Royals Bludgeon Phillies in Series Finale
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1st baseman Ryan Howard had just plastered a 2 run tape-measure job to right field to close the score to 6-5 and it looked like the Phillies had a shot to take this one. Ryan Madson, who looked soo good in shutting down the Mets during the sweep, was on the mound having shut off the Royals, who chased starter and losing pitcher Jamie Moyer, in the 4th inning and having set them down clean in the 5th.
But Kansas City tagged Madson in the 6th inning as well as the newly acquired Jose Mesa in the 7th and both Geoff Geary and Francisco Rosario in the 8th as the game degenerated into a 17-5 Kansas City blowout.
It was the worst rout of the Phillies since they suffered a May 13, 2002 17-3 drubbing at Houston.
Among the foibles of the Phillies in this game besides Moyer’s many mistakes left out over the middle of the plate; they rested Chase Utley replacing him at 2nd base with Abraham Nunez, who unaccustomed to the position, so the infield was out-of-synch and reliever Jose Mesa had insufficient time working with catcher Carlos Ruiz, ergo 2 straight run-scoring wild pitches in the 7th inning.
It was not pretty. But perhaps the Phils can take solace - the American League won 9 of the 15 interleague games on Sunday, 3 of them by lopsided margins; the two others being Detroit’s 15-7 wallopping of the Mets in Tom Glavine’s worst appearance in many years and the Yankees 13-6 pasting of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Like Moyer, Royals lefthander Jorge De La Rosa lasted only 3 2/3 innings as the Phils scored single runs against him in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings.
After reliever Brandon Duckworth gave up Howard’s 2 run blast in the 5th inning, he was replaced in the 6th by Zack Greinke who turned the tide and set the tone for the remainder of the game by striking out 5 Phils over his two innings, striking out the side in the 6th inning.
Rightfielder Shane Victorino hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning, one of his two hits in 5 at bats for the game. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 5 for the game with an RBI.
Shortstop Tony Pena Jr. clubbed a solo blast in the 2nd inning and 2nd baseman Mark Grudzielanek belted a 2 run shot in the 3rd inning, both off of Moyer.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on this and all of Sunday’s games, click here.
The Phillies head home for 3 games with the Chicago White Sox beginning on Monday. After an off-day on Thursday, they host the Detroit Tigers for 3 games on Friday through Sunday.
In Monday’s opener Adam Eaton is opposed by Javier Vazquez for the White Sox.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on this and all of Monday’s games, click here.
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