Veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer threw six innings of 2 run, 4 hit ball, 2nd baseman Chase Utley was hit by pitches 3 times and the Phillies ate up the New York bullpen enroute to a 5-2 win in their opener of their 3 game series with the Mets at Shea Stadium.  in the process, it appears that shortstop Jimmy Rollins has sustained an ankle injury.

With the win, the Phillies drew back to the .500 mark with a 4-4 record and extended their unbeaten string from last season against the Mets to nine games.

1st baseman Carlos Delgado got the Mets on the board in the second inning with a lead-off solo blast to rightfield, one of his two hits for the game.  And through three innings, that was the one hit surrendered by Moyer.

In the fourth, the Mets added their second and final run on a sacks loaded ground out by rightfielder Ryan Church.   Moyer had things pretty well under control through six innings although the Phillies offense couldn’t get untracked until the seventh when thet faced the Mets’ bullpen.

In the seventh inning, Greg Dobbs was sent to pinch hit for Moyer.  When  Scott Schoeneweis relieved Joe Smith, who had relieved starting lefthander  Oliver Perez in the sixth, Phils manager Charlie Manuel went to So Taguchi to bat for Dobbs. After all of the maneuvering, Taguchi grounded out.  Then shortstop Jimmy Rollins singled, centerfielder Shane Victorino followed suit with a single and then Schoeneweis plunked Utley to load the bases.  It was the third time in game that Utley had been hit by a pitch.

Beerleaguer blogger J. Weitzel notes;

Utley, who set a franchise record with 25 HBP last season, was plunked three times today, which ties a Major League, single-game record, according to the announcers.

1st baseman Ryan Howard then reached on a fielder’s choice which Delgado flubbed with a throwing error with the Phillies scoring two runs on the play.  Jose Sosa replaced Schoeneweis and got leftfielder Pat Burrell to fly out to rightfield.  Then rightfielder Jayson Werth singled scoring Utley to put the Phils up 3-2.  Rollins, Victorino and Werth each had 2 hits in the game.

Reliever Chad Durbin, who replaced Moyer to begin the seventh, gave up two singles with a shortstop-to-first doubleplay sandwiched in between. He retired late-game 2nd baseman Damion Easley on a fly out leftfield to end the inning.

In the eighth inning, the Phillies got two more runs, but could have had a bunch more.  Aaron Heilman replaced Sosa and walked catcher Carlos Ruiz to start the inning.  Taguchi sacrificed Ruiz to 2nd base.  Rollins singled to score Ruiz. Rollins advanced to 2nd base on a passed ball followed by Heilman walking Victorino.  Utley then doubled scoring Rollins and moving Victorino to 3rd base.  Howard followed and was intentionally walked to load the sacks.  But Geoff Jenkins, pinch hitting for Durbin popped out and Werth followed by flying out to rightfield to end the inning.

J.C. Romero replaced Durbin to start the eighth and escaped a 1st and 3rd two out jam by getting Ryan Church to ground out to end the inning.  When the Phils took the field defensively for the Mets’ eighth, Eric Bruntlett replaced Jimmy Rollins at shortstop.

Phillies Nation’s Tim Malcolm reports;

Jimmy Rollins left the game in the seventh inning after making an awkward turn to second base.

Preliminary reports call for a left ankle sprain. 

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel has more details surrounding Rollins’ injury;

Rollins… sprained his left ankle getting back to second on a phantom pickoff attempt by Mets pitcher Aaron Heilman in the eighth inning. Heilman never threw the ball, but Rollins reacted to the actions of Mets shortstop Jose Reyes, who sprinted to the bag behind him.

More on Rollins’ ankle as it becomes known.

After the Phillies had an uneventful at-bat in the ninth inning, Tom Gordon was sent in, much to my chagrin, to try to close off the Mets. Fortunately my concern, while well-founded, was not manifested.  Flash put down the Mets in order to end the game and to nail down his first save of the season.  Moyer earned his first win and Scott Schoeneweis was charged with the loss.

UPDATE: It appears that Rollins ankle situation may not be as serious as  first reported according to the Phillies Nation Updates on Rollins’ ankle;

Jimmy Rollins said he is day to day.

“The ankle is fine,” he said. ”I’m able to walk pretty much without a limp…”

“I don’t know what happened. I guess my cleat got stuck. I was more concerned about my knee popping than anything, but the ankle went. Ankle or the knee, I’d rather have the ankle any day. It feels fine right now. We’ll see how it feels over night, try to get off of it as much as I can. The way it feels right now I’ll be able to go, but we’ll see.”

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.

On Wednesday, young Kyle Kendrick is opposed by Mike Pelfrey as the Phillies try to keep their winning streak against the Mets alive.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary, Phillies and NL East, Analysis, Predictions, etc, 2008 Phillies Highlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.