Results tagged ‘ Tom Gordon ’

The Phillies sweep the Braves, as Hamels just missed pitching another shut out.

The Phillies leaves Atlanta with a sweep and a surprising winning road trip while Cole Hamels just missed pitching a complete game shut out as the Phillies defeated the Braves, 4-1. The Phillies would score their first run in the first inning as Braves’ starter Jair Jurrjens gives up a solo home run to Chase Utley, his league leading twenty-fourth home run of the year, making it 1-0 Phillies. The Phillies would make it 2-0 in the fourth, when, with one out, Pedro Feliz would hit a RBI single, scoring Pat Burrell, who had gotten on base earlier with a double. The Phillies would increase their lead to 3-0 in the sixth when Ryan Howard would hit his twenty-second home of the year, a solo shot to left. The fourth and last Phillies’ run would come in in the seventh on a solo hime run by Feliz, his tenth home run of the year. While the Phillies were scoring their runs, Hamels was dominating the Braves, keeping them scoreless for eight innings, giving up only three hits during that time, while striking out six of the seven Braves that he would strike out that night. This would all change in the ninth. Chipper Jones would start the inning off with a double to center. Hamels would then get out the next two Braves, Mark Teixeira via a ground ball, short to first, that would keep Jones at second, and then striking out Omar Infante for his seventh strike out of the game. But, he would then lose the shut out as he gives up a RBI double to Brian McCann, a ball that got past a diving Howard, scoring Jones, making the score 4-1 Phillies. That would be it for Hamels, as Charlie Manuel takes him out of the game and replaces him with Tom Gordon. Gordon would end the game on one pitch as he gets the slumping Jeff Francoeur to fly out to left, as he records his second save of the year.

Cole Hamels would get the win as he goes eight and two-thirds innings, giving up only an earned run on five hits, while striking out seven. His record is now 9-5 with a 3.22 ERA. Tom Gordon would pitch to only one batter as he records his second save of the year. Jair Jurrjens would take the lost, as he goes seven innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits. His record is now 8-4 with a 3.09 ERA. Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez would both pitch a hitless/scoreless inning.

While the Phillies’ offense would be limited tonight to only eight hits, they would mostly be for extra-bases (1 (2B), 1 (3B), 3 (HR)). And, with Cole Hamels on the mound that would be more than enough for him to work with. With the sweep, the Phillies will end up with a winning road trip, something that was now expected with the way the Phillies were batting in both Oakland and Arlington, Texas. They will now come home to begin a four games series with the Mets.

The first place Phillies (47-39) will now come home to Citizens Bank Park for a four games Independence Weekend series with the third place Mets (42-43). The first game will be played tomorrow night, starting at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be J.A.Happ (0-0, -.–), who has just been called up from Lehigh Valley, where he has went 5-6 with a ERA of 3.54. He will be taking Brett Myers place in the rotation, hoping to pitch well enough to stay with the main team.The Mets will send out Johan Santana (7-7, 3.01), who is coming off a loss to the Yankees on June 28, where he would pitch six innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, in the Mets’ 3-2 lost. He has lost his last three games in a row and four of his last five, with a no-decision in a game that the Mets would also lose. Santana will for the sixth straight time be trying for his eighth win of the season, while hoping that he can stop the Phillies just reawaken offense.

The Phillies’ lead over the Marlins is presently at two and a half games, as the Marlins have just lost to the Rockies in extra-innings. Their lead over the Mets is presently at four and a half games, as the Mets have just defeated the Cardinals in St.Louis. The Phillies, with the win, are now leading the Braves by seven games. As the Phillies come home for Independence Day, they hope to celebrate it by producing some fireworks of their own against the Mets.

The Phillies are three hit by A’s pitching as they lose, 5-0.

Just hours after shutting down the A’s, the Phillies’ offense is in turn shut down by the combine pitching of A’s starter Rich Harden and reliever Alan Embree, who together would give up only three hits and a walk, while striking out eleven, as they are shut out, 5-0. The A’s would take the lead in the first inning as Adam Eaton would give up a RBI double to Ryan Sweeney, scoring Mark Ellis, who has earlier walked, making it 1-0 A’s. A batter later, Sweeney would score on a RBI single to Jack Cust, just beating Carlos Ruiz’s tag, after having slid past home plate, giving the A’s a 2-0 lead. Sweeney would be taken out of the game because of a possible injury caused by the slide. The game would then becomes a pitchers’ duel between Eaton and Harden for the next six innings, as Eaton would give up only one more run, on Carlos Gonzalez’s second home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth, which would make it 3-0 A’s, while Harden would flirt with a no-hitter until the fifth, when Shane Victorino would get a two-out single and would later get a second single off of Harden in the eighth, but the Phils would otherwise be unable to get anything started against him. The A’s would then put it away in the eighth as they score two runs off of Phils’ reliever Tom Gordon. The first run would come in on a RBI double by Jack Hannahan, knocking in Eric Chavez, who has earlier walked, to make it 4-0 A’s. The final run would come in on a RBI single by Gonzalez, who would score Hannahan, as Victornio would commit a fielding error as he tries to bare hand the ball so that he could make a throw to the plate to try and nail Hannahan. But Victorino would then redeem himself as he throws out Gonzalez as he tries to move up to second on the error, tagged out by Chase Utley. The Phillies would attempt to score in the ninth, as, with two outs, Pat Burrell would get to third base with a triple. But it would be all for naught as Ryan Howard would then ground out to first for the game’s final out.

Adam Eaton took the lost in spite of performing a quality start, going seven innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits. His record is now 2-6 with a 4.86 ERA. Tom Gordon would pitch an inning of relief, giving up two runs on two hits. Rich Harden would get the win as he shut down the Phillies for eight innings, giving up only two hits while striking out eleven. His record is now 5-0 with a 2.15 ERA. Alan Embree would pitch a scoreless ninth, giving up just one hit.

The Phillies’ offense went right back to where they’d left off on Tuesday night, not doing anything right, only this time being worst as they didn’t really give themselves any time to wear down the A’s starter, as they constantly went after either his first, second or third offering. This seriously has got to stop, because it’s making the batters look stupid and it is allowing the opposing team’s pitchers to throw them whatever junk they want to, just as long at they know that the Phillies’ batters will swing at it. Come on guys, start practicing patience while standing inside the batter’s box again. SERIOUSLY!!!!

The Phillies (43-37) will now go to Arlington Texas, for a three games weekend series with the Texas Rangers (40-39, 3rd American League West). The first game of the three games set will be played in Rangers Park in Arlington, with a start time of 8:05 pm Eastern (7:05 pm Central). The Phillies’ starter will be Brett Myers (3-9, 5.51), who is coming off a recent lost to the Angels on June 21, as he is once again hurt by the long ball as he would go seven and two-thirds innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits, in the Phillies’ 6-2 lost. Myers will be trying to see if he can pitch another good game while not giving up any more gopher balls, while hoping that the offense’s bats will finaly wake up in the Texas heat. His opponent will be Kason Gabbard (2-3, 4.96), who is coming off his second win of the year against the Nationals on Jnne 21, as he goes five and one third innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits, in the Rangers’ 13-3 win. He will be trying to even his record, while hoping that the Phillies’ bats will continue to stay cold.

The first place Phillies are still leading the East by two games, as the Marlins were swept by the Rays, losing 6-1. Their leads over the Mets and the Braves are now three and a half and four games respectively thanks to their lost to the A’s. As they go to Texas to face the Rangers, the Marlins will begin a three games series with the Diamondbacks in Miami, while the Mets will face the New York Yankees, at Yankee Stadium for one game and Shea Stadium for three, for a four games series, including a day/night doubleheader at both stadiums tomorrow night, and the Braves will be meeting the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto, Canada for a three games series. The Phillies will be hoping that they can bounce back and take out their present frustrations on the Rangers, before they take the day off on Monday, and then start a three games set with the Braves in Hot-lanta.

Back home just in time to welcome the World Champion Red Sox. Phils resumes Interleague Play.

The Phillies (41-30) will start a six games home stand and the resumption of their involvement in Interleague Play tonight by hosting the World Champion Boston Red Sox (44-28, 1st American League East) for three games. The series’ opener will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies will send to the mound their ace Cole Hamels (6-4, 3.27), who is coming off a no-decision against the Marlins on June 11, where he went eight innings, giving up only two earned runs, both on solo home runs to Jorge Cantu, on three hits, in the Phils’ 6-2 lost. In his previous start against the Reds on June 5, he would pitch a complete game shut out as he gave up only three hits to the Reds, in the Phils’ 5-0 victory. This will be his first time facing the BoSox, so he will be seeing how well he pitches against an elite team of the American League while trying to get his own team back on the winning track after suffering a couple of tough loses over the weekend. His opponent will be Bartolo Colon (4-1, 3.41), who is coming off a win against the Baltimore Orioles on June 11, where he pitched six innings, giving up an earned run on five scattered hits, in the Red Sox’s 6-3 win. In his five starts, Bartolo has given up three earned runs or less in all but one of his starts. Lifetime against the Phillies, he is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in four starts, while this will be his first start at Citizens Bank Park. He will be trying to pitch his team past the Phils so that they can stay ahead of the surprisingly good Tampa Bay Rays.

The Phillies will be looking to regroup after losing their last two series on their recent nine games road trip, especially after yesterday’s lost to the Cardinals thanks to a pair of misconnections between Chase Utley and Tom Gordon with two men out in the bottom of the tenth which allowed the Cardinals to win the extra-inning game. The offense will be trying to once again score a lot of runs like they were doing several weeks earlier. With their upcoming series against the BoSox and the Angels, the Phillies will be seeing if they can compete with a pair of elite teams in the American League, whom they might be playing against if they get into the World Series later this year, as well as to see if any problem that they might have will be exposed now so that they can be plugged up later before the late summer and September stretch run towards the pennant.

Oh, and it seems that Cardinals’ catcher Yadier Molina has only received a concussion from his close encounter with Eric Bruntlett, but he was kept in the hospital for overnight observation, just in case. Thanks goodness. I hate to see a ballplayer get injured, no matter what the cause, or which team they play for.

Going into tonight’s game, Cole Hamels is among the National League leaders in Earned Run Average (10th), Strikeouts (4th-T), Innings Pitched (4th), Complete Games (1st-T) and Shut Outs (1st). He is also tied for 17th in Wins (6) and is tied for 16th in Games Started (14). As mentioned earlier, he will be trying to help his team defeat an elite team of the American League while improving on his stats in each category.

Inspite of the lost, the Phillies have at present the third best record in the National League, trailing only the National League Central leading Chicago Cubs (45-25), and the St. Louis Cardinals (42-29). In fact, they are at present the only National League teams to have won 40 or more games so far this season. Only three other teams in the majors have won over 40 or more games: Boston, the American League Western leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (42-28) and the Tampa Bay Rays (40-29). They have the best road record in the National League (20-17) and one of the best record at home (21-13). Only one other team has scored more runs than they have in the NL, the Chicago Cubs (387 (Cubs), 381 (Phils)). They are also the third best team in the NL in giving up the least runs (291), with only the Cubs (279) and the Braves (282) being better. The offense has the fifth best batting average in the NL at .264, while they are among the leaders in Slugging Percentage (1st), On-Base Percentage (4th), Walks (5th), Total Bases (1st), Runs Batted In (2nd), Home Runs (2nd), Doubles (3rd), Hits (4th) and At-Bats (3rd). The Phillies have the fourth best team ERA (3.82) in the NL, while the relief corps still has the best team ERA (2.62).

The Phillies lead the second place Marlins by three games, as they prepare to start a three games series against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle. The third place Braves, after their late lost to the Angels, are still six and a half games behind the Phillies, as they prepare to face the Rockies in Denver for a make up game, before starting a three games series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. The fourth place Mets also trails the Phillies by six and a half games, as they get ready to meet the Angels in Anaheim for a three games series. The Phillies hope to hold their own against the World Champions, to win the series, while trying to once again get some more distance betweeen themselves and the other teams in their division.

Two disconnections between Utley and Gordon in the 10th leads to an extra-inning lost.

The Phillies lose to the Cardinals in ten innings, as Chase Utley and Tom Gordon were twice unable to connect on throws from the second baseman to the pitcher covering first to lose the ballgame, 7-6. The Phillies would score first in the top of the first as Ryan Howard would hit a RBI double, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who has earlier singled, to take a 1-0 lead. Brett Myesr would quickly give it back in the bottom of the first, as he would give up a RBI double to Ryan Ludwick, scoring Skip Schumaker, who has earlier doubled, to tie the game at one apiece. Rick Ankiel would then follow him with a RBI double, scoring Schumaker, to make it 2-1 Cardinals. The Cardinals would then increase their lead in the third when Schumaker would hit a solo home run off of Myers, his fourth home run of the year, to make it 3-1 Cardinals. Four batters later, Troy Glaus would hit a two-run home run, his ninth home run of the season, scoring Aaron Miles, who has earlier singled, to make it 5-1 Cardinals. The two home runs would be the nineteenth and twientieth home run of the year that Myers has given up so far this year, leading the league in that category. More on that later. The Phillies would then strike back in the fifth, as, with the bases loaded, and one out, Howard would hit a two- run single, scoring Rollins, who has reached base earlier on a force out, and Jayson Werth, who has walked, to cut the Redbirds’ lead to 5-3. Tony LaRussa would then take out Cardinals’ starter Mitchell Boggs and replace him with reliever Kyle McClellan. Pat Burrell would greet McClellan with a RBI single, scoring Utley, who has earlier been hit by the pitch, making it 5-4 Cardinals. The Redbirds would get a run back in the sixth, when Howard committed a fielding error on a Chris Duncan ground ball, which would score Ankiel, who has earlier tripled, which made it 6-4 Cardinals. The Phils would tie it up in the eighth inning, when with two outs, Rollins would start things off by getting a triple. Werth and Utley would then walk to load the bases. Howard would then follow them with a walk, scoring Rollins, making it 6-5 Cardinals. Burrell would then follow him with another walk, scoring Werth, and tying the score at six all. In the ninth, the Phillies would get a chance to break the tie, when, with Eric Bruntlett, who was pinch running for Greg Dobbs, who has singled, on third and Shane Victorino on first, Rollins would hit a ground ball to first baseman Duncan. With Bruntlett moving on contact, Duncan would throw home, and catcher Yadier Molina, after catching the ball, would turn around and tag out Bruntlett for the second out, as he found some way to hold onto the baseball as he gets nailed hard around the shoulders by Bruntlett. Molina would then spend the next several minutes lying on the ground, with a dead man’s grip on the ball, before he is finally taken out of the game and then taken to the hospital to be checked on for any possible shoulder and neck injuries. The Phils would then load the bases, but would fail to get a clutch hit with the bases loaded for the fourth time today, as Utley flies out. In the tenth, Tom Gordon, pitching in relief of Chad Durbin, would get the first two Cardinals out. Ankiel would then hit a grounder to Utley for what should’ve been the third out of the inning. Instead, Utley would commit a throwing error as he did not lead Gordon to first base with the throw. Gordon then gives up a single to Glaus, moving Ankiel to second. Gordon would then get Duncan to hit a grounder to Utley, for what should’ve been the third out. But, uncannily, with Utley this time actually leading Gordon to first, it would be Gordon who would commit the error by not catching the thrown ball, thus allowing Ankiel to score the winning run and giving the Cardinals a 7-6 win in extra-innings. Gordon, showing his disgust at himself for the error, would slam his glove onto the ground, before picking it up and then heading towards the visitors’ dugout.

Brett Myers, inspite of pitching a bad game, would get a no-decision as he pitches six innings, giving up six earned runs on eight hits. Ryan Madson would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits, as he struck out the side. J.C. Romero would also pitch a scoreless and hitless inning. Chad Durbin would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on one hit. Tom Gordon would take the tough lost, going two-thirds of an inning, giving up one unearned run on one hits, as two errors were committed behind him. His record is now 5-4 with an ERA of 5.06. Mitchell Boggs would go only four and one third innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits. Kyle McClellan would go one and two-thirds innings, giving up no runs on two hits. Chris Perez would pitch one and two-thirds innings, giving up two earned runs on one hit. Randy Flores would face only two batters, walking both. Russ Springer would pitch a third of an inning, getting a blown save, giving up no runs on no hits. Ryan Franklin would go one innings, giving up no runs on two hits. Anthony Reyes would get the win, going an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. His record is now 2-1 with an ERA of 4.91.

Okay, what is up with Brett Myers? He has given up twenty home runs up to this point in the season, and most of them has been on balls which, for lack of a better word, has been wrapped up neatly on a silver platter to the batters to be hit out of the park. Even worst, he can’t seem to get out of the first inning without giving up a run. Myers needs to get whatever mental problems he presently has out of his blasted mind and do it before his next start if he doesn’t want to find his *** getting removed from the starting rotation. If it means that he has to finally listen to the pitching coach, then he better do so!!!! He’s a grown up and a professional ball player. He therefore needs to act like one!!!! (Yes, I’m poed with Myers’ pitching. How can you tell?) 

In spite of losing this afternoon’s game, the Phillies (41-30) will come home with a winning (5-4) road trip despite of losing their last two series. They will be coming back home to start a three games series with the World Champions Red Sox (44-26, 1st American League East). The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Cole Hamels (6-4, 3.27), who is coming off a no-decision against the Marlins on June 11, where he would pitch eight innings, giving up only two earned runs on three hits while striking out thirteen, in the Phils’ 6-2 lost. This will be his first start against the BoSox, as he plans to start off the home stand with a win for the Phillies. His opponent for the Red Sox will be Bartolo Colon (4-1, 3.41), who is coming off a win against the Baltimore Orioles on June 11, where he would pitch five innings, giving up only one earned run on five hits, in the Red Sox’s 6-3 win. Lifetime against the Phillies, he is 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA in four starts. This will be his first start at Citizens Bank Park. He will be trying to defeat the Phils to help the Red Sox increase their lead in the American League East

The first place Phillies are now leading the Marlins by three games as they were able to defeat the Rays. The Phillies are leading the Braves by six games as they prepare to play the Angels tonight. The Mets are now six and a half games behind the Phils as they won the second half of a double header with the Rangers which they split. As the Phillies prepare for their home series with the Red Sox, the Marlins will face the Seattle Mariners in Seattle and the Mets will face the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Anaheim. The Phillies will try to win the series against the World Champs.

Meet Me in St. Louis: The Phillies finally play against the Cardinals.

The Phillies (40-28) will be visiting the Cardinals (40-28, 2nd National League Central) for the first time this season as they begin a three games series with the former World Series Champs. The first game of their series will begin tonight at 8:15 pm Eastern (7:15 pm Central) at the new Busch Stadium. The Phillies will send to the mound Kyle Kendrick (5-2, 4.87), who is coming off of a recent no-decision against the Braves on June 7, where he went only five and one third innings, giving up only two earned runs on four hits, in the Phillies’ 6-2 win. Before that, he had won his last two starts, going for a combined total of twelve and two-thirds innings, giving up six earned runs on twelve hits. Lifetime, he is 2-0 against the redbirds, with both victories coming last year. Kendrick will be trying to improve his season record and lower his ERA, while trying to set the tone for the series between the two old rivals. The Cardinals’ starter will be Todd Wellemeyer (7-1, 2.93), who is coming off of a victory over the Nationals on June 5, where he would go six scoreless innings, giving up only five scattered hits, in the Cardinals’ 4-1 win. He has won five of his last seven starts, with the other two starts being no-decisions. He will be planning to get his eighth win of the season, after missing a start because of an inflamed right elbow, while trying to help his team keep place with the red hot Chicago Cubs.

The Phillies will continue their road trip with the series in St. Louis, with a 4-2 record. Although the offense has not scored as many runs as they did at least two weeks ago, it is still a potent threat, and the bats can errupt once again at any time. The starters are still improving, but they need to stop giving up home runs, since it was because of gopher balls given up by Brett Myers, Cole Hamels and Tom Gordon in the first two games against the Marlins that they lost the series, as that was how the fish was able to knock in all of their runs in the series, otherwise the Marlins’ offense didn’t appear to have been very effective. Except for the grand slam that Gordon gave up in the second game of the recent Marlins series, the relief corps is still the league’s best. The Phillies will be going into St. Louis trying to win the series from the Cardinals, especially with the absent of their main star Albert Pujols. They will be trying to end their three cities road trip with a winning record.

The first place Phillies are leading the Marlins by three games, as the fish prepare to meet the American League Tampa Bay Rays for a three games series in Tampa Bay. The third and fourth place Braves and Mets are both trailing the Phillies by seven and a half games. The Braves will be playing a three games series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Anaheim, while the Mets will be hosting the Texas Rangers for a weekend series. The Phillies are hoping that those three American League teams will help them by defeating their divisional rivals. After their series in St. Louis, the Phillies will be coming back home to Philadelphia to play a three games series with the World Champions Boston Red Sox.

Day late post: Grand slam home run sinks the Phils, reduced their lead to two games over the Marlins.

A grand slam home run by Dan Uggla in the bottom of the ninth would help the Marlins to defeat the Phillies, 6-2. The Marlins would score the first run of the game as Jorge Cantu hit his thirteenth home run of the year off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels, making it a 1-0 Marlins’ lead. The game would then becomes a pitchers’ duel between Hamels and the Marlins’ starter Andrew Miller, until the Phils would tie the game in the seventh as Chase Utley would single in Shane Victorino, who has earlier doubled. The Marlins would retake the lead in the bottom of the seventh when Cantu would hit his second home run of the night off of Hamels, his fourteenth home run of the year, to make it a 2-1 Marlins’ lead. The Phils would retie the game in the ninth, when Utley grounds into a force out, second to short, scoring pinch runner Eric Bruntlett, who was running for pinch hitter Greg Dobbs, who has earlier singled. In the bottom of the ninth, with Tom Gordon pitching in relief of Hamels, Dan Uggla, with the bases loaded and one out, would hit a grand slam home run, his nineteenth home run of the year, to win the game for the Marlins, 6-2, scoring Hanley Ramirez, who has earlier walked, Cantu, who has singled, and Wes Helm, who has also walked.

Cole Hamels would get a no-decision as he would go eight innings, giving up two earned runs, both on Jorge Cantu solo home runs, on just three hits while striking out thirteen Marlins. Tom Gordon would take the lost as he goes only one third of an inning, as he gives up four earned runs on two hits, one of them Dan Uggla’s grand slam home run, and two walks. His record is now 5-3 with an ERA of 5.19. Andrew Miller would also receive a no-decision as he pitches seven innings plus one batter, giving up only one earned run on four scattered hits while striking out seven Phils. Justin Miller would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Kevin Gregg would get the win, after blowing a save opportunity for the fourth time this season, as he goes one inning, giving up a run on one hit. His record is now 5-2 with an ERA of 2.48.

The lost decreases the Phillies’ (39-28) lead over the Marlins (36-29) to two games. The third place Braves were once again unable to take advantage of the Phillies’ lost as they remain six and a half game behind thanks to their own lost to the Cubs. The Mets now trailed the Phils by six and a half games, a percentage point behind the Braves, as they were able to defeat the Diamondbacks. The Phils will now try to leave Miami with at least one victory before heading on to St. Louis for a weekend series with the Cardinals.

The Phils defeat the Braves again in Hot-lanta, 6-2.

The Phillies would use the long ball to win their second straight game over the Braves in sweltzering Atlanta, 6-2. The first Phillies’ run would come in the fifth on a solo home run by Carlos Ruiz, his second home run of the year, making it 1-0 Phillies. The Phillies would increase their lead in the sixth on another solo home run, this one by Pat Burrell, his fifteenth home run of the year, to make it 2-0 Phillies. The Braves would tie the game in their half of the sixth on a two-run home run by the red hot Chipper Jones, hitting his fifteenth home run of the year, scoring Kelly Johnson, who has gotten on base earlier with a single. The Phillies would retake the lead in the eighth as Chase Utley would hit a RBI triple, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier walked, to give the Phils a 3-2 lead. Ryan Howard would quickly follow with a RBI single, scoring Utley, to make it 4-2 Phils. In the ninth inning, Jimmy Rollins would hit a monster two-run shot out of the park, his first home run since coming off the disabled list, for his fourth home run of the year, scoring Ruiz, who has earlier walked. That would be the ballgame as Brad Lidge would come in to pitch the ninth in a non-save role, striking out the side to end the game.

Kyle Kendrick would get a no-decision as he constantly flirted with disaster as he would pitch five and one third innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, and walking five. Ryan Madson would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. J.C. Romero would record the victory, going two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. His record is now 4-1 with an ERA of 1.59. Tom Gordon would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on one hits and striking out three. Brad Lidge, in a none save situation, would strike out all three men that he would face. Jo-Jo Reyes would be the losing pitcher, going seven and one thirds innings, giving up four earned runs on seven hits and striking out seven. His record is now 2-4 with a 4.80 ERA. Royce Ring would only faced one batter, giving up a base hit. Jeff Bennett would pitch an inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits. Phil Stockman would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.

The Phillies will conclude their three games series in Atlanta with an afternoon game from Turner Field. The game will start at 1:30 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Adam Eaton, (2-3, 4.63), who is coming off of his second straight victory, as he defeated the Reds on June 3, going six and two-thirds innings, giving up only one earned run on three hits, in the Phils’ 3-2 win. Eaton will be trying for his third straight win and his fourth good start in a row. The Braves will counter with Jorge Campillo (2-0, 1.79), who is coming off of a no-decision against the Marlins on June 3, where he would only pitch four innings, giving up four earned runs on sixth hits, in the Braves’ 5-4 win. He has pitched against the Phils’ two other times this year. both times in relief, going a combined three and one third innings, giving up no runs on sixth hits, His will be trying to see if he can stop the Phillies’ bats, while giving the Braves’ bats a chance to salvage at least one game in the series.

The Phillies are now twelve games over .500, while having a three games winning streak. The first place Phillies are still leading the Marlins by three and a half games, thanks to their victory over the Reds. The Braves are now trailing the Phils by five and a half games with the lost. The Mets are trailing the Phils by six and a half games with their lost to the Padres.

The Phillies win in extra-innings as Gregor Blanco is thrown out at home by Shane Victorino.

In what ended up being a wild game that had an even wilder ending, the Phils came from behind to defeat the Braves in extra-innings, 4-3. The Phillies would take a quick 1-0 lead in the first when Chase Utley hits a RBI ground ball to the right side of the infield, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier got on base with a triple. That would be the score for the next few innings as Jamie Moyer and Braves’ starter Tim Hudson would find themselves locked in a pitchers’ duel. That would all change in the bottom of the sixth inning when Moyer would get tagged deep by Brian McCann for his twelfth home run of the season, scoring Mark Teixeira, who has earlier singled, to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead. That would remain the score until the top of the ninth, when, with two outs, Geoff Jenkins would get on base with a walk from Braves’ reliever, Blaine Boyer. Eric Bruntlett would then be sent in to pinch run for Jenkins. After Bruntlett is able to steal second, Pedro Feliz would also receive a walk, putting two men on base. The next batter, Chris Coste, would then hit a ground ball towards Kelly Johnson who proceeds to boot the ball for an error, allowing it to get into the outfield, and allowing Bruntlett to score to tie the game up at two all, but Feliz would get tagged out at hime plate by a perfect throw home from Johnson to catcher McCann, because Feliz did not run fast enough to get home before the throw. Tom Gordon would keep the Braves off the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth to get the game into extra-innings. In the Phillies’ tenth, Chris Snelling would start it off with a double. So Taguchi would then be sent out to pinch run for Snelling. After Jimmy Rollins sacrifice him over to third, Victorino would knock him in with a RBI triple, his second triple of the night, to make it 3-2 Phillies. Utley would then follow with a RBI double, driving in Victorino to make it 4-2 Phillies. That extra run would soon be important in the Braves’ half of the tenth, With Brad Lidge now pitching in relief of Gordon, the Braves would get two men on base, with two outs. Yunel Escobar would hit a single to center, scoring Josh Anderson, who has singled earlier, from third, to make it 4-3 Phillies. But, Gregor Blanco, who has also singled earlier, tried to score from second base to retie the game, and was instead cut down at home plate by a perfect throw from Victorino to Coste, with Coste putting on the tag to end the game, and give Lidge his sixteenth save of the year.

Jamie Moyer would pitch a good game, although having to pitch out of trouble in almost every inning he was in. Moyer would go five and one third innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits. Chad Durbin would pitch two-thirds of an inning, plus one batter in the seventh, giving up no earned runs on no hit. J.C. Romero would pitch one third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hit. Rudy Seanez would go two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Ryan Madson would go one inning, giving up no runs on one hit. Tom Gordon would get the win, as he goes one inning, giving up no runs on one hit. His record is now 5-2 with a 4.01 ERA. Brad Lidge would pitch the tenth, recording his sixteenth save of the season, as he goes an inning, giving up an earned run on three hits. Tim Hudson would also pitch a good game against the Phils, pitching seven and two-thirds innings, giving up an earned run on five scattered hits, as he, like Moyer, would take a no-decision when the Phils tied the game in the ninth. Will Ohman would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Blain Boyer would pitch two-thirds of an inning, getting a blown save, as he gives up an unearned run, thanks to Kelly Johnson’s fielding error, on no hit. Manny Acosta would pitch a third of an inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits. His record is now 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA. Royce Ring would go one-third of an inning, giving up no runs on one hit.

The Phils’ bullpen would once again keep the game close, allowing the batters to finally tie the game in the ninth inning, after being stymied time and again by Tim Hudson, making this the first game in a while that the offense didn’t score a lot of runs in support of Moyer. But, as in their last few victories, the Phillies were able to score runs when they needed to, helped along by a Braves’ error, and a key mistake by the Braves runners in the seventh when Yunel  Escobar tried to score on Jeff Francoeur’s fly out to Pat Burrell, who threw the perfect throw to Chris Coste, who then tagged out Escobar for the double play to end the inning. The win now place the Phillies eleven games above .500.

The Phillies will continue their series in Atlanta with the second of their three games tomorrow night at Turner Field. The game will start at 7:00 pm Eastern. The Phils’ starter will be Kyle Kendrick (5-2, 5.00), who is coming off of his second straight victory, as he went five and one third innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits.in the Phils’ 5-4 win over the Reds on June 2. Lifetime against the Braves, he is 2-0 in three starts with a 4.24 ERA, which includes his victory in his first start against them on May 13, where he went six innings, giving up only three earned runs on six hits, in the Phils’ 5-4 win. He hopes to improve his record while continuing the Phillies’ recent run of quality starts. The Braves will counter with Jo-Jo Reyes (2-3, 4.78), who is coming off of a no-decision against the Marlins on June 2, going six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, in the Braves’ 7-5 win. He was Kendrick’s opponent in the May 13 game in Philadelphia, going six and two-thirds innings as he gave up five earned runs on eleven hits. He hopes to even the present series while hoping he’ll do better than he did in his first start against the Phillies.

With the win, the Phillies are now three and a half games ahead of the Marlins, as the fish were just crushed by the Reds. The Braves have now fallen four and a half games behind the Phillies. The Phils have increased their lead over the Mets to five and a half games. The Phillies hope to continue to increase their lead over the other teams in the National League Eastern Division.

Pat the Bat goes deep as Eaton gets his second win.

Pat Burrell’s two-run home run would be the different as Adam Eaton pitches a great six and two-thirds innings to record his second victory of the year as the Phillies defeat the Reds, 3-2. The Reds would score the game’s first run, when, in the third, Edwin Encarnacion would hit his tenth home run of the year while leading off the inning, giving the Reds a quick 1-0 lead. The Phillies would quickly come back to tie the game in their half of the inning, when Chase Utley, who was unable to hit a home run tonight, would hit a RBI single, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who has gotten on base earlier via a force out. The score would stay that way for the next couple of innings as Adam Eaton and Reds’ starter Aaron Harang would find themselves in the middle of a pitcher’s dual. The dual would end though, when, with a runner on second, and one out, Pat Burrell would hit his fourteenth home run of the season, a two-run shot which would score Utley, who has earlier doubled, to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead. In the eighth, the Reds would cut the lead to 3-2, as Javier Valentin hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Encarnacion, who has earlier tripled off of Tom Gordon. After Gordon is able to get out of further trouble in the eighth, Brad Lidge is handed the ball. In spite of giving up two walks, Lidge would get his fifteenth save in as many chances by getting Encarnacion to fly out to end the game.

Adam Eaton is the winning pitcher as he records his second win of the season as he goes six and two-thirds inning, giving up only one earned run on just three hits. His record is now 2-3 with a ERA of 4.63. J.C. Romero would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits, walking a batter and striking out one. Tom Gordon would pitch an inning, giving up an earned run on one hit. Brad Lidge would pitched the ninth, giving up no runs on no hits, as he records his fifteenth save of the year. Aaron Harang is the losing pitcher for the Reds, as he would pitch six innings plus two batters, giving up three earned runs on nine hits. His record is now 2-8 wirh a 3.86 ERA. Rookie pitcher Danny Herrera would make his major league debut by coming in the seventh inning in relief of Harang with two runners on base with no one out, and would get out of the inning, leaving the bases loaded, as he gives up no runs on no hits. Jared Burton would also pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.

The Phillies’ offense would get nine hits in the game, four of them being for extra-bases (3 (2B), 1 (HR)), but they would be held down to three runs as they were unable to break the game wide open in the seventh. Chase Utley was unable to hit a home run for the six straight game, but he would get an RBI for the ninth straight game in a row. Also, Eaton has pitched another good game, which led to another victory for him. It would appear that he has finally turned a corner. Let us hope that it stays that way. The Phillies have now won their third strength game in a row, their eighth in nine games and their eleventh in their last fifteen games. They are also now ten games over .500 for the first time this season. Ken Griffey, Jr. did not start for the second straight game, but did he come into the game in the eighth inning against Tom Gordon, who has already given up six home runs to him, to try and make it seven in an attempt to tie the game with one swing of the bat. He is instead walked by Gordon, who refused to give him something to hit. So, Junior will be trying again to hit number 600 tomorrow.

The third game in the four games series between the Phillies (35-25) and the Reds (28-31, 5th National League Central) will be played at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phils’ starter will be Brett Myers (3-6, 5.52), who is coming off a recent win against the Marlins, where he would go eight innings, giving up only three earned runs, all coming in the first inning, on six scattered hits, while striking out eleven. This will be his second start against the Reds, having lost his first start against them back on April 6, as he would go five innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits, in the Phillies’ 8-2 lost. He will be trying to improve his record while continuing what he did in the last seven innings of his last start. His opponent will be Endison Volquez (7-2, 1.46), who is coming off a recent no-decision against the Braves on May 30, where he would pitch six innings, giving up only two earned runs on five hits, in the Reds’ 3-2 win. He has already pitched against the Phillies this season, as he was Myers’ opponent in the April 6 game. He would recieve the victory as he would go five and one-third innings, giving up only one earned run on five scattered hits. He will be trying to put a stop to the Phillies’ offensive juggernaut while hoping that they won’t light him up.

The first place Phillies have increased their lead to two and one half games over the Marlins as they would loss once again to the Braves. The Braves, with their win over the fish, stay three and a half games behind the Phils. The Phils are presently leading the Mets by four and a half games as they have just won their game against the Giants. The Phillies will be trying to continue their winning way and to further increase their lead against the opponents.

With Junior resting, the Phillies hang on to defeat the Reds, 5-4.

Without worrying about Ken Griffey’s Jr.’s bat being in the Reds’ lineup as Junior was taking the day off because of soreness from participating in Sunday’s afternoon game against the Braves, the Phils would hang on to defeat the Reds, 5-4. The Phillies would take a quick 2-0 lead in the first on Chase Utley’s major league leading twenty-first home run of the year off of Reds’ starter Bronson Arroyo, scoring Shane Victorino, who has gotten on base earlier with a single. Utley has now homered in five straight games, tying a franchise record, which has been earlier accomplished by Bobby Abreu (2005), Mike Schmidt (1979) and Dick Allen (1969). The Red would get a run back in the top of the fourth when Jay Bruce would hit his third home run of the year off of Phillies’ starter Kyle Kendrick, making the score 2-1 Phils. In the Phillies’ half of the inning, they would increase their lead as Pedro Feliz would hit his eighth home run of the season, knocking in Geoff Jenkins, who has earlier doubled, making it 4-1 Phillies. Chis Coste would then follow him with a solo shot of his own off of Arroyo, his sixth home run of the year, to make it a 5-1 Phillies’ lead. Edwin Encarnacion would then cut the Phillies’ lead down to 5-2 when he hits a lead off home run off of Kendrick in the fifth, for his ninth home run of the season. One inning later, the Reds would shorten the lead to 5-4 Phillies when, with two out and two men on, Adam Dunn would hit a two-run double off of Chad Durbin, who was pitching in relief of Kendrick, scoring Ryan Freel, who got on base earlier by being safe on a force out, and Bruce, who has earlier singled. Durbin would then get out of the inning with a strike out. That would be it for the Reds as Durbin, Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge would only give up a single among them in the last three innings, with Lidge recording his fourteenth save of the year.

Kyle Kendrck would get the win, as he would pitch five and one-third innings, giving up all four earned runs on five hits. His record is now 5-2 with an ERA of 5.00. Chad Durbin would pitch one and two-thirds innings of relief, giving up no earned runs on two hits. Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge would each pitch a 1-2-3 inning, both giving up no runs on no hits, while Lidge would record his fourteenth save of the year. Bronson Arroyo would get the lost, as he would go only four and a third innings, giving up all five earned runs on ten hits. His record is now 4-5 with an ERA of 5.61. Gary Majewski would pitch one and two-third innings in relief, giving up no runs on one hit. Bill Bray would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits while walking two. David Weathers would pitch an inning and a third in relief, giving up no runs on one hit.

The Phillies’ offense continue its attack as it get twelve hits in the game, including five extra-base hits (2 (2B), 3 (HR)), as they lit up the ERA of yet another opposing starter. In spite of Chad Durbin allowing two runs to score, which would both be charged to Phils’ starter Kyle Kendrick, the Phillies’ bullpen would have yet another successful outing, as they slammed the door shut on the Reds. The Phillies are now nine games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Phillies-Reds four games series will continue tomorrow night from Citizens Bank Park. The game will begin at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ (34-25) will be starting Adam Eaton (1-3, 4.99), who is coming off of his first victory of the season against the Rockies on May 28, when he would go six innings, giving up only an earned run on four hits, while striking out four and walking just one batter, in the Phillies’  6-1 win. His career record against the Reds is 2-0 with an ERA of 4.19 in six starts, which includes his earlier start this year against the Reds (28-30, 5th National League Central) on April 5, where he went seven and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits as he received a no-decision, in the Phillies’ 4-3 lost. He will be trying for his second win of the season, while hoping that the bats will once again gives him some runs. His opponent will be Aaron Harang (2-7, 3.81), who is coming off of a lost to the Pirates on May 29, where he would pitch only four innings, as he gives up six earned runs on ten hits, in the Reds’ 7-2 lost. He has already pitched against the Phillies, also versus Eaton, on April 5, where he would get a no-decision while pitching seven innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits, with six strikeouts. He will be trying to get his third win of the season while trying to avoid being involved in another bad start.

With their win, the Phillies are now a game and a half ahead of the second place Marlins, who have lost their game against the Braves in extra-innings. Their win against the Marlin will keep the Braves in third place, still trailing the Phils by three and a half games. The Mets’ lost to the Giants put them back into fourth place, four and a half games behind the Phillies. The Phillies hope to continue winning at home while increasing their lead against their rivals in the division.

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