Behind the pitching of Cole Hamels and the offense, the Phils continue their recent winning ways at home as they defeat the Padres in a make up game for an earlier rain out, 9-4. They increase their lead in the NL East to six and a half games over both the Braves and the Marlins.

The Phils took the lead in the second as, with a runner on second, and nobody out, Pedro Feliz hits an RBI single, scoring Jayson Werth, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. Three batters later, with one man on and two men out, Jimmy Rollins hits an RBI double, knocking in Phils’ starter Cole Hamel, who had earlier reached base on a force out, 2-6, of his sacrifice bunt attempt to move Carlos Ruiz to second, who had earlier hit into a force out, 5-4, wiping out Feliz at second base, making it a 2-0 Phils’ lead. Two batters later, after Shane Victorino is hit by the pitch, Chase Utley would make it 3-0 Phils as he hits an RBI single, scoring Rollins, while moving Victorino up to second base. The Phils would make it 4-0 in the third as Feliz hits a single, which Padres’ second baseman Oscar Salazar threw away, allowing Werth, who had earlier doubled, to score on the throwing error. The Padres would then try to make a come back in the fourth as, with one man on, and with two outs, Chase Headley hits an RBI double, knocking in Adrian Gonzalez, who had earlier walked, making it a 4-1 Phils’ lead. One batter later, Kyle Blanks cut the lead to 4-3 as he hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the year, knocking in Gonzalez. The Phils then went back to add to their lead in their half of the fourth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, knocking in Rollins, who had earlier walked, stole second and then move to third on Victorino’s ground out, 3-unassisted, making it a 5-3 Phils’ lead, while sending Utley, who had just walked, to second base. Raul Ibanez then followed with a two-run double, knocking in both Utley and Howard, to make it a 7-3 Phils’ lead. With their RBIs, both Howard and Ibanez reached 70 RBIs, tying themselves for the team lead in that category. The Phils would then take an 8-3 lead as Werth would hit an RBI single, bringing home Ibanez. The score would become 9-3 Phils in the seventh as, Ruiz hits a lead-off home run, his fifth home run of the year. The Padres would get a run back in the eighth as, with one man on, and one out, Everth Cabrera hits an RBI single, scoring Tony Gwynn, Jr., who had earlier doubled, making it a 9-4 Phils’ lead. But that would be the final score as Chan Ho Park would pitch a quick 1-2-3 ninth.

Cole Hamels got the win as he pitched seven inning, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk, as he struck out six. His record is now 6-5 with an ERA of 4.66. Andrew Carpenter pitched a third of an inning, giving up a run on two hits and walk. Chan Ho Park pitched an inning and a half of scoreless ball, striking out one. Kevin Correia took the lost as he went three and a third innings, giving up eight runs on nine hits and three walks, as he struck out two. His record is now 6-8 with an ERA of 4.84. Mike Ekstrom pitched two and two-thirds scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and a walk, as he struck out three. Edward Mujica pitched a third of an inning, giving up a run on three hits. Joe Thatcher pitched an inning and a third, striking out three. 

The Phillies’ offense had fourteen hits in the game, with Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz leading the way by each collecting three hits, followed by Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino with two hits each. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz got the other four Phils’ hit, with Ruiz’s hit being a solo home run. Besides Ruiz’s RBI, Ibanez knocked in two runs, while Rollins, Utley, Howard, Werth and Feliz each knocked in a run. The Phils had their second straight ten-plus hits games after being kept silent on Tuesday night, as Howard and Ibanez both knocked in their 70th RBI of the year, while Utley missed out on joining them when he hits into a force out with two men on base in the seventh.

The Phillies (54-39, 1st National League East) will continue their so far successful home stand with a three-games series with the Cardinals (52-46, 1st National League Central), starting tonight. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils’ starter will be J.A. Happ (7-0, 2.68), who is coming off of a win against the Marlins on July 19, where he went seven shut out innings, giving up just five hits and a walk, and struck out one, in the Phils’ 5-0 win. He will be going for his eight win of the year while putting up his name as a candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year. The Cardinals will counter with Joel Pineiro (8-9, 3.09), who is coming off a win against the D-backs on July 19, as he pitched seven strong innings, giving up on one run on five hits, as he struck out three, in the Cardinals’ 2-1 win. He will be trying to even his record, while trying to keep the Phillies’ offense quiet. The Phillies will be going for another series win as their try to improve their winning record at home before going once more onto the road.