Phillies Barrage Mets to Win Series Opener
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For the Phillies, it’s one down and three more to go as outfielder Jayson Werth, who went 5 for 5 with 4 RBIs vs San Diego on Sunday, stretched his consecutive hit streak to 9 with another perfect night. 2nd baseman Chase Utley returned to the lineup in grand style going 3 for 5 with a solo homer and 3 RBIs. Leftfielder Pat Burrell belted a two run homer, as did pinch hitter Tadahito Iguchi and J.D. Durbin tossed a fine 6 1/3 inning effort giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 to earn win number 6 as the Phillies pounded the Mets by a 9-2 score in their series opener.
With the win, the Phillies picked up a game on the Mets and now trail by the NL East leaders by 5. They remain a game up on the race with the Atlanta Braves who crushed Florida by a 13-2 count. The Phils remained in 2nd place in the NL wild card race at 3 games behind leading San Diego as the Padres edged Arizona by a 3-1 score.
Manager Charlie Manuel was tossed from the game in the 1st inning after arguing a close play at first base.
The Phillies touched up losing pitcher Brian Lawrence for a run in the 2nd on Werth’s RBI double to leftfield, got 2 runs in the 3rd on Burrell’s leftfield shot.
Meanwhile, Durbin retired the first 12 batters he faced through 4 innings.
After the Mets notched their 2 runs off of Durbin in 5th on RBI singles by catcher Paul Lo Duca and pitcher Lawrence to cut the lead to 3-2, the Phils answered with 2 more runs off of Lawrence on Utley’s centerfield solo shot and an RBI single by 3rd baseman Greg Dobbs.
The Phillies scored their 6th run in the 6th on Utley’s RBI double off of reliever Jorge Sosa and capped their scoring with 3 runs in the 7th on catcher Chris Coste’s RBI double and Iguchi’s pinch two-run homer to leftfield off of Scott Schoeneweis.
In the 7th inning, the substitute manager pulled Durbin for reliever Antonio Alfonseca after a one out single by Carlos Delgado. When Lo Duca greeted Alfonseca with a single, he was alertly pulled and replaced by J.C. Romero who retired the side with no damage. No 7th inning Manuel snoozes here. Relievers Tom Gordon and Clay Condrey held the Mets scoreless on one hit for the remainder of the game.
AP sportswriter Rob Maaddi wrotes about Utley’s return to the lineup for Yahoo sports;
Utley quickly found his stroke and finished the game leading the NL with a .339 average. He was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle. The All-Star second baseman missed 28 games after he was struck by a pitch from Washington’s John Lannan on July 26. The gritty Utley finished that game, but the next day had a pin inserted into his hand to stabilize a broken right ring finger.
Utley got a standing ovation when he came to the plate in the first inning and earned a curtain call after homering in the fifth. Fans chanted “M-V-P” after his RBI double in the sixth. He singled in the seventh.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on these and all of Monday’s games, click here.
The Phillies start Adam Eaton, another returnee from the DL, vs veteran lefthander Tom Glavine in game 2.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on all of Tuesday’s games, click here.
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