Phils Defeat Pirates, Take Their First Series Since June 6
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The Phils and Pittsburgh were knotted at 3 until the Phils broke the game wide open with 2 runs in the 5th inning and 3 more runs in the 6th to defeat Pittsburgh 8-3 and win their first series since June 6th when the swept a 3 game series from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Both the Phils and Pirates traded runs in the 1st and 3rd innings, 2 each in the 1st and 1 each in the 3rd and were tied when the Phils came up in their 5th inning when they went ahead for good with 2 runs and added insurance of 3 more runs in the 6th to earn the win.
Phils rookie lefthander starter Cole Hamels (2-4) pitched 5 good innings giving up 3 runs, 6 hits and 2 walks to earn the win.
Bucs lefthander Zach Duke (5-8) pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up 7 of the Phils 8 runs and was charged with the loss.
While it was the Phils’ 4th straight homer-less game and they were without slumping Ryan Howard in lineup, Howard’s replacement at 1st base Chase Utley (16 HRs, 53 RBIs, .312 BA), centerfielder Aaron Rowand (8 HRs, 30 RBIs) , catcher Chris Coste (8 RBIs, .311 BA), leftfielder Pat Burrell (19 HRs, 58 RBIs) and 3rd baseman David Bell (4 HRs) all answered the call with RBI hits. Coste, who has 5 RBIs in the last two games was the hitting star of this series by far. Rightfielder Bobby Abreu (8 HRs, 59 RBIs, .293 BA) had three hits in 4 at bats and reached base for the 34th straight game and Chase Utley has now hit in 15 games in a row.
This also marked 3 out of last 4 Phillies games where neither team was able to hit a homer.
For Pittsburgh, leftfielder Jason Bay (21 HRs, 66 RBIs, .284 BA) and 3rd baseman Joe Randa (2 HRs, .275 BA) drove in 2 RBIs in the 1st inning and Randa drove in a 2nd run in the 3rd to give the Bucs a short-lived leads of 2-0 and 3-2.
For the full recap, play-by-play and box scores on Sunday’s game, click here.
The Phils now break for the 4 day All Star break before flying out West for begin a road swing on Friday playing 3 against the San Francisco Giants and 3 against the San Diego Padres. We can only hope that the Phils come back from All Star break refreshed, feeling momentum and ready to make a major turn-around in the 2nd half of the season and drive at least for the NL Wild Card berth if the NY Mets are uncatchable.
For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of Sunday’s games in both leagues, click here.
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