PHILLIES NEWS

The Phillies game plan tonight against Blue Jays starter A.J Burnett who was a coming off a complete-game shutout, was simple, make him work. For about the first time all-season the Phillies offense actually executed their game-plan to perfection. By the time he started the 5th inning Burnett's pitch count was at an exhausting 97 and the Phillies had racked up 7 runs and 10 hits off him, chasing him from the game just one out into the inning. When the Blue Jays bullpen entered the game Phillies did something they hadn't all year, they kept at them, tacking on 6 more runs on 7 more hits to win going away 11-6. Conversely the Phillies bullpen which had looked so overmatched in an 8-1 loss in the first game of this series, kept the Blue Jays in check, giving up just 3 runs on 8 hits in a combined 7 and 1/3rd innings of work by Geoff Geary, Ryan Franklin, Rheal Cormier, Arthur Rhodes, and Tom Gordon. For those of you out there wondering starter Aaron Fultz did what any career relief pitcher getting his first major league start would do and lasted just 1 and 1/3rd innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits. Now, I don't know about you but, I am just ecstatic over the way Phillies offense performed today, I mean you know, it's like they say the numbers don't lie. David Bell, Chase Utley, and Bobby Abreu each had three hits in the game and Jimmy Rollins had 2, and heck even pinch-runner Chris Coste had 2 hits and an RBI. Utley also had 3 RBIs on the night and Abreu had 4. Both Utley and Ryan Howard hit homeruns on the night. Even the slumping Pat Burrell, the DH for the night, had a hit and RBI. Add it all together and you come up with 11 runs and 17 hits for the Phillies on the night. That's pretty impressive for a Phillies offense that had been struggling so hopelessly for the past month. Hopefully, this is the start of better things to come for the Phillies. You never know, maybe they can still finish the 1st half of the season with a bang.