Sometimes one new face is enough to lift a team out of a struggle. That was the case for the Phils tonight. Not more than 2 hours before the game tonight Brian Bocock was sent packing back to minors while Cody Ransom was recalled from AAA and immediately inserted as the Phils starting 3B. He would've have already been called up by now if his defensive skills weren't so suspect. That he was called up at all shows how desperate the Phils were for something, anything to spark their sagging lineup. For tonight at least Ransom was just that. He collected 2 hits and an RBI and sparked the Phils to a 12 run and 15 hit night, that saw the Pirates thoroughly embarrassed in front of their biggest crowd of the season.
Jimmy Rollins with 3 hits ,including a solo homer in the 4th, 3 RBIs, and 3 runs scored and Ryan Howard with 2 hits and 3 RBIs were the big bombers for the Phils on the night but they weren't alone. Shane Victorino had 3 hits, 3 runs scored, and an RBI, Jayson Werth had a hit and an RBI, Ben Francisco had a solo homer and 2 RBIs, Dane Sardinha had a hit and an RBI, Wilson Valdez had a hit and a run scored and heck even Kyle Kendrick doubled and scored in the 7th. Yes, the 'Everybody gets a hit' guy from the Vet would have been a proud man tonight.
By the bottom of the 5th it was already a laughable 10-1 Phils, not that that Kyle Kendrick needed the help. He had to throw just 114 pitches to go the distance in this one, while limiting Pittsburgh to just 4 runs on 10 hits and striking out 4. No that isn't a great line, but when you have a 9 run lead by the 5th inning, particularly against a team like the Pirates, you don't have to be great and Kendrick knew that. He simply did a good job of taking advantage of the lead given to him by going after the hitters and retiring most of them quickly. In the end it was good enough for his 5th win of the season, and the Phils 42 win of the season against 37 losses. That keeps them 5 games back in the NL East which is at least within striking distance. So if that 5 games is down to say 1 or 0 by the all- star break then you can remember this game as turning point in the Phils run toward a 4th straight NL East title. I wouldn't put it past them.
2 comments:
Its pretty crazy how a new face can spark so much offense and its about time they won a game againts the Pirates. Now I'm hoping they can tie the series and make not make it a total failure.
-to ph1llysports
yeah I am hoping the same
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