Once again the Phils fell behind early and once again they stunned the Mets with an 8th inning rally. Early on Cole Hamels was outstanding allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 10 in 7 innings, but the Phils could manage just 1 run in that time on Raul Ibanez' RBI double in the 4th. Down 2-1 to start the 8th, the Phils again put together a rally. Jimmy Rollins slapped a 2 out single, stole second, and scored on a single by Chase Utley to tie things at 2. Then Placido Polanco walked and Ryan Howard bashed a 2 run double for a 4-2 lead. Later in the 9th, Dom Brown doubled and scored on a double by Ben Francisco for a 5-2 lead. That would be more than enough for Ryan Madson to nail down his 11th save in the bottom of the inning for the 5-2 win. With the win the Phils now lead the NL East by 2.5 games.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils began a road trip tonight against the Mets in New York. Roy Oswalt got the start and a looked a little better than his last start, allowing just 2 runs on 9 hits in 6 strong innings. Despite that, RBI singles from Oswalt himself and Jimmy Rollins, and bunch of Met miscues, the Phils still found themselves down 3-2 in the 8th inning mostly thanks to their own shortcomings in the field. Everything turned around from the 8th inning on though. JRoll slapped a game tying double down line in the 8th. Then in the 9th the Met defense totally fell apart. Carlos Ruiz singled with one out, Ross Gload followed with a pinch single, Dominic Brown singled through Daniel Murphy's glove to score Ruiz, Jimmy Rollins added a sac fly as Carlos Beltran butchered the throw home, Chase Utley singled to put runners on the corners, and finally Placido Polanco beat out an infield single and knocked in another run as Jose Reyes slowly loped to the second base bag and was beaten by Utley. After all that Ryan Madson nearly blew it in the bottom of the 9th before Utley and JRoll combined to turn a vintage game ending double play and net Madson his 10th save.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
Last night a position player, Wilson Valdez, got the win in a 19 inning marathon. This afternoon a pitcher, Cliff Lee, knocked in 3 runs with a ground rule double and a single. I'm not sure there's ever been 2 weirder games back to back than that, definitely not in Phils history at least. Anyway Lee's arm was pretty good too as he allowed just 4 runs on 10 hits while striking out 8 in 8 innings. Furthermore, it wasn't just Lee doing the hitting as the Phils racked up 10 runs on 13 hits. Ryan Howard got things going with an RBI double in the 1st. Later Raul Ibanez bashed a 3 run homer in the 3rd inning. Then Lee hit his ground rule double and Micheal Martinez added a sac fly in the 6th. And in the 7th Lee and Martinez collected RBI singles. Finally in the 8th Chase Utley cracked his first homerun of the season to cap the 10-4 win.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
In their longest game in 18 years, the Phils outlasted the Reds in 19 innings thanks 5 shutout innings in relief by Dannys Baez and 1 by Wilson Valdez, yes the utility infielder, in which he retired Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. All the told the Phils bullpen allowed just 1 run on 3 hits in 12 outstanding innings and were the real heroes on the night when all was said and done. It didn't start out that way though. Through the first 6 innings, the Story was Roy Halladay who allowed just 1 run, Ben Francisco who clubbed a 2 run homer in the 1st, and John Mayberry Jr who slapped an RBI single in the 2nd. Then Jay Bruce roped a 2 run single off Halladay in the 7th to tie things at 3 and that all went by the way side. After failed to score with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 9th and Bruce homered to start the 10th, it looked like the story might be him and his 3 RBIs. Then Ryan Howard started the bottom of the 10th by crushing a solo homer to center field and tying things up at 4. So Bruce's big night became a footnote and the real story became a war of attrition between the two team's bullpens that just kept going and going. Finally in the bottom of the 19th, Carlos Fisher, who was in his 6th inning in relief, just a run out of gas and loaded the bases for Raul Ibanez. Ibanez responded by scalding a deep sac fly to at last score Jimmy Rollins with the winning run over 6 hours and 19 innings after the night began. The 5-4 win is the Phils 30th of the year and the first in the career of Wilson Valdez, which makes him the first position player to win a game since 2000.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
Chase Utley's 2nd game back was a little bit better, well for him anyway as he finally collected his first hit of the season. Unfortunately, the Phil's offense otherwise tapered off again, leaving runners on base again, and compiling just 3 runs despite collecting another 8 hits. A Raul Ibanez double and A Dom Brown sac fly in the 2nd inning, and a Carlos Ruiz double in the 4th inning accounted for all of the runs. For a while it looked like those 3 runs might be enough, Even as the Phils threw away opportunities score more. Finally in the 5th inning Vance Worley was touched up for a couple runs to tie things up at 3, but he managed to get out of the inning and a bases loaded jam with the score still tied. It stayed that way until late in the afternoon when Ryan Madson was touched up for 3 2 out runs, a hard luck outing for sure, and too much for the Phils to overcome in the bottom of the 9th as they fell 6-3.
Monday, May 23, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
What a difference an Utley makes. No Chase Utley did not tear the cover off the ball in his long awaited return to Phils lineup, in fact he went o for 5, but his presence alone was enough to propel his teammates to 10 runs on 14 hits, including 3 homers. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels allowed just 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4 en route to his 6th win of the season. Placido Polanco got things started with a 2 run blast in the 1st inning. Later, Raul Ibanez, John Mayberry Jr., and Cole Hamels each slapped 3 RBI singles, and Jimmy Rollins slugged a 3 run homer in a 7 run 3rd inning. Finally in the 4th inning Ibanez crushed a solo homer. From there Hamels cruised through the next 2 innings, and Micheal Stutes, Antonio Bastardo, and Danys Baez combined for 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to wrap up the 10-3 win.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
PHILLIES NEWS
Roy Oswalt was great this afternoon, allowing just 1 run on 8 hits while striking out 3 in 7 innings. Unfortunately, he was highlight of the day for the Phils, as they managed just 5 hits and no runs. They had opportunities to score with runners in scoring position in 1st, 3rd, and 5th innings, but couldn't get the hit they needed to cash in. So the Rangers took the 2-0 win and avoided a sweep. Despite the loss the Phils remain 1.5 games up in the NL East, with the Marlins losing today as well.
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