now 2-1 with a 3.14 ERA. Clay Condrey would pitch two innings, giving up no runs on three hits. John Maine would get the win, going seven innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits. His record is now 9-7 with a 4.20 ERA. Scott Schoeneweis would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Joe Smith would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Billy Wagner would come in in the ninth and record his twenty-fifth save of the year as he would go an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.

Once again the inconsistent Phillies’ offense, after performing a spectular come from behind victory on Tuesday night, would do almost nothing on Wednesday night, as they lose to the Mets. Once again, someone need to come out and act like a team leader and start telling the others what they need to do if they are going to win the division again. Otherwise, they are going to go nowhere when the post-season comes around.

The three games series between the Phillies (54-47) and the Mets (54-47) will conclude this afternoon from Shea Stadium. The game will begin at 12:10 pm Eastern. The Phillies will send to the mound Jamie Moyer (9-6, 3.90), who is coming off an excellent start against the Marlins on July 18, going six innings, giving up only two earned runs on four hits, in the Phillies’ 4-2 win. Moyer has won his last two starts, giving up two earned runs or less in both starts. He will be trying for his tenth win of the year while trying to put the Phillies back into sole possession of first place. The Mets will counter with Oliver Perez (6-6, 4.36), who is coming off a lost against the Reds on July 19, going six innings as well, while giving up three runs, two of which were earned, on six hits, in the Mets’ 7-2 lost. He will be trying to record his seventh win of the year while trying to give the Mets the lead in the East.

The Phillies are once again tied for first place with the Mets while they prepare to face the Mets in the rubber game of their three games series. The Marlins continue to trail by a game as they’d lost to the Braves. They will now start a four games series against the National League Central leading Chicago Cubs at Chicago. The Braves are now traling the Phils and the Mets by six games as they take the day off, before they meet the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park for a three games weekend series. The Phillies will be trying to gain their first series win of the second half while trying to regain sole control of first place in the East before going back home to meet the Braves.

The Phillies beat the best as they defeat the Red Sox, 8-2.

The Phillies, to prove that they are one of the best teams in the major leagues this year, have brought out the bats to easily defeat the World Champions Boston Red Sox, 8-2. The Phillies would score first in the bottom of the first as Jimmy Rollins would hit Bartolo Colon’s second pitch of the night out of the ballpark for his sixth home run of the season to give the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. Three batters later, with a runner on second and one hit, Ryan Howard would hit a two-run home run, his eighteenth home run of the year, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier doubled, to make it a 3-0 Phillies’ lead. Two innings later, in the third, Howard would hit a solo shot for his nineteenth home run of the season to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. In the fifth, the Red Sox would cut the Phillies’ lead in half as Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew would hit back-to-back solo home runs off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels, for their sixth, and twelfth home run of the year, respectively, to make the score 4-2 Phils. But, that would turn out to be all of the damage that the Red Sox would be able to muster against Hamels during the seven innings and one batter that he would pitch tonight, as he would keep them generally quiet, as he gives up only seven hits. Then in the Phillies’ sixth, they would put the game away as they send nine men to the plate and score four runs. The inning would begin with Pedro Feliz getting a walk off of Mike Timlin, who was pitching in relief of Javier Lopez, who, in turn has pitched an inning in relief of Colon. Carlos Ruiz would follow with a single, moving Feliz to second. After Hamels sacrifice them both over to third and second respectively, Rollins would hit a two-run RBI single, scoring both Feliz and Ruiz, to make it 6-2 Phillies. Victorino would then follow with a single, sending Rollins over to third. Chase Utley would then hit a fielder’s choice ground ball, which would score Rollins from third, to give the Phillies a 7-2 lead. Howard would follow with a RBI triple, scoring Utley, making it 8-2 Phils. That would be how the game would end, as Chad Durbin would come in the eighth in relief of Hamels after Hamels has walked Drew to start the inning, and getting six of the seven batters that he would face, including a double play ground out off of the first man that he would face in the eighth. 

Cole Hamel would get the win, going seven innings plus a batter, giving up only two earned runs on seven hits. His record is now 7-4 with a reduced ERA of 3.23. Chad Durbin would pitch two innings of relief, giving up no runs on one hit. Bartolo Colon would take the lost, giving up four runs on six hits. His record is now 4-2 with a 4.09 ERA. Javier Lopez would pitch one inning in relief, giving up no runs on one hit. Mike Timlin would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up four earned runs on four hits. David Aardsma would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs on one hit. Hideki Okajima would then come in to pitch a scoreless, hitless inning.

The three games series between the Phillies (42-30) and the Red Sox (44-29, 1st American League East) will continue tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park. The game will begin at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Jamie Moyer (7-3, 4.12), who is coming off a win against the Marlins on June 12, where he would go eight inning, giving up no earned runs on two hits, in the Phillies’ 3-0 win. Moyer has won five of his last six starts, while the Phillies would win his other start. In those six starts, he has pitched a combined forty innings, giving up fourteen earned runs on thirty-four hits, including four quality starts. Lifetime against the Red Sox, he is 6-11 in twenty starts. Moyer will be trying to improve his lifetime record against the BoSox while trying to give the Phillies two wins in a row against the World Champs. The Red Sox will send to the mound Jon Lester (5-3, 3.43), who is coming off a victory against the Orioles on June 12, where he went seven innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, in the Red Sox’s 9-2 win. He has won his last two most starts. He will be trying to defeat the Phils, while hoping to quiet down the offense.

The Phillies’ offense woke up tonight, lead by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, who both had three hits. Between them, the Phillies’ sparkplug and the big man got two singles, a triple and three home runs, knocking in seven runs and scoring four. It would appear that JayRoll is starting to come out of his recent swoon while Howard is definately getting hot. If these two can get into a major groove at the same time, along with Victorino, Utley and Burrell, it will be almost impossible for the Phillies to get knocked out of first place.

With the win, the Phillies are presently three games ahead of the Marlins, as they won their games against the Mariners. The Braves are presently still six and a half games behind the Phils as they won their game with the Rockies, while the Mets are also still six and a half games behind the Phils after their victory over the Angels. The Phillies will once again be trying to increase their lead in the division.

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