The presently red hot Phils’ offense hit three two-run home runs to propel themselves over the last-place D-backs, 9-5, as they extend their winning streak to six games, and their present winning streak at home to nine, as their ace, Roy Halladay prepares to make a house call.

The D-backs took the lead in the first as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Justin Upton, Adam LaRoche being hit by the pitch, moving Upton to second base, and a walk to Miguel Montero, moving both Upton and LaRoche up a base, and with two men out, Mark Reynolds receives an RBI walk, scoring Upton, to give the D-backs a 1-0 lead, while moving up both LaRoche and Montero. The Phils tied it up at one-all in the third as, with two men on, and with one man out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, scoring Placido Polanco, who was safe at first on a fielder’s choice when Shane Victorino, who had earlier singled, and then stole second base, was caught between second and third on Polanco’s grounder, 6-4-5, then moved up to third on a single by Raul Ibanez, while Ibanez, who had just singled, would move up to third base. Three batters later, the Phils took the lead, after Jayson Werth walks to load up the bases as Howard moves up to second base, and with two men out, Carlos Ruiz receives an RBI walk, scoring Ibanez, while both Howard and Werth would move up a base, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead. The D-backs would tie it up at two-all in the fourth as, with one man out, Reynolds hits a solo home run, his twenty-fourth home run of the season. The D-backs took the lead in the fifth as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, Stephen Drew hits an RBI single, scoring LaRoche, who had earlier doubled, and had gone to third on Montero’s ground out, three-unassisted, giving the D-backs a 3-2 lead, while sending Reynolds, who had been intentionally walked, on to second base. The Phils retook the lead in their half of the fifth as, with one man on, and with nobody out, Werth hits a two-run home run, his fourteen home run of the season, scoring Howard, who had earlier walked, to give the Phils a 5-4 lead. The D-backs would tie it up at four-all in the sixth as, with the bases loaded, via a Chris Young double, a walk to Kelly Johnson, and then a force attempt error by Howard that allowed Johnson to be safe at second and Gerardo Parra to reach first, while Young moved up to third, and with nobody out, LaRoche hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Young from third, while sending Johnson to third. The D-backs then took the lead as, with runners on the corners, and now with one man out, Montero hits a grounder to Polanco, who tried to tag out Parra in the basepath, but misses, before throwing to first for the out, 4-3, before Howard tried to throw out Parra at second for a doubleplay, but misses, allowing Johnson to score, to give the D-backs a 5-4 lead. The Phils then tied the game up at five-all in their half of the sixth as, with one man on, and with two men out, Ibanez hits an RBI single, scoring Victorino, who had earlier singled, and then had gone to second on Polanco’s grounder (liner) to the pitcher, 1-3, then went to third on Jordan Norberto’s wild pitch. One batter later, the Phils took the lead for good as Howard hits a two-run bomb into deep left center field, his twenty-third home run of the year, scoring Ibanez, giving the Phils a 7-5 lead. The Phils then made it 9-5 in the seventh as, with a man on, and with one man out, Cody Ransom hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the season, and the third two-run shot for the Phils in the ballgame, scoring Ruiz, who had earlier singled, then went to second on Wilson Valdez’s sacrifice bunt, 5-3. That would end up being the final score as Ryan Madson pitches a 1-2-3 ninth.

Cole Hamels receives a no-decision as he pitches only five innings, giving up three runs on six hits, four walks, and two hit batters, while striking out eight. David Herndon blew his first save of the year, before receiving his first career win (a win which he did not really deserve) as he pitches an inning, giving up two runs, one of which was earned, on a hit and a walk. His record is now 1-2 with a 4.19 ERA. Danys Baez records his sixth hold of the year as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning. Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson combine for two scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Contreras) and a walk (Contreras), while striking out two (Madson) between them. Rodrigo Lopez also receives a no-decision as he also pitches five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and five walks, while striking out four. Blaine Boyer receives his fourth hold of the year as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on a hit. Jordon Norberto threw his first blown save of the year, before taking the lost, as he pitches to two batters, getting neither one out, as he gives up two runs on two hits and a wild pitch. His record is now 0-1 with a 11.05 ERA. Esmerling Vasquez pitches a third of an inning, giving up a hit, while striking out a batter. Chad Qualls pitches two innings, giving up two runs on two hits.

The Phils had thirteen hits in the game, with Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz each getting two hits. Victorino, Ibanez and Ruiz’s hits were all singles, with Ibanez and Ruiz both knocking in a run, while Polanco’s hits were a single and a double, and both Howard and Werth’s hits were a single and a two-run home run, with Howard knocking in three runs, and Werth two. Cody Ransom had the Phil’s other hit, a two-run home run. The offense exploded last night, but is now back to the problem with the Disabled List as Victorino might be out for at least fifteen days because of his left hip bothering him late in the game. When will this stop???

The Phils (54-46, 2nd NL East) will continue their series with the D-backs (37-63, 5th NL West) with a night game tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils starter will be their ace Roy Halladay (11-8, 2.28), who is coming off a win against the Rockies on July 23, as he pitched eight shut out innings, giving up just five hits and a walk, while striking out nine, in the Phils’ 6-0 win. In his last three starts, his record is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty-four innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on seventeen hits and two walks, while striking out twenty-one. He will be going for win no. twelve, while hoping the offense will continue to give him run support. The D-backs will try to counter with Edwin Jackson (6-9, 5.01), who is coming off a lost against the Giants on July 23, as he went six innings, giving up six runs, four of which were earned, on eight hits and a walk, while striking out four, in the D-backs’ 7-4 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 0-3, as he pitched seventeen and a third-innings, giving up fifteen runs, thirteen of which were earned, on twenty-three hits and ten walks, while striking out twelve. He will be hoping that he will not become the Phils’ offense latest victim. The Phils will be going for the series win tonight, while hoping that they can continue their six game winning streak and their nine game winning streak at home.