PHILLIES NEWS

After lasting just 2 innings before being hit in the arm with a line drive, in his first start for the Phils, Kyle Lohse fared much better this time around in his first home start. Lohse went 6 and 1/3rd innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, and even driving in a run himself with an RBI single in the 3rd inning. The Phils meanwhile, spread 6 runs throughout the 1st 6 innings, with the big blow being a 2 run homer by Aaron Rowand in the 6th. At the time of Rowand's blast the Phils lead only by a score of 4-3. afterwards they went up for good 6-4. Antonio Alfonseca bailed Lohse out in the 7th, Tom Gordon tossed a scoreless 8th, and Brett Myers struck out the side in the 9th for a solid 6-4 Phils win. So the Phils have now improved to 60-53 and moved to within 1 game of the wildcard, but remain 4 games behind the Mets for first in the NL East. Thus, life remains beautiful.