Results tagged ‘ Will Ohman ’

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

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

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

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

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

The Phillies play situational ball as they come from behind to defeat the Braves, 10-9.

The Phillies used situational baseball to come from behind to defeat the Braves after it looked like they had finally imploded in the top of the fourth inning. The Phillies would score the game’s first runs in the second inning. Ryan Howard would start the inning off by getting on first base with a walk. He would be followed by a double from Pat Burrell, which would put runners on second and third with nobody out. Jayson Werth would then follow with a ground out, third to first, for the first out of the inning, doing what the Phillies’ batters have been doing too much of lately, hitting a ball to an opposing player with less than two outs, unable to score the runner(s) on base. Eric Bruntlett is then intentionally walked to load the bases. Chris Coste would follow him with a two-run double, scoring Howard and Burrell, making it 2-0 Phillies, while sending Bruntlett to second. Cole Hamels would then bunt the runners over to third and second base respectively, while making the second out of the inning. Unfortunately, Jimmy Rollins would then end the inning with a ground ball to the pitcher. The Phillies would increase their lead in the third, as Chase Utley would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier tripled, to make it 3-0 Phillies. But then the roof would appear to fall in on the Phillies and Cole Hamels in the fourth. The inning would begin with Hamels giving up a walk to Yunel Escobar. Mark Teixeira would follow with a single, sending Escobar to second. Hamels would then walk Brian McCann to load the bases with Braves. The next batter, Omar Infante, would then hit a two-run RBI double into left field, scoring both Escobar and Teixeira, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 3-2, while sending McCann to third. Jeff Francoeur would then hit a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning, sending home McCann with the tying run, while Infante stayed at second. Martin Prado would then hit a grounder to second that was stopped by Utley. But instead of getting back up, picking up the ball and throwing out Prado, Utley would look at Prado and tried to pick up the ball at the same time, and dropped the ball, committing the first error of the inning, and leaving runners on the corners as Infante moved up to third. The next batter, Mark Kotsay would then hit a RBI single, scoring Infante and sending Prado to second, giving the Braves a 4-3 lead. Mike Hampton then followed with a ground ball right to Hamels. Instead of taking his time and throwing the ball straight to Rollins at second base to start a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning, he would throw the ball away as he throws it to where Rollins had originally started out, allowing Prado to score, Kotsay to reach third, and Hampton to be safe at first, on the second error of the inning, making it 5-3 Braves. Gregor Blanco would then follow with a single, scoring Kotsay and sending Hampton to second, as the Braves increased their lead to 6-3. Escobar, who has originally started the inning, would come up for the second time, but this time he would fly out to right for the second out of the inning. Teixeira would then come up for the second time and cap off the disastrous inning by hitting a three-run home run off of Hamels, his twentieth home run of the year, giving the Braves a 9-3 lead, and what looks to be the final knockout blow to the Phillies’ season. Charlie Manuel would after that finally come out and take a very snake bitten Hamels out of the game, replacing him with Rudy Seanez. Seanez would then end the inning with one pitch as he gets McCann to pop up to Utley, although that almost became a disaster in itself as the ball almost got away from him as it came back down. After Adam Eaton have come into his first game since being sent down to the bullpen after the Joe Blanton trade and put down the Braves in the top of the fifth, the Phillies’ batter would go after Braves’ starter Mike Hampton as they used something that they have not done for a while, playing situational baseball. Rollins would start the inning off with a single. Victorino would then hit a grounder towards deep shortstop that would be picked up by Braves’ shortstop Escobar, who would end up having no play, thus becoming an infield single as Rollins’ speed would allow him to get to second. Utley would then follow them with a single that would load the bases with Phillies. Hampton would then be taken out of the game at this point, replaced by Royce Ring. Howard would greet Ring with a two-run RBI single, scoring both Rollins and Victorino, cutting the Braves’ lead to 9-5, while sending Utley to third. Bobby Cox would then come out for the second time in the inning, and replace Ring with Blaine Boyer. Burrell would then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Utley, making it 9-6 Braves. Werth would follow with a single, sending Howard to second. Bruntlett would then hit a deep fly ball to center, but Howard would stay at second, instead of going to third. It at first look like a base running blunder, but the next batter, Coste would hit a RBI single in the hole between first and second, allowing Howard to score, making it now a 9-7 Braves’ lead. Greg Dobbs would then come up to pinch hit for Eaton. On a 1-2 pitch, he would crush the ball into the second deck in right field for a three-run home run, his third home run of the year, and his team record tying twentieth pinch hit of the season, scoring both Werth and Coste, giving the Phillies a 10-9 lead. Rollins would then come up for the second time and tried to bunt himself back on. He would instead be thrown out by Boyer. The Phillies would then hold on, as Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero would combine for three shut out innings in which they would keep the Braves at bay, before the ball is finally handed over to Brad Lidge in the ninth, who would redeem himself for his previous night’s implosion by getting the Braves to go 1-2-3 for his twenty-third straight save without blowing it, breaking the team record that was originally set by Billy Wagner.

Cole Hamels would get a no-decision as he pitches three and two-thirds innings, giving up nine runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and three walks, two of whom would later score. Rudy Seanez would pitch a third of an inning, getting one man out on one pitch. Adam Eaton would get the win, as he pitched one inning, giving up no runs on one hits. Eaton’s record is now 4-8 with a 5.66 ERA. Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero would each pitch a scoreless inning, although Durbin would also pitch to one batter in the eighth, giving up only two hits (Durbin), while walking four. Brad Lidge would get a 1-2-3 inning, recording his twenty-third straight save without blowing one. Mike Hampton would also get a no-decision as he pitches four innings plus three batters, giving up six earned runs on six hits. Royce Ring would only pitch to one batter, giving up a single. Blaine Boyer would get the lost as he pitches an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. His record is now 2-6 with a 4.18 ERA. Will Ohman, Rafael Soriano and Julian Tavarez would each pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits to the Phillies.

I don’t know which one I am more shocked by, the implosion in the fourth inning, or the comeback in the fifth, using situational hitting. Seeing the Phillies collapse the way they did in the top of the fourth seems to show the way the Phillies have been screwing up so far this season, especially with Hamels throwing away the double play ground ball because he have been feeling frustrated up to that point in the inning, when he needed to just take his time and throw to Rollins at second for the second out of the inning, to lead to the end of the inning with a double play, and then to follow that up a few batters later by throwing up a home run pitch to Mark Teixeira in what, to me at least, seems to be the final collapse of the Phillies’ season. But then, to watch the team come back the way they did in the fifth inning, and doing it by using some situational hitting, something that they finally seems to be able to do, appear to show that the team isn’t dead yet. But, I’m going to wait to see if they can continue doing this for a while before thinking that the run machine is finally back and is now running once again on all cylinders.

The Phillies (55-49) will finish their three games weekend series with the Braves (49-54) this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The game will start at 1:35 pm Eastern. The Phillies will send to the mound Joe Blanton (5-12, 5.00), who is coming off a so-so start against the Mets on July 22, where he would go six innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits, in the Phillies’ dramatic come from behind 8-6 win. This will be his first ever start against the Braves as he try to continue adjusting to pitching to National League batters while trying to help the Phillies get their first series win of the second half. The Braves will counter with Jorge Campillo (5-4, 2.83), who is coming off a win against the Marlins, where he went seven innings, giving up no earned runs on two hits. He has pitched four time against the Phillies, twice in relief and twice as a starter, being 0-1 with a no-decision against them as a starter, and 0-0 as a reliever, pitching a combine total of thirteen and two-thirds innings, giving up eight earned runs on twenty-one hits. He will be trying to do better than he did in his last start against them, while trying to help the Braves will the series.

The Phillies stayed tied with the Marlins in second place, both now traling the Mets by a game, as the Mets have lost their game with the Cardinals in extra-innings. The Braves still trail the two second place teams by five and a half games. The Phillies will be trying for their first series win of the second half.

The Phillies’ offense continues to do nothing than waste good efforts by the starters as they lose to the Braves, 8-2.

The Phillies would end up wasting another good effort by one of their starters, this time by Kyle Kendrick, before the Braves would finally explode for seven runs in the ninth off of the Phillies’ relief corps. Kendrick and Braves’ starter Jair Jurrjens would be involved in a six innings long pitchers’ duel, with the only run scored during this time being on a solo home run off of Kendrick by Brian McCann, his nineteenth home run of the year, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead, while Kendrick constantly got himself out of trouble, keeping the Braves from scoring any more runs during his time on the mound. In the meantime, the Phillies’ offense would be unable to do anything against Jurrjens, constantly going down 1-2-3. The Braves would break the game wide open in the ninth as they become the first team to score more than a run off of Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge as he came in to pitch the ninth to try and keep the Phillies within striking distance of the Braves. Pinch hitter Greg Norton would greet Lidge with a pinch hit double off of the wall in center. Gregor Blanco would then get on base as he would beat out the throw from third basemen Greg Dobbs on a bunt attempt to move Norton up to third, which would instead be recorded as a single. Yunel Escobar would then walk, loading the bases. Mark Teixeira would follow with a RBI single, scoring Norton to make it 2-0 Braves, while leaving the bases loaded. The next batter, McCann, would then hit a grand slam home run, his twentieth home run of the year, scoring Blanco, Escobar and Teixeira, giving the Braves a 6-0 lead. Charlie Manuel would then come out and remove Lidge, replacing him with Clay Condrey. After Condrey gets Mark Kotsay to pop up for the first out of the inning, he would give up a double to Jeff Francoeur. He would then give up a RBI double to Kelly Johnson, scoring Kotsay, to make it a 7-0 Braves’ lead. Omar Infante would then follow with a RBI single, scoring Johnson and giving the Braves a 8-0 lead. in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies would score their only runs of the game as Ryan Howard would, with two outs, hit a two-run home run, his thirtieth home run of year, scoring Chase Utley, who has earlier singled, to make it 8-2 Braves. That would end up being the final score as Will Ohman would get Pat Burrell to fly out for the final out.

Kyle Kendrick would pitch a good game, even if he had to constantly pitch himself out of trouble, but still takes the lost because of lack of offensive support, as he goes six innings, giving up only one earned run on seven hits. His record is now 8-5 with a 4.70 ERA. J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin would both pitch a scoreless inning, with both giving up no hits. Brad Lidge would get rocked by the Braves as he faced five batters, getting no one out as he gives up five earned runs on four hits and a walk. Clay Condrey would pitch an inning, giving up two earned runs on three hits and a walk. Jair Jurrjens would get the win, as he pitched an excellent game against the Phillies, pitching eight innings, giving up no runs on three hits. Will Ohman would pitch an inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits.

Man, this is getting to be a broken record. The Phillies’ starter pitches a quality start, going six or more innings, and leaves the game either trailing by a few runs, or just barely leading, as the Phillies’ offense can’t seem to get anything started. And to make matters worst, one of the reliever would then come in and get tagged for several runs late in the game, with closer Brad Lidge this time being the victim as he gets lighted up for five runs, followed by Clay Condrey, who gets tagged for two more. I am not going to say anything more about the witless Phillies’ offense except for this: THEY STINK!!!!! THEY ROT!!! THEY REEK!!! THEY MAKE GARBAGE LOOK GOOD BY COMPARISION!!! End of story! GRUMBLE!!!!

The weekend series continues tomorrow as the Phillies (54-49) play the Braves (49-53) in an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park. The game will start at 3:55 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be ace Cole Hamels (9-6, 3.11), who is coming off of a no-decision against the Marlins on July 20, going eight innings as he gives up only two earned runs on four hits. Hamels has faced the Braves two times already this year, having a 2-0 record against them, going a combined total of seventeen and two-thirds innings, giving up only one earned run on nine hits. Hamels will for the fourth straight week try to notch his tenth win of the year while pondering if the Phillies’ batters will finally give him some runs support, after pitching three straight quality starts with little support. The Braves will be sending to the mound Mike Hampton (0-0, _.__), who will be making his first start at the major league level since 2005. He will be looking for his first win of the year, while hoping to continue the Phillies present offensive woes.

The Phillies are now tied for second place with the Marlins, both teams now trailing the Mets by two games, as the Mets have won their game with the Cardinals. The Phillies now lead the Braves by four and a half games after the lost. The Phillies continue in free fall, as they have just lost their fifth game in the second half, wondering when they are going to start breaking out the bats and score runs.

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.

Phillies finally win a series as they defeat the Braves once again in Atlanta, 7-3.

Adam Eaton finally gets his third win of the year as the Phillies defeat the Braves once again in their home ballpark, 7-3. The Phillies would score their first run of the game in the second inning, as Pedro Feliz (ground rule) and Chris Coste would hit back to back doubles to score Feliz and give the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. The Phillies would try to make 2-0 when Coste would be sent home in an attempt to score on an Eaton single to left. Unfortunately, a strike to home from left fielder Gregor Blanco, and a tag by catcher Brain McCann, would instead end the inning and leave it 1-0 Phillies. The Phillies would add to their lead in the third as Ryan Howard would hit his twenty-first home run of the year, a three-run shot, scoring Jimmy Rollins, who has earlier singled, and Chase Utley, who has walked, to make it 4-0 Phillies. They would increase their lead to 5-0 in the top of the fifth as Pat Burrell would hit a solo home run into left field, his twenty-first home of the year. The Braves would cut the lead down to 5-1 in their half of the fifth when pinch hitter Ruben Gotay would hit his second home run of the season. Then in the bottom of the sixth, the Braves would try to get back into the ballgame, loading the bases with a double by Mark Teixeira, a walk to McCann and a single to Kelly Johnson, with nobody out. That would be it for Adam Eaton, who had pitched a good game up to that point. Charlie Manuel would replace him on the mound with Chad Durbin. This would turn out to be a brilliant move as Durbin would get the first batter that he would face, the badly slumping Jeff Francoeur, to hit into a 6-4-3 twin killing, wiping out Johnson at second, while bringing home Teixeira, making it 5-2 Phillies. Durbin would then end the threat by striking out Mark Kotsay. The Braves would get another run in the eighth inning, as Chipper Jones hits his seventeenth home run of the year, a solo shot to center, making it a 5-3 game. The Phillies would then put the game away in the ninth, as they increased their lead. Eric Bruntlett would starts things off with a walk. After Bobby Cox sends out Royce Ring in place of Blaine Boyer, Rollins would greet him with a RBI triple, scoring Bruntlett, and increasing the Phillies’ lead to 6-3. Two batters later, with Rollins still on third and one out, Utley would knock him in with a single, making it 7-3 Phils. That would turn out to be the ballgame, as Brad Lidge would come in and pitch a scoreless ninth, in spite of the Braves loading up the bases, thanks in part to two fielding errors committed by Howard, as Lidge would end the game by striking out Teixeira.

Adam Eaton would get the win, as he pitch well for six innings plus three batters, giving up only two earned runs on five scattered hits. His record is now 3-6 with a ERA of 4.79. Chad Durbin would pitch two innings, giving up no runs on no hits. J.C. Romero would pitch two-thirds of an innings, giving up an earned run on one hit, Chipper Jones’ home run. Ryan Madson would pitch a scoreless, hittless third of an inning, striking out the only man he’d faced. Brad Lidge would pitch a wild, but scoreless ninth inning, giving up a hit while striking out the side. Jorge Campillo took the loss, as he pitched five innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits. His record is now 3-3 with a 2.99 ERA. Jeff Bennett would pitch an inning and a third of scoreless ball, giving up just two hits. Will Ohman would pitch two-thirds of an inning of scoreless ball, giving up no hits. Blaine Boyer would pitch an inning plus one batter, giving up an earned run on one hit. Royce Ring would pitch an inning, also giving up an earned run on two hits.

It would appear that the Phillies’ bats have awaken from their interleague play slumber as they got thirteen more hits last night, six of which were for extra bases (3 (2B), 1 (3B), 2 (HR)), something that was missing during the slide. If the bats have indeed come back to life, then this is going to be a long summer, for Phillies’ opponents. Also, Adam Eaton might have turned a corner, as he has finally gotten the runs support that has been missing in most of his previous start. If he has been listening to Jamie Moyer for pitching advice, like the previous night’s starter Kyle Kendrick, then the starting rotation might end up getting better as the season progress. But, even with the win, there is one present cause for concern, Ryan Howard’s fielding, as he single handedly almost got the Braves back into the ballgame because of a pair of fielding miscues, especially on the one that lead to the bases being loaded on a ball that he should’ve let Utley field for the final out. Someone may need to take Howard out and help him get the feel of playing first base before it can really hurt the Phils.

The Phillies (46-39) will conclude their three games visit with the Braves (40-45), with a chance for a sweep and, surprises of surprises, a winning road trip. The game will be played tonight at Turner Field, with a start time of 7:10 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be their ace, Cole Hamels (8-5, 3.38), who is coming off a good start against the Rangers on June 28, where he went seven innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits, in the Phillies’ 8-6 win. He has already faced the Braves this season, pitching a four-hit shut out against them on May 15, going all nine innings, in the Phillies’ 5-0 win. He will be shooting for his ninth win of the year and to complete the Phillies’ second sweep of the Braves in their own home ballpark. The Braves will be sending Jair Jurrjens (8-3, 2.94) to the mound to try and prevent the sweep. He is coming off a victory against the Blue Jays on June 27, where he would pitch eight innings, giving up no earned runs on three hits, in the Braves’ 4-0 win. In his last four starts, he has won three of them, with a no-decision in the fourth, which was also won by the Braves. In those games, he would give up only five earned runs in twenty-seven and two-thirds innings of work, while giving up no earned runs in the last twenty-three and two-thirds innings, while also giving up only twenty-five hits. He will also be shooting for his ninth victory, while seeing if he can stop the Phillies’ just reawaken bats and keep the Braves from being swept for the second straight time by the Phillies.

With the victory, the Phillies stay a game and a half ahead of the Marlins, who had earlier in the day beaten the Nationals. The Phils lead the Mets now by four and a half game as they’d lost their game to the Cardinals. The Phillies lead over the Braves is now at six games with their win. The Phillies will now try to leave Atlanta with a sweep of the Braves, before coming home to Citizens Bank Park to start a three teams, ten games in ten days, home stand before the All-Star break, during which they hope to create some breathing room between them and their nearest opponent.

Kendrick get his eighth victory as Phillies offense appear to have returned.

Kyle Kendrick pitches six strong innings while the Phillies’ offense gave him some early runs support before finally putting the game away in the ninth, as the Phillies have now defeated the Braves for the fourth straight time in Atlanta, 8-3. The first Phillies’ run would come in the second as Pat Burrell would hit his twentieth home run of the season, leading off the inning, to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The Phillies would then break it open in the third against Braves’ rookie Charlie Morton. Rollins would start the inning off with a single to right. Shane Victorino would follow with a two-run home run, his third home run of the year, scoring Rollins, to make it 3-0 Phillies. Chase Utley would then get a single to right, followed by one to center by Ryan Howard, which would send Utley to third, with still nobody out. Burrell would single home Utley to make it a 4-0 Phillies’ lead, while sending Howard to third. Geoff Jenkins would then follow with a single, the fourth straight Phillies’ single and the fifth in the inning, scoring Howard, while sending Burrell to second, as the Phillies now had a 5-0 lead. That would be it for Morton, as Braves’ manager Bobby Cox would take him out, and replace him with Buddy Carlyle, who would come in and get out the three batters he would face via a called third strike (Pedro Feliz), fly out (Carlos Ruiz) and a foul tip strike out (Kendrick). With a five run lead, Kendrick would keep the Braves’ off of the scoreboard for six innings, while throwing his pitch when he needed to to stifle any possible attempts by the Braves to get an inning going. But this would end in the bottom of the seventh, as, after the Phillies were unable to really bust the game wide open in the top half of the inning when they had the bases loaded with only one out, Jeff Francoeur would start off Atlanta’s half of the inning with a single to right. Brent Lillibridge would then single to right, sending Francoeur to second. Pinch hitter Greg Norton would then follow with a double, scoring both Francoeur and Lillibridge, and cutting the Phils’ lead to 5-2. That would be it for Kendrick as Charlie Manuel would replace him with J.C. Romero. Romero would get Gregor Blanco to ground out to first for the first out of the inning, while moving Norton to third base. Romero would then issue a four-ball walk to Kelly Johnson, putting runners on the corners for Clipper Jones. Romero would then walk him, loading up the bases for Mark Teixeira. Teixeira would hit towards Utley what should’ve been a double play ground ball, that, because of Utley’s misplaying of the ball, would instead turn into a ground out, second to first, to get out Teixeira. On the play, Norton would score, making it 5-3 Phils, while Blanco and Jones would both move up a base. But that would be the end of the Braves’ rally as Romero would get Brian McCann to end the inning with a ground out, second to first. After being unable to bust it open in the eighth inning, after once again loading the bases with only one out, the Phillies would finally be able to do so in the ninth, when, with Blain Boyer pitching in relief, pinch hitter Jayson Werth would start the inning off with a single to right. He would then steal second, going to third on McCann’s thowing error. After Jenkins strikes out, Feliz would hit a sacrifce fly, scoring Werth and giving the Phillies a 6-3 lead. Ruiz would then get the walk. Pinch hitter Greg Dobbs would then follow with a single to center, sending Ruiz to second. Rollins then walks, loading the bases for the third straight inning, but this time with two outs. Victorino then follows with a two-run single to left, scoring both Ruiz and Dobbs and sending Rollins to second, to put the game away at 8-3. After Utley flies out to right to end the inning, Brad Lidge would come on to pitch the ninth, putting down the Braves and giving the Phillies the win.

Kyle Kendrick would get the win as he pitches a strong six innings plus three batters, giving up only three earned runs on seven hits. His record is now 8-3 with a 4.58 ERA. J.C. Romero and Tom Gordon would both pitch an inning of relief, each giving up no runs on no hits. Brad Lidge would pitch the ninth, giving up no runs on one hit. Charlie Morton would take the lost, lasting only two innings plus six batters, as he gives up five earned runs on eight hits. His record is now 1-2 with an ERA of 6.16. Buddy Carlyle would pitch three scorless innings in relief, giving up only one hit. Manny Acosta would pitch two scorless innings, giving up two hits. Will Ohman would pitch a scoreless, hitless inning of relief. Blain Boyer would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. Royce Ring would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.

The Phillies’ offense appears to have returned, as the first six starters (Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell and Jenkins) would all get two hits apiece, while pinch hitters Werth and Dobbs would also get hits, to give the Phillies a total of fourteen hits. All but three of those hits would be single, as Jenkins would get a double, while Burrell and Victorino would both hit home runs. In fact, Victorino would knock in a career high four RBIs during the game. In the game, the batters would appear to have been a bit more patient at the plate, although they would be unable to bust the game wide open in both the seventh and eighth innings when they twice had the bases loaded with only one out, but would be able to do so in the ninth with a third bases loaded situation, and with two men out. Meanwhile, until he ran out of gas in the seventh, although having a low pitch count, Kendrick would be able to keep himself out of any possible dangerous situtaion by being able to throw his pitch when he needed to. One of the Phils’ radio announcers (probably Gary Matthews) commented during the game that Kendrick has been taking advice from the veteran pitcher, Jamie Moyer, and that both Cole Hamels and Adam Eaton have both doing the same. If this is the result of Kendrick talking and listening to the veteran, then more power to him, just keep listening to the veteran.

The Phillies (45-39) continued their three games series in Atlanta (40-44) today with a night game at Turner Field. The game will start at 7:10 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Adam Eaton (2-6, 4.86), who is coming off a tough lost against the A’s on June 26, where he would pitch seven innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits, in the Phillies’ 5-0 lost. He has lost his last three starts, although pitching well in two of those starts. The Phillies’ in his previous sixteen starts are 7-9. He has already faced Atlanta once this season, pitching a no-decision on June 8, during the Phillies’ sweep in Atlanta, going six innings, giving up only three earned runs on eight hits, in the Phillies’ 6-3 win. He will be trying for his third victory of the season, while hoping that the bats are indeed back. His opponent will be Jorge Campillo (3-2, 2.54), who is coming off a win against the Brew crew on June 25, where he would go seven innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, in the Braves’ 4-2 win. He has faced the Phillies already once this year, a no-decision on June 8 as Eaton’s opponent. In that game he would pitch five and a third innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, in the Braves’ 6-3 lost. He will be going for his fourth win of the year, while trying to put the Phillies’ bats back to sleep, and to help the Braves avoid losing their fifth game at home against the Phillies.

The victory increases the Phillies’ lead over the Marlins to a game and a half as the fish would lose their game to the Nationals. The Mets now trail the Phillies by three and a half games as they won their game with the Cardinals. With the lost, the Braves now trail the Phils by five games. The Phillies will see if they can continue winning while trying to put some more distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

The red hot Phillies leave Atlanta with a sweep. Head south to wreck further havoc in Miami.

The Phillies have finished their sweep of the shellshocked Braves by defeating Atlanta with a three run ninth to win the game, 6-3. The Phillies would start the game off by taking the lead in the first inning, when Ryan Howard hit a RBI double, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier singled, to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The lead would increase to 2-0 two batters later, when, with the bases loaded and two out, Geoff Jenkins would ground out to first, scoring Chase Utley who has earlier singled. The Braves would tie it up in their half of the first, when Mark Teixeira hit his tenth home run of the year off of Phillies’ starter Adam Eaton, scoring Yunel Escobar, who has earlier doubled. The Phillies would retake the lead in the third, when Howard would hit his second RBI double of the ballgame, scoring Victorino, who has earlier singled, making it 3-2 Phillies. In the fourth, Atlanta would come back to tie it at three all when Josh Anderson hit a RBI single, knocking in Omar Infantine, who has reached base earlier with a single. The game would then become a battle between the two teams’ bullpens, once Eaton and Braves’ starter Jorge Campillo were both taken out of the game by the end of the sixth inning. The bullpens would keep both teams off of the scoreboard, until the ninth. With Blain Boyer pitching for the Braves, the Phillies would retake the lead, when, with one out, and with runners on first and second, Victorino would hit a RBI single, scoring pinch hitter Eric Bruntlett, who has earlier singled, making it 4-3 Phillies. Now, with the bases loaded, and with still one out, Howard would hit his third RBI double of the game, knocking in Jimmy Rollins, who has singled earlier and Victorino, giving the Phillies a 6-3 lead. Brad Lidge would then be brought in to pitch the ninth, and he would pitch a 1-2-3 inning to record his seventeenth save in seventeen tries.

Adam Eaton would get a no-decision as he would go six innings, giving up three earned runs on eight hits. Chad Durbin would get the victory as he pitches two scoreless innings while giving up two hits. His record is now 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA. Brad Lidge would pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, as he records his seventeenth save of the season. Jorge Campillo would also get a no-decision as he pitches five and one-third innings for the Braves, giving up three earned runs on seven hits. Buddy Carlyle would go two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Will Ohman would pitch two innings, giving up no runs on no hits. Blaine Boyer would take the lost as he pitches a third of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. His record is now 1-4 with a 4.08 ERA. Manny Acosta would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on no hits.

The Phillies have swept their third series of the season, and they did it in the ballpark of the team that used to own the Eastern Division. For the third straight game, the Phillies’ offense would get some timely hits late in the game to win it, while the relievers continue to shut down the opposition, allowing the offense to be able to win the game in the late innings.

The win put the Phillies (39-26) thirteen games over .500 as they head to Miami to visit the Florida Marlins (34-28) for a three games series starting Tuesday night. The first place Phillies are still  three and a half games ahead of the second place Marlins, who won their game against the Reds as they wait for the red hot Phillies to arrive. With the lost, the third place Braves are now six and a half games behind the Phillies. The fourth place Mets are now seven and a half games behind the Phils as they have lost once again to the Padres. As the Phillies take the day off and travel south to Miami, the Marlins will play the final game of their four games set with the Reds, while the Braves travel to Chicago to start a series with the Cubs and the Mets will also be taking the day off.

Edit: The Phillies’ win on Saturday was Charlie Manuel’s 300th victory as the Phillies’ manager.

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.

The Phils come up short as Myers get hammered by the Braves.

The Phils come up short as they attempt to come from behind against the Braves, losing in the ninth, 8-6. Phils’ starter, Brett Myers, would get rocked early and often by the Braves, giving up a run in almost every inning he pitched last night. The Braves went to work in the first inning as Yunel Escobar hit Myers’ second pitch out of the park for a home run, his fourth of the year, giving the Braves a quick 1-0 lead. Four pitches later, Chipper Jones would hit his eleventh home run of the year, increasing Atlanta’s lead to 2-0. The Braves would increase their lead in the second inning on a first-pitch home run by Kelly Johnson, hit fifth of the season, making it 3-0. In the fourth, Brian McCann would increase the lead to 5-0, as he hit a two-run RBI double off of Myers, knocking in Mark Kotsay, who has got on base earlier via an error by Ryan Howard as he missed a throw on what should’ve been a double play ball, and Jones, who has doubled earlier. After escaping trouble in the fourth, Myers would get sent to the showers in the fifth, after he gives up a RBI single to McCann with one out, scoring Kotsay, who has earlier got on base with a single, making it a 6-0 Atlanta lead. Myers was able to pitch only four and one-third innings, eventually giving up eight runs, six of which were earned, on nine hits. Ryan Madson would come in to replace Myers. After getting the second out of the inning, Madson would intentionally walk Johnson, before giving up a RBI single to Gregor Blanco, scoring Mark Teixeira, who has gotten on base earlier via a force out, and McCann, making it 8-0 Atlanta, while both runs would be charged to Myers. But that would be it for Atlanta as Clay Condrey and Rudy Seanez would combine to pitch three scoreless innings as they give up no runs on one hit. In the meantime, the Phillies’ bat would finally get to Tom Glavine in the sixth. After Chris Coste gets his second single of the night off of Glavine, and pitch hitter Eric Bruntlett walks, Jimmy Rollins would knock in the Phils’ first run of the game with a double, scoring Coste. Shane Victorino would then get the Phillies’ second run as he grounds out, short to first, scoring Bruntlett. Chase Utley would then follow with his fourteenth home run on the year, scoring Rollins, as he makes the score 8-4 Braves. After walking Pat Burrell with two out, Glavine would be taken out of the game for Jeff Bennett, who would end the Phillies’ threat. In the eighth inning, Howard would cut the lead to 8-5 as he hits his ninth home run of the year off of Braves’ reliever Royce Ring. Then in the ninth, with two outs, the Phils attempt some ninth inning heroics. Coste would start it off by getting on base with a single, his fourth of the night, off of Blaine Boyer. Greg Dobbs then follows with a pinch hit single, getting Coste to second. Rollins would then get a RBI single, knocking in Coste and sending Dobbs to third. After Rollins gets his third steal of the year, putting the tying run in scoring position, Victorino would hit a long fly ball to the right field warning track, where it was caught by Jeff Francoeur, ending the threat, and giving Boyer his second save of the season, as the Braves hang on to win, 8-6.

Brett Myers would take the lost, as he gets hit hard in his four and one-third innings of work. His record is now 2-5 with an ERA of 6.40, as he gives up eight runs, six of which were earned, on nine hits. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thirds of an inning of relief, giving up no earned runs on two hits. Clay Condrey would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on one hit while Rudy Seanez would pitch two innings of relief, giving up no runs on no hits. Tom Glavine would win the game for the Braves, as he goes five and two-third innings, giving up four earned runs on four hits while striking out four as he kept the Phils off balanced until the sixth inning. Glavine receives his first win of the year, as his record improves to 1-1, while his ERA goes to 4.41. Jeff Bennett would pitch one-third of an inning plus one batter, as he gives up no runs on one hit. Will Ohman would go one inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Royce Ring would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up one earned run, Howard’s home run, on one hit. Blaine Boyce would go one and one-third inning, giving up an earned run on three hits as he records his second save.

In spite of the lost, the Phils are still in second place, 1.5 games behind the Marlins, as the fish loses their third game in a row to the Reds, and still half a game ahead of the Mets, as they lost again to the Nationals. The Phils are now ahead of the fourth place Braves by a full game.

Edit: The Phils are presently a full game ahead of the Mets as they have just lost their second straight game, and three of four, to the Nationals.

The final game of the three game series starts tonight at 7:05 pm at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils will be sending their ace, Cole Hamels (4-3, 3.36), to the mound for the rubber game of the series. Hamels is coming off a somewhat shaky start against the Giants on May 9, where he went seven innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits, as he gain the victory in the Phils’ 7-4 win. The Braves will counter with Chuck James (2-2, 7.58), who is coming off of a lost against the Pirates on May 10, where he gave up five earned runs on five hits as he pitched six innings in the Braves’ 5-2 lost. In his four starts, he had given up at least four earned runs in three of them. The Phils will be trying to win this game to stay in pace with the Marlins, and stay ahead of both the Mets and the Braves.

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