Phillies Sweep Pirates with 5-1 Win
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Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick pitched one of his finest games since being called up to the big club, 7 innings, 1 run on 6 hits for his 5th win, and the Phils got just enough offense, including a couple of 8th inning insurance runs on pinch-hitter Chris Coste’s 2 run double to leftfield, to win by a 5-1 score and to complete their 1st sweep of the Pirates since 2001.
With the win, the Phillies stay within striking distance of the NL East first place Mets who shut out the Washington Nationals in a rain-shortened regulation 5 inning game by a 5-0 score. John Maine won his 12th game and pitched a 1 hitter of 5 innings.
Atlanta remains a game behind the Phillies despite routing Arizona by a 14-0 score as Tim Hudson pitched a 7 inning 3 hitter for the Braves.
The Phillies scored single runs in the first, third and fifth innings and Coste’s two insurance RBIs in the 8th.
The AP report for Yahoo sports outlines the game’s scoring;
Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Ian Snell (7-9). Newly acquired Tadahito Iguchi doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
In the third, Aaron Rowand doubled home Rollins for a 2-0 lead. The Phillies loaded the bases with one out but failed to break the game open. Snell fanned Greg Dobbs for the second out and shortstop Cesar Izturis robbed Carlos Ruiz of a hit with a nifty diving stop and flip from his stomach to second baseman Freddy Sanchez to end the threat.
Rollins tripled and scored on a Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Chris Coste, who hit a three-run homer on Saturday, drove in two runs with a pinch-hit single in the eighth. Coste had six RBIs in two games.
McLouth broke up Kendrick’s shutout in the sixth inning with a solo homer to right field. It was McLouth’s third of the season.
Snell, who was 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA against the Phillies in his previous two starts, allowed three runs on six hits over six innings to lose for the fourth straight time. He struck out seven, including six in a row at one point, and walked three.
Rollins, who moved into the No. 3 spot in the lineup after All-Star Chase Utley went down with a hand injury, went 3-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to nine games. He also had three hits on Saturday and has 15 three-hit games this season.
Kendrick (5-1) allowed one run on six hits, walking one and striking out four. It was his first victory since July 13.
With the score 3-1, reliever Ryan Madson took over for Kendrick in the 8th inning. Madson got the first two outs and worked an 0-2 count on leftfielder Jason Bay before leaving with what was announced as a right shoulder strain. Great! Just what we need, another reliever to go down. Reliever Antonio Alfonseca finished off Bay for a strikeout to end the inning.
Jose Mesa came on in the 9th inning and started doing what Jose Mesa does best — fall behind in counts. And so, rightfielder Xavier Nady worked a 3-1 count on Mesa and lined a double over Rowand’s head in centerfield. But then Mesa got a line fly ball to right for out one. On the 2nd out, Ryan Howard made a hustling, over the shoulder catch of a foul ball in shallow rightfield. Then Mesa gobbled up a ground ball to the pitcher to seal the victory.
For the scores, boxscores on all of Sunday’s games, click here.
The Phils next travel to Chicago for a 3 game series with the Cubs beginning Monday. The opener is scheduled as duel of evenly matched lefthanders who both own 11 wins as Cole Hamels opposes 8 year veteran Ted Lilly.
Following the Cubs series, the Phils then move on to play a series with Milwaukee beginning Thursday.
For the scores, boxscores on all of Monday’s games, click here.
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