Results tagged ‘ Pitching Change ’
You ever have one of those days…? The Phils are crushed by the Dodgers, 15-9.
The Phils’ pitching staff is beaten up by the Dodgers’ bats, despite the offense supplying some runs, as the Phils lose to the Dodgers, 15-9.
The Dodgers took a quick 1-0 lead in the first as, with one man on, and with one man out, Andre Ethier hits an RBI single, scoring Scott Podsednik, who had earlier singled, and had moved up to second on Ryan Theriot’s ground out, 6-3. The Dodgers added to their lead in the third as, with one man on, and with one man out, Ethier hits an RBI double, scoring Theriot, who had just singled, to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Three batters later, with runners on the corners, and now with two men out, Jay Gibbons hits an RBI single, scoring Ethier, who had moved up to second base on James Loney’s walk, then went to third when Casey Blake’s hit a grounder to third, for a 5-4 force out at second of Loney for the inning’s second out, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead, while sending Blake, who was safe at first on the force out, to third. The Dodgers then increased their lead in the fourth as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Brad Ausmus, who then moved up to second as Jimmy Rollins made a miss catch error on a throw from Phils’ starter Kyle Kendrick on a ball hit by Dodgers’ starter Vicente Padilla, who was then safe on first on the error, and a single by Podsednik, which sent Ausmus to third, and Padilla to second, and with nobody out, Theriot hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Ausmus, to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, while moving Padilla to third base after the catch. After Kendrick is replaced by Antonio Bastardo, he is greeted by Ethier with an RBI single, scoring Padilla, giving the Dodgers a 5-0 lead, while sending Podsednik up to second base. The next batter, Loney, gave the Dodgers a 6-0 lead with an RBI single, scoring Podsednik, while moving Ethier to second base. Blake then followed with an RBI single, knocking in Ethier, giving the Dodgers a 7-0 lead, while sending Loney to third base. The Phils tried to make a come back in their half of the fourth as, with the bases loaded, via a single to Placido Polanco and walks to Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth, and with one man out, Dom Brown hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Polanco, making it a 7-1 Dodgers’ lead. The Phils then made it a 7-2 Dodgers’ lead in the fifth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Polanco hits an RBI ground out, 5-3, knocking in Wilson Valdez, who had earlier singled, and had gone to third on Rollins’ single, while moving Rollins up to second base. The next batter, Ross Gload, then followed with a two-run home run, his fifth home run of the year, knocking in Rollins, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 7-4. The Dodgers would get a run back in the sixth as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Loney hits an RBI double, scoring Theriot, who had earlier singled, and then stole second base, giving the Dodgers an 8-4 lead, while sending Ethier, who had just walked, to third base. The Dodgers then made it a 9-4 lead as, with runners on second and third, and with still nobody out, Blake hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Ethier. The Dodgers then took an 11-4 lead as Gibbons hits a two-run home run, his first home run of the season, knocking in Loney. The Phils then made it an 11-5 Dodgers’ lead as, with one man out, Brown hits a solo home run, his first career home run. The Dodgers then added to their lead in the seventh as, with the bases loaded again, via a single by Theriot, a single by Ethier, sending Theriot to second base, a force out by Loney, 1-6, forcing out Ethier at second, while Theriot went to third and Loney would beat the throw to first, and a walk to Blake, moving Loney up to second base, and with two men out, pinch hitter Matt Kemp hits a two-run single, scoring both Theriot and Loney, giving the Dodgers a 13-5 lead, while moving Blake up to third. The Phils would make it a 13-7 Dodgers’ lead as, with a runner on base, and with two men out, Gload hits a two-run home run, his sixth home run of the year and his second home run of the night, knocking in pinch hitter Greg Dobbs, who had just singled. The Dodgers then made it 15-7 in the ninth as, with a runner on base, and with one man out, Blake hits a two-run home run, his twelfth home run of the year, knocking in Ethier, who was earlier hit by the pitch. The Phils then cut the Dodgers’ lead down to 15-9 as, with the bases loaded, via Gload reaching base on a force out, 4-6, wiping out Rollins, who had earlier singled, at second base, a Raul Ibanez single, sending Gload to second, and a Werth walk, moving both runners up a base, and with two men out, Brown hits a two-run double, scoring both Gload and Ibanez, while sending Werth on to third. But that would be it as pinch hitter Cole Hamels flied out to left, ending the game.
Kyle Kendrick took the lost as he pitches just three and a third innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on eight hits and two walks, while striking out one. His record is now 7-5 with a 4.60 ERA. Antonio Bastardo pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on three hits, while striking out a batter. David Herndon pitches two innings, giving up four runs on three hits and a walk, while striking out a batter. Danys Baez pitches an inning, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk. Jose Contreras pitches a scoreless inning, giving up just one walk, while striking out two. J.C. Romero pitches a third of an inning, giving up two runs on a hit and a walk, striking out a batter. Chad Durbin pitches two-thirds of an inning, striking out both men whom he would face. Vicente Padilla gets the win as he pitches five innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out two. His record is now 6-3 with a 3.32 ERA. Ronald Belisario pitches an inning, giving up a run on one hit. Carlos Monasterios pitches one and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out two. George Sherrill pitches an inning, giving up two runs on two hits. Octavio Dotel pitches a third of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk.
The Phils had fourteen hits in the game, with Ross Gload leading the team with three hits, a single and two two-run home runs, knocking in four runs. He was followed by Jimmy Rollins, Dom Brown and Wilson Valdez who each had two hits, with Rollins and Valdez’s hits being singles, with both man scoring a run, while Brown’s hits were a double and a solo home run, his first in the major, as he knocks in four runs, one via a sacrifice fly. Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth, pinch hitter Greg Dobbs and pinch hitter Mike Sweeney had the other five Phils’ hit, all singles, with Polanco knocking in a run. The Phils’ offense was unable to catch up as the bullpen was unable to stop the previously slumping Dodgers.
The Phils (62-50, 2nd NL East) will continue their series with the Dodgers (59-54, 3rd 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 will send to the mound Roy Oswalt (0-1 (6-13), 4.38 (3.50)), who is coming off a no-decision against the Marlins on August 5, as he pitched six and a third innings, giving up two runs on three hits and four walks, while striking out five, in the Phils’ 5-4 win. In his last three starts, his record is 0-2 with a no-decision, as he pitched, seventeen and a third innings, giving up thirteen runs, twelve of which were earned, on nineteen hits and seven walks, while striking out twelve. He will be trying to impress the home crowd while trying one again for his first win as a Phil. The Dodgers will counter with Chad Billingsley (9-6, 3.82), who is coming off a lost to the Padres on August 5, as he pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out four, in the Dodgers’ 5-0 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he had pitched eighteen and two-thirds innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and seven walks, while striking out thirteen. He will be trying for his tenth win of the year. The Phils will be trying to rebound from the thumping that the Dodgers gave them last night, to even up the series.
Roy Halladay throws another pitching gem as the bats finally erupts behind him as the Phils defeat the Rockies, 6-0.
Roy Halladay continues to pitch as advertised as he pitches an eight inning shut out as the Phils’ offense finally gives him some runs as the Phils’ defeat the Rockies, 6-0.
The Phils were involved in another pitchers’ duel at home for the first five innings, as their ace Roy Halladay gives up only two hits and a walk during those five innings, as he struck out seven batters, while Rockies’ starter Aaron Cook matches him for the first four innings, as he gives up four hits and three walks, one intentional, while striking out two, to keep the game scoreless. The Phils then erupted in their half of the fifth as, with runners on the corners, and with noone out, Raul Ibanez hits a two-run double, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier singled, and then went to third on Placido Polanco’s single, and Polanco, who had just singled to give the Phils a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, with runners once again on the corners, as Ryan Howard sent Ibanez to third on his single, Jayson Werth hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in Ibanez, giving the Phils a 3-0 lead. One batter later, after Howard has stolen second base, the Phils made it a 5-0 lead as Ross Gload hits a two-run home run, his fourth home run of the year, and the first as a member of the regular starting line-up, knocking in Howard, while also knocking Cook out of the box as the Rockies’ manager has seen enough. The Phils added a run in the eighth as, with a runner on second, and with one man out, Ibanez hits an RBI single, scoring Rollins, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 6-0 lead. In the meantime, Halladay kept the Rockies under control for the next three innings, as he gave up just three more hits, while striking out two more batters, before handing it over to the bullpen, as J.C. Romero pitches a 1-2-3 ninth inning, to end the game.
Roy Halladay gets the win as he pitches eight shut out innings, giving up just five hits and a walk, while striking out nine. His record is now 11-8 with a 2.28 ERA. J.C. Romero pitches a 1-2-3 inning. Aaron Cook took the lost as he pitches four and a third innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and three walks, while striking out two. His record is now 4-6 with a 4.78 ERA. Jhoulys Chacin and Randy Flores pitches two scoreless innings, giving up just three walks (Chacin (1), Flores (2)), while striking out two (Chacin) between them. Manuel Corpas pitches an inning and two-thirds, giving up a run on three hits, striking out three batters.
The Phils had twelve hits in the game, with Raul Ibanez leading the team with three hits, with two singles and a double, knocking in three runs. Jimmy Rollins and Ross Gload follows with two hits each, with Rollins’ hits being a single and a double, scoring two runs, and with Gload’s hits being a single and a two-run home run. Placido Polanco, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz and Roy Halladay had the other five Phils’ hits, all singles, with Werth knocking in the other Phil run with a sac fly. The Phils’ offense finally scored some runs for their ace within nine innings. The question now is can they continue as they face one of the premiere pitchers in the National League.
The Phils (50-46, 2nd NL East) continue their four-game series with the Rockies (51-45, 3rd NL West) with an afternoon game, that will be nationally televised on Fox. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 4:10 pm Eastern. The Phils starter will be Kyle Kendrick (5-4, 4.82 ERA), who is returning from the minors, after having been sent back to Lehigh Valley after his lost to the Cardinals on July 19, as he had pitched only five innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits and three walks, while striking out two, in the Phils’ 8-4 lost. In his last three starts, his record is 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched in twenty and a third innings, giving up twelve runs, eleven of which were earned, on twenty hits and five walks, while striking out ten batters. He will be trying to prove that he deserves to be in the big league. The Rockies will counter with their ace Ubaldo Jimenez (15-1, 2.38), who is coming off a no-decision against the Marlins on July 19, as he pitched five and one-third innings, giving up six runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and three walks, while striking out five. In his last three starts, his record is 1-0 with two no-decisions, pitching nineteen and one-third innings, giving up fourteen runs, twelve of which were earned, on fourteen hits and nine walks, while striking out sixteen. He will be trying for his sixteenth win of the year. The Phils’ offense will try to light up one of the best pitchers in the National League this year. Come on guys, I know that you can do it. Just…be…patient!!!
A ninth inning melt down by the Cubs’ closer leads to the Phils beating the Cubs, 4-1.
The Cubs’ closer Carlos Marmol had a melt down in the top of the ninth, allowing the Phils to come back to win the game, as the Phils defeated the Cubs, 4-1.
The game for the first six and a half innings was a pitchers’ duel between Phils’ starter Cole Hamels, who in six scoreless innings would give up six hits and two walks, while striking out six Cubbies, while Cubs’ starter Randy Wells would pitch seven shut out innings, giving up seven hits and two walks, while striking out five Phils. The Cubs would finally take the lead in the bottom of the seventh as, with a runner on third, and with one man out, Stalin Castro, who had earlier doubled, and then moved to third on pinch hitter Xavier Nady’s ground out, 6-3, would score on Ryan Theriot’s bunt single on a grounder to Hamels, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead. After neither team scored in the eighth, the Cubs sent their closer, Carlos Marmol, to the mound to wrap up the game. Instead, he had a melt down on the mound. After getting out the lead-off batter, he walks pinch hitter Brian Schneider. He then walks pinch hitter Ross Gload, sending Schneider up to second. After getting Shane Victorino to strike out swinging for the inning’s second out, the just returned Placido Polanco followed by hitting an RBI single, scoring Schneider, who crossed the plate sliding head first as the Cubs’ catcher Geovany Soto is unable to hold onto the throw from the left fielder, tying the game up at one-all, while Gload would go to third on the throw, while Polanco moved up to second. One batter later, Marmol would walk his third batter of the inning, Jimmy Rollins, loading the bases, but Soto allowed ball four to get past him and go to the backstop, allowing Gload to score on the wild pitch, to give the Phils a 2-1 lead, while Polanco would move up to third, putting runners on the corners. After Rollins steals second base, Ryan Howard is intentionally walked, to load the bases. Jayson Werth then follows with the fifth walk of the inning, scoring Polanco from third, to give the Phils a 3-1 lead, while both Rollins and Howard both moved up a base. That would be it for Marmol, as he is taken out of the game and replaced by James Russell. Raul Ibanez welcome Russell by hitting an infield single to first baseman Derek Lee, as he had no one to throw to at first, scoring Rollins from third, making it a 4-1 Phils’ lead, while moving both Howard and Werth up a base. After pinch hitter Cody Ransom hits into a force out, 6-4, wiping out Ibanez to end the inning, the Phils handed the ball to their closer Brad Lidge for the save. Lidge proceeded to record his seventh save of the year, by getting Theriot to fly out to right for the game’s final out.
Cole Hamels receives a no-decision as he pitches seven innings, giving up a run on eight hits and two walks, while he strikes out six. Chad Durbin gets the win as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk, while striking out a batter. His record is now 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA. Brad Lidge records his seventh save of the year as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up just a walk, while striking out one. Randy Wells also receives a no-decision, as he pitches seven innings, giving up only seven hits and two walks, while striking out five. Sean Marshall records his twelfth hold, as he pitches a scoreless inning, giving up only a walk, while striking out two. Carlos Marmol blew his fourth save attempt, before taking the lost, as he pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on one hit and five walks, while striking out a batter. His record is now 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA. James Russell pitches to just one batter, giving up a hit. Andrew Cashner pitches a third of an inning, giving out the only man that he would face.
The Phils had nine hits in the game, with Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez each leading the team with two hits apiece, with Victorino and Ibanez each having two hits, all singles, with Ibanez knocking in a run, while Werth had a single and a double, knocking in a run on a bases loaded walk. Placido Polanco, Ryan Howard and Wilson Valdez had the other three Phil’s hits, all singles, with Polanco knocking in a run, as the Phil’s other run came in on a wild pitch. The Phils’ offense is still trying to break out of its scoring and hitting slump, as they did not get a key hit until the ninth during Marmol’s melt down.
The Phillies (48-42, 2nd NL East) will conclude their four-game series with the Cubs (41-51, 4th NL Central) with a night game tonight, trying to end the series with a series split. The game will be played at Wrigley Field and will start at 8:05 pm Eastern (7:05 pm Central). The Phils will send to the mound their ace Roy Halladay (10-7, 2.19), who is coming off a nine innings no-decision against the Reds on July 10, as he gave up only five hits and a walk, while striking out nine, in the Phils’ 1-0 extra-innings win. In his last three starts, he went 1-1 with a no-decision, as he pitched twenty-six innings, giving up five runs on twenty-three hits and two walks, while striking out twenty-six batters. He will be trying to collect his eleventh win of the year, while hoping the bats will give him some real runs support. The Cubs will counter with Tom Gorzelanny (4-5, 3,16), who is coming off a win against the Dodgers on July 10, as he pitched six innings, giving up two runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits and a walk, while striking out seven, in the Cubs’ 7-3 win. In his last three starts, his record is 2-0 with a no-decision, as he pitched sixteen innings, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, on fifteen hits and ten walks, while striking out sixteen. He will be trying to even up his record. The Phils will be trying to end the four game series with a split before going on to St. Louis to meet the Cardinals for four.
The Phils ends their series with the Indians with a rout as they sweep the Indians, 12-3.
The Phils’ offense, helped by some sloppy play by the Indians’ defense, routed the last place Indians, as they sweep the interleague series between the two teams, 12-3.
The Phils took the lead in the second as, with the bases loaded, via singles by Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and Wilson Valdez, and with nobody out, catcher Carlos Santana committed a missed catch error of third baseman Andy Marte’s force attempt throw on a Dane Sardinha ground ball, as it tipped off of Santana’s glove as he tried to get out of the way, allowing Werth and Ibanez to score, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead, while sending Valdez up to third, as Sardinha stopped at second on the error. Two batters later, with the bases once again loaded as Joe Blanton is hit by the pitch, and still with nobody out, Victorino hit into an RBI ground out, 1-3, for the first out of the inning, scoring Valdez, making it a 3-0 Phils’ lead, while moving Sardinha up to third and Blanton to second base. The Phils then made it 4-0 as, with two men on base, and with one man out, Placido Polanco hits an RBI single, scoring Sardinha, while sending Blanton on to third. The Phils then made it 5-0 as, once again with two men and with still one man out, Chase Utley hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Blanton. The Indians cut the Phils’ lead down to 5-2 in the fifth as, with one man on and with one man out, Jason Donald hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the year, knocking in Luis Valbuena, who was earlier safe on a force out, 4-6, as Shelley Ducan, who had earlier singled, was forced out at second. The Phils would get the runs back in their half of the fifth as, with runners on the corners, and with nobody out, Ryan Howard reaches first on a fielder’s choice grounder to first baseman Russell Branyan, allowing Polanco, who had earlier singled, and then went to third on Utley’s single, to score, giving the Phils a 6-2 lead, while Utley, who had earlier singled, would be safe at second base. One batter later, with two men on base, and with still two men out, Werth hits an RBI single, knocking in Utley, making it 7-2 Phils, while Howard would stop at second. The Phils then broke the game wide open in the sixth as Sardinha started the inning off with a lead-off home run, his first of his major league career and the season, making it an 8-2 Phils’ lead. Three batters later, with one man on and with one out, Polanco would hit an RBI double, knocking in Victorino, who had earlier singled, making it a 9-2 Phils’ lead. Three batters later, with the bases loaded, via an infield single to Utley, sending Polanco to third, and a walk to Howard, sending Utley to third, and with still one man out, Werth hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Polanco, making it 10-2 Phils, while sending Utley to third. Two batters later, with the bases loaded again as Ibanez walks, moving Howard up to second, and now with two men out, Valdez hits a two-run single, knocking in both Utley and Howard, giving the Phils a 12-2 lead, while Ibanez stops at third. The Indians then added a run in the eighth as, with one man on and with one man out, Trevor Crowe hits an RBI double, knocking in Donald, who had earlier doubled, making it a 12-3 Phils’ lead. After Blanton got Anderson Hernandez to strikeout swinging, the rains came down in a deluge. The rains would last for over an hour before play resume, with Nelson Figueroa, who has been called up from Lehigh Valley just hours earlier, took the mound in relief of Blanton. Figueroa would proceed to get out the four men whom he would face, leaving the game as a 12-3 Phils’ win.
Joe Blaton gets the win as he pitches seven and two-thirds strong innings, before being taken out because of the deluge, giving up three runs on six hits, while he strikes out eight. His record is now 3-5 with an ERA of 6.53. Nelson Figueroa pitches a scoreless inning and one-third, striking out a batter. Fausto Carmona took the lost as he went only four innings, plus four batters, giving up seven runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits. His record is now 6-6 with 3.64 ERA. Hector Ambriz pitches an inning and two-thirds, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks. Jensen Lewis and Joe Smith combine for two and one-thirds scoreless innings, giving up two hits (Lewis), while striking out two (one each).
The Phils burst out with fifteen hits, with Placido Polanco leading the team with four hits, as he had three singles and a double, knocking in two runs. Chase Utley and Jayson Werth follows with three hits apiece, all singles, as Utley knocked in a run, while Werth scored two runs. Wilson Valdez is next with two hits, both singles, as he knocks in two runs. Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez and Dane Sardinha had the other three Phils’ hits, with Victorino and Ibanez’s hits being singles, with Victorino knocking in a run, while Sardinha’s hit was his first career home run, a solo shot. Ryan Howard also knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice ground ball, while the other two runs came in on an error.
The Phillies (38-32, 3rd NL East) will finish Interleague Play with a three-game series against the Blue Jays (39-34, 4th AL East) with the Phils as the away team, although playing the series in Philadelphia, thanks to the security worries of the G20 Summit that is being held this weekend in Toronto, Canada. The Phils presently have an 8-0 lead after five innings.
The Phils’ offense returns as the Phils defeat the Twins, 9-5.
The Phils’ offense returns to score nine runs in the first five innings, giving strong support to starter Joe Blanton as the Phils defeat the Twins, 9-5.
The Phils struck early as they took the lead in the first inning. With a runner on third, and with one man out, Chase Utley, who some folks believe might have a hurt knee, thanks to reports earlier in the day, instead of simply being mired in a long-term slump, answers his critics by hitting an RBI single, knocking in Shane Victorino, who had earlier walked, stole second base and then went to third on Placido Polanco’s ground out, 6-3, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. One batter later, with Utley on first, and with one man still out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI triple, scoring Utley with ease, giving the Phils a 2-0 lead. The Phils then made it 3-0 as, with Howard on third, and with still one out, Jayson Werth hits a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Howard. The Phils added to their lead in the second as, with two man on, and with two outs, Polanco hits an RBI single, knocking in Wilson Valdez, who had earlier singled, and then moved up to second on Victorino’s second walk in the game, giving the Phils a 4-0 lead, while sending Victorino up to second base. The Phils then made it 7-0 as, with two men on base, and still with two outs, Utley hits a three-run home run to right, his eleventh home run of the season, scoring both Victorino and Polanco. The next batter, Howard, followed Utley with a home run of his own to right, his twelfth home run of the season, making it an 8-0 Phils’ lead. In the top of the fifth, the Twins tried to get on the board as Jason Kubel, who had hit a lead-off triple to center, tried to stretch it into an inside-the-park home run. Instead, he is cut down at home plate by a strong throw to home by Utley, as Carlos Ruiz applied the tag, for an 8-4-2 put out. The Phils would then make it 9-0 in their half of the fifth as Howard hits a lead-off home run, his thirteenth home run of the season, and his second of the night. The Twins would finally get on the board in the sixth as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Michael Cuddyer hits an RBI single, scoring Joe Mauer, who had earlier singled, and had gone to third on Justin Morneau’s single, making it a 9-1 Phils’ lead, while sending Morneau up to second base. The Twins would cut the Phils’ lead down to 9-3 in the seventh as, with a man on base, and with no one out, Nick Punto hits a two-run home run, knocking in Delmon Young, who had earlier singled. In the ninth, the Twins would decrease the Phils’ lead to 9-4 as, with the bases loaded, via singles to Young, Punto and Denard Span, and with one man out, Scott Mathieson, who was pitching in his first major league game since his second Tommy John surgery, threw a wild pitch, scoring Young, while moving Punto to third and Span to second. One batter later, with two men on, and with still one man out, Orlando Hudson hits into an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Punto, while sending Span on to third. After Mathieson is replaced on the mound with Brad Lidge, he ends the ballgame by getting Mauer to line out to right.
Joe Blanton gets the win, coming back from his shelling at the hands of the BoSox almost a week ago, as he pitches six innings, plus two batters, as he ran out of gas in the seventh, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks, while he strikes out one. His record is now 2-5 with a 6.96 ERA. Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero combined for two scoreless innings, giving up only one hit (Romero) between them, while striking out one batter (Durbin). Scott Mathieson pitches two-thirds of an inning, giving up two runs, on three hits and a wild pitch. Brad Lidge pitches a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face. Nick Blackburn takes the lost as he last only one and two-thirds innings, giving up eight runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out two. His record is now 6-4 with a 5.80 ERA. Jesse Crain pitches two and one-third scoreless innings, striking out two batters. Ron Mahay pitches an inning, giving up a run on three hits. Brian Duensing, Matt Guerrier and Alex Burnett combine for three shut out innings, giving up just two hits (Guerrier and Burnett one hit each) and two walks (also Guerrier and Burnett one each).
The Phils had eleven hits in the game, with Ryan Howard leading the way as he went four for four ending up a single short of hitting the cycle, as he had a double, a triple and four home runs, knocking in three runs, while scoring three, as he had a total of thirteen total bases, tying a career high, as he raised his average to .293. Placido Polanco and Chase Utley followed with two hits each, with Polanco’s hits being two singles, as he knocked in a run, while Utley’s hits were a single and a three-run home run, knocking in four runs. Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez had the other three Phils’ hits, all singles, with Werth knocking in the other Phil run, on a sac fly. The Phils hope that Ruiz is fine, as he was hit in the head by Jason Kubel’s broken bat in the top of the eight, being replace by Brian Schneider in the top of the ninth.
The Phils (35-30, 3rd NL East) continue their three-games series with the Twins (38-29, 1st AL Central) with a day game that will be nationally televised by Fox. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 4:15 pm Eastern. Cole Hamels (6-5, 3.74) will start for the Phils, hoping to continue on his previous gem against the Red Sox on June 13, where he pitched seven strong innings, giving up just one run on five hits and two walks, while striking out eight, as he picks up the win in the Phils’ 5-3 win. He will be trying to collect his seventh win of the season, while also going for his eighth quality start in his last nine starts. The Twins will counter with Kevin Slowey (7-4, 3.84), who is coming off a lost against the Braves on June 13, as he went only four and two-thirds inning, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits and one walk, while he struck out six, in the Twins’ 7-3 lost. He will be trying to recover from the lost. The Phils’ offense will be trying to continue its present hot streak, while hoping that Hamels will continue to pitch like the team’s no. two pitcher.
An Unassisted Triple Play ends a crazy game as the Phils hang on to defeat the Mets, 9-7.
A crazy game ended in dramatic fashion as Jeff Francoeur hits into an unassisted triple play, the first time it have ever happened in a National League ballgame and for the second time in Major League history, as the Phils hung on to defeat the Mets, 9-7. The Phils’ lead in the NL East still remains at six-and-a-half games going into this afternoon’s game, as the Braves defeated the Marlins.
The Phils took an early lead in the first as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Jayson Werth hits a three-run bomb into left field, his twenty-ninth home run of the season, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier doubled, and Shane Victorino, who had just walked, to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. The Phils then increased their lead to 6-0 as, with two men on, and now with two men out, Carlos Ruiz hits a three-run bomb of his own, also into left field, his eighth home run of the year, knocking in Pedro Feliz, who had earlier walked, and had gone to second base on Eric Bruntlett’s single, and Bruntlett, who was playing second base as Chase Utley was given the day off, who had earlier singled. Then, after Mets’ starter Oliver Perez had thrown three straight balls to Phils’ starter Pedro Martinez, Mets’ manager Jerry Manuel had seen enough of ‘Bad’ Perez, and replaced him with Nelson Figueroa, who then struck out Martinez on three pitches to end the inning. The Mets then came back as their lead-off man, Angel Pagan hits an inside-the-park home run, his fourth home run of the year, on a ball that got stuck under the rail in left-center field, which the umpires did not call a ground-rule double because of the stadium’s rule on those kinds of hit balls, cutting the Phils’ lead down to 6-1. Three batters later, the Mets made it 6-2 Phils as, with a man on base, and with one out, Jeff Francoeur hits an RBI triple, knocking in Daniel Murphy, who was earlier safe on a force out, 6-4. The Phils then increased their lead in the third as, with the bases loaded, via a walk to Raul Ibanez, a single to Feliz, sending Ibanez up to second base, and a single to Bruntlett, sending Ibanez over to third, and Feliz to second, with only one man out, as Martinez hits an RBI single, knocking in Ibanez, and making it a 7-2 Phils’ lead, while sending Feliz on to third, and Bruntlett over to second. Rollins would then make it 8-2 Phils as he hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Feliz from third. The Mets got a run back in their half of the third as Pagan hits a lead-off home run, his fifth home run of the season, as he cut the Phils’ lead down to 8-3. Three batters later, with runners on second and third, and with one man out, Cory Sullivan hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Luis Castillo, who had earlier singled, and then went to third on Murphy’s double, making it 8-4 Phils. That would remain the score until the seventh, as Martinez finally settled down in the middle innings. In the seventh, the Mets made it 8-5 as, with a runner on base, and with two men out, Murphy hits an RBI single, knocking in Castillo, who had earlier walked, and then stole second. In the eighth, the Phils got that run back as, with a runner on third, and with two men out, Matt Stairs, who had earlier reached base on a pinch walk, move up to second on a wild pitch, and then went to third on Rollins’ ground out, 3-unassisted, scored on a second wild pitch, making it 9-5 Phils. The Mets would get that run back in their half of the eighth as, with a runner on base, and with two men out, Anderson Hernandez hits an RBI double, knocking in Sullivan, who had earlier singled, and then stole second, making it a 9-6 Phils’ lead. Then, in the ninth, things got even wierder. In the top of the inning, with two men out, Bruntlett hits a fly ball to center field, that Francouer caught as he dived for it, possibly hurting his hand as he did so, but was originally declared a trapped ball, with Bruntlett ending up on third with a triple. But, after Francoeur informed the umpires that he had in fact caught the ball, which would later be backed up by instant replay of the catch, the umpires, after a conference, would reversed the call as the third base umpire, Tim Timmons, had a better view of the play. But, when one of the umpires went to explain their ruling to Phils’ manager Charlie Manuel, it would lead to Charlie being ejected for disputing the call. Then in the bottom of the ninth, with a runner on third, and with nobody out, Castillo reached base on a Bruntlett fielding error, which allowed Pagan, who had reached base earlier on a three-base error by Ryan Howard on a ball that Howard never touched, cutting the Phils’ lead down to 9-7. The next batter, Murphy, then reached base on an infield single, on a ball that Bruntlett was only able to stop behind second base, allowing Castillo to reach second. Then with Francouer batting, and with the count 2-2, J. Manuel sent both Castillo and Murphy running on the pitch. Francouer then hit a line drive up the middle, pass Phils’ closer Brad Lidge. Bruntlett, who had gone over to second to cover the bag on the back end of the double steal attempt, caught Francouer’s line drive for the first out of the inning, before his momentum caused him to tag second base, doubling up Castillo. Then he went after Murphy, soon tagging him for the third and final out, preserving the Phils’ win, and becoming the first National Leaguer to perform an unassisted triple play which ended a ballgame, and becoming the second major leaguer to do so since Johnny Nuen of the Tigers did it back on May 21, 1927 against the Indians.
Pedro Martinez won the game, going six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk, while he struck out five. His record is now 2-0 with an ERA of 5.14. Chad Durbin pitched an inning, giving up a run on one hit and a walk. Ryan Madson also gave up a run, on two hits. Brad Lidge recorded his twenty-fifth save of the season, as he gave up an unearned run on a hit. Oliver Perez took the lost, as he lasted only two-thirds of an inning, giving up six runs on four hits and two walks. His record is now 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA. Nelson Figuera pitched two and a third innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks, while striking out a batter. Pat Misch pitched four scoreless innings, giving up just a hit, as he struck out four. Sean Green pitched an inning, giving up a run on one hit, two walks and two wild pitches, while he struck out one. Elmer Dessens pitched a 1-2-3 inning.
The Phils had ten hits in the game, with, of all people, Eric Bruntlett, leading the way with thre hits, raising his low average to .154. Next was Jayson Werth with two hits, with one of them being a three-run home run, raising his average to .271. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Pedro Feliz, Carlos Ruiz and Pedro Martinez had the other five Phils’ hits, with Rollins’ hit being a double and Ruiz’s hit being a three-run home run. Besides the two three-run homers by Werth and Ruiz, Martinez knocked in a run, and Rollins plated a run with a sac fly. The offense took an early lead with a couple of three-run bombs, and then scored enough runs to hang on before Bruntlett’s unassisted triple play finally ended the game.
The Phils (71-50 1st) have just finished their four-games series with the Mets (57-68), with a 6-2 victory behind Cliff Lee, who is now 5-0 since coming from the American League. The Phils’ lead in the National League East is now at seven games as they head to Pittsburgh for a three-games series with the Pirates.
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