PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils went for the sweep of the Mets tonight and not surprisingly with Cole Hamels on the mound, despite a wild 6th inning, they did just that. JROLL quieted the fans again with a two out RBI single in the 3rd inning, and Ryan Howard added an RBI single in the 6th as the Phils lead early 2-0. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels rolled along through 5 innings, blanking the Mets on 7 hits, then in the bottom of the 6th it almost slipped away. Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Paul Lo Duca combined to hit back-back-back homers in the inning as New York went ahead 3-2. Hamels managed to hang on for one more inning, finishing the night having allowed 3 runs on 10 hits while striking out 5. After that it looked for a while as if the Phils would not get their sweep, but the old Met killer, Pat Burrell led off the 9th inning for the Phils, and he took hated former Phil Billy Wagner deep, and suddenly it was all tied up at 3. Then In the 10th, Chase Utley doubled in a run to put the Phils up 4-3. Later, Aaron Rowand added an RBI single, and Burrell all but sealed the deal with an RBI double, to give the Phils a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. There, Antonio Alfonseca recorded his 4th save of the year giving Mike Zagurksi ,who pitched a scoreless frame in the 9th, his first major league win. So the Phils improved to 31-29, just 5 games behind the Mets for 1st in the NL East, and 1.5 games behind Atlanta for 2nd. Thus, life is still beautiful.