Phillies Turn Tables in Finale, Rout Padres 14-2
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The Phillies got a career game from rightfielder Jayson Werth (5 for 5 with 4 RBIs) and a big game from 1st baseman Ryan Howard (3 for 4, HR #34 and 4 RBIs, plus a 3 run homer from catcher Chris Coste and rookie Kyle Kendrick pitched a clutch 6 innings in a crucial start to gain his 7th win as the Phillies pounded Padres starter and losing pitcher Tim Stauffer for 11 runs in 4 innings enroute to avenging the Padres’ earlier rout with their own 14-2 rout in the series finale.
With the win, the Phillies picked up a game on San Diego in the NL wild card chase and now trail the Padres by 3 games. The Phils took over sole possession of 2nd place in the NL East and in the wild card race with the Atlanta Braves losing to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phils also picked up a game on the NL East leading Mets who lost to the Dodgers by a 6-2 score as Padres cast-off David Wells won his first start as a Dodger going 5 innings and giving up 2 runs on 7 hts whle walking 3.
The AP report recaps the background and highlights of the game for Yahoo sports;
San Diego, which led the majors in ERA (3.51) coming into the game, surrendered 14 runs and 17 hits, both season highs. The Padres had won four in a row to move within two games of Arizona in the NL West.
Kyle Kendrick (7-3) pitched six strong innings for the victory. He gave up one run and six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
“I am surprised at what Kyle has brought to this team,” Manuel said. “I didn’t realize his composure would be this good.”
John Ennis pitched three innings in his Phillies debut for his second major league save.
After Saturday’s frustrating 4-3 loss to San Diego, Manuel said that his team “definitely needed to win” on Sunday.
“Yeah, it probably was a must-win game,” Werth said. “We’ll be OK. There’s still plenty of time left in the season, we just couldn’t afford to get swept in this series.”
Werth is hitting .368 (25-for-68) with three homers and 17 RBIs in 23 games since coming off the DL on July 31.
“I haven’t played healthy since ‘04,” Werth said. “I’m finally healthy and getting regular playing time. I just want to take advantage of that opportunity.”
San Diego’s Tim Stauffer (0-1), who was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Portland to make the start, was roughed up for 11 runs and 11 hits in four innings. Stauffer watched his ERA balloon from 17.18 to 21.13.
“Tim had a tough day,” San Diego manager Bud Black said. “It looked like his stuff was fine, but when he needed to record an out, he couldn’t make the right pitch.”
Philadelphia got off to a fast start as Jimmy Rollins and Tadahito Iguchi opened the game with consecutive singles and Pat Burrell roped a ground-rule double to center. After two strikeouts, Greg Dobbs walked and Werth stroked a two-out, two-run single.
Stauffer ran into control problems in the second, walking Kendrick and Burrell, before Howard launched a two-out, three-run homer to left field. It was Howard’s 34th homer and his first since August 12.
“It felt pretty good,” Howard said. “I got a good pitch to hit and I didn’t miss it.”
The Phillies broke the game wide open in the fourth as Aaron Rowand and Werth had RBI singles and Coste connected for his three-run shot — his fourth of the season — to make it 11-1.
Howard, Aaron Rowand and Jayson Werth closed out the scoring in the fifth inning with RBI singles [off of reliever Wilfredo Ledezma].
Mike Cameron and Geoff Blum each had RBI doubles to account for San Diego’s offense [in the 3rd and 7th innings].
Recently acquired reliever Jim Ennis gave up the Padres’ second run in the 7th inning on two hits, went clean on the Padres in the 8th and gave up two hits in the 9th but got through unscathed to record the save.
Will 2nd baseman Chase Utley return to the active roster and to the lineup for the Mets series? That’s a multi-million dollar question. There has been very little written in the media in days about Utley’s rehabilitation progress and status nor about his previously projected return in time for the Mets series. Michael of Phillies Nation seems to question whether Utley will be back for the Mets opener although other blogs through last Friday seemingly continue to point in toward his return for the Mets series as does the AP report on Sunday’s Padres finale. Somehow, I’m dubious — not enough hype.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on this and all of Sunday’s game, click here.
The Phillies open their crucial 4 game series with the Mets on Monday. With the Mets’ loss on Sunday night, a Phillies sweep would leave them 2 games behind and still within striking distance with the whole month of September ahead. J.D. Durbin goes for the Phils against Brian Lawrence for the Mets.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on all of Monday’s games, click here.
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