Phillies Edge Nationals on 8th Inning Pinch-Homer
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Starters Kyle Lohse and Shawn Hill were involved in a 6 inning pitchers duel as Hill retired the first 9 Phillies he faced before a 4th inning infield error put shortstop Jimmy Rollins at 2nd base to lead off an inning which ended uneventfully.
After the Nationals chased Lohse in the 7th on pinch hitter Tony Batista’s one out, 2 run double, the Phils scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s one out RBI single followed by a pinch 2 run homer by newly acquired 3rd baseman/leftfielder Russell Branyan to win the game as the bullpen was stellar holding the Nationals to but one hit over the last 2 1/3 innings to insure the 3-2 win.
With the win, the Phillies remained in 2nd place, 3 games behind the Mets and 1/2 game ahead the Braves who both won, and stayed one game behind the San Diego Padres, who also won, in the NL Wild Card race.
After Lohse and Hill traded zeros for 6 innings, Hill, who was masterful holding the Phils to one hit while throwing 79 pitches (box score stats) in his first start back from the DL, was replaced in the 7th inning by reliever Luiz Ayala who struck out the side. Ayala, who was pinch hit for by Batista, was replaced by reliever Jon Rauch to begin the 8th inning.
The AP report accounts for the final innings for Yahoo sports;
Through seven innings, the Phillies had been held to just one hit, a leadoff single by Aaron Rowand in the fifth off Washington starter Shawn Hill. In his first start since missing more than three months because of a sprained right elbow, Hill pitched six innings, threw 80 pitches and struck out a career-high seven. He walked one.
The Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the seventh on a two-run, pinch-hit double by Tony Batista. Ryan Church led off with a a single off Philadelphia starter Kyle Lohse. One out later, [Nook] Logan lined a soft single off second baseman Tadahito Iguchi’s glove. Batista followed with his two-run double.
Entering the eighth, Jayson Werth hit a one-out grounder to third which Ryan Zimmerman threw away for a two-base error. Carlos Ruiz followed with a single off Rauch (8-3) to score Werth. Branyan lined a 1-0 pitch into the mezzanine in right field for his eighth home run of the year.
Branyan started the season with San Diego, batted .197 in 61 games before being released on July 28. He signed with Cleveland as a free agent on Aug. 7 and played one game with their top minor league affiliate in Buffalo the next day — striking out three times — before the Phillies acquired him on Aug. 9.
“The most rewarding three strikeouts have been to me all year,” Branyan said.
“I’ve still got a big league uniform on my back, and we’re in contention for the National League East. I’m on a good ballclub,” Branyan said.
Manuel said he didn’t care that Branyan had but one previous pinch-hit homer in his career.
“I don’t care if he doesn’t have any. The way he swings, he’s dangerous,” Manuel said.
Said Rauch: “It was a very bad mistake. A hitter like that who has been around a while and knows the game, obviously he’s going to capitalize on a mistake pitch.”
Branyan was batting for Antonio Alfonseca (4-1), who got the win after he retired the only batter he faced in the seventh. Tom Gordon allowed one hit in the eighth. Brett Myers struck out the side in the ninth for his 10th save.
For the scores, boxscores on this and all of Tuesday’s games, click here.
In Wednesday’s game 2, rookie Kyle Kendrick opposes Tim Redding.
For the scores, boxscores on all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
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