Coming into tonight the Phils had a chance to reclaim first place for the first time since May. They just needed a win over the Marlins and for the Braves to lose to the Pirates. The Braves obliged with their 2nd straight loss to the lowly Pirates. So it was up to the Phils to come through against Florida. Joe Blanton got the start and was solid, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5 in 6 and 1/3rd innings, but thanks to him the Phils fell behind early 3-1. In the 4th Raul Ibanez slugged a solo homer to cut it to 3-2. Then in the 5th Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard each slammed solo homers and Ibanez slapped a 2 out RBI single to put the Phils ahead 5-3.
In the 7th with the lead down to 5-4 a sac fly by Jimmy Rollins and a triple by Ibanez plated 2 more runs and pushed the lead to 7-4. The way the Phils bullpen had been performing you would think that would be enough to grab the win but Jose Contreras could not get through the 8th. Ryan Madson replaced him to get the final out in the inning, but instead threw a wild pitch that allowed Florida to tie it up at 7. Just when it seemed Florida had all the momentum, Victorino ripped a 2 out single in the 8th, stole second, and scored on a single by Placido Polanco to put the Phils back ahead 8-7. Despite walking a batter Madson got through the 9th and their 8-7 win and first place in the NL East again, .5 games ahead of the Braves. There's still a long way to go though.
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