Coste, Werth, Phillies Bullpen Star in Win Over Pirates
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1st baseman Ryan Howard benched for a 2nd straight game, red-hot leftfielder Pat Burrell batting cleanup and catcher Chris Coste in the fifth spot in the order equalled a 6-5 victory for the Phillies over the Pittsburgh Pirates in their series opener on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Phils overtook the New York Mets for undisputed 2nd Place in the NL East as the Mets fell to the Atlanta Braves by a 6-3 score as 5 Braves’ pitchers held the Mets to 2 hits.
Effective, air-tight bullpen work by Tom Gordon, J.C. Romero and closer Brad Lidge nailed down the win after starter Adam Eaton made an early exit in the fourth inning having squandered half of what was a 6-0 Phillies lead and after reliever Chad Durbin gave up a 2 out, 2 run single to rightfielder Xavier Nady to bring the Pirates dangerously close in the fifth.
The Phillies scored early and often against Pirates lefthander Zack Duke with Coste slamming a first inning 2 out, 2 run double to centerfield driving in centerfielder Jayson Werth and 1st baseman (yes, you read that one right) Chase Utley who were both walked.
In the third inning, Werth clubbed a one out solo homer to centerfield and leftfielder Pat Burrell doubled to left. Coste followed with an RBI single to center scoring Burrell — 4-0 Phillies, Duke is still in the game and Coste has 3 RBIs.
In the fourth, after shortstop Eric Bruntlett led off with a single,
2nd baseman Brad Harman, subbing for Utley who was playing 1st base for the benched Howard, doubled to left cehterfield scoring Bruntlett with the 5th run. With two out, Werth capped the Phils’ scoring with a line single to left to score Harman.
Through the first three innings, Eaton handled the Pirates effectively as the Phils built their lead. But in the Pirates fourth, the roof fell in on Eaton.
The AP recap on the game for Yahoo sports tells the story;
The Pirates rallied against starter Adam Eaton and reliever Chad Durbin by scoring three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
[Jason] Bay started the rally with his fifth home run of the season, which came with one out in the fourth. Nady extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double and later scored on a double from Doug Mientkiewicz to make it 6-3.
Durbin, who relieved Eaton with two outs in the fourth, allowed a two run single to Nady in the fifth that pulled the Pirates to within one run.
Duke had a three up, three down fifth, but the Phillies had a chance to score more in the sixth. With two out, Durbin got his first major league hit — a single to rightfield, leadoff hitter rightfielder So Taguchi followed with a single to left with Durbin hustling to 3rd base on the play. But Werth ended the inning by striking out.
Then the two bullpens took over to round out the game with Bucs’ bullpen just as effective as the the Phillies bullpen trio.
Tom Gordon, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning, was awarded the win, his 2nd in two games. Closer Brad Lidge, who was once again awesome in the ninth, retired the side on 11 pitches, striking out 2 to record his 6th save. Duke, who gave up all 6 runs in his six innings of work, was charged with the loss.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s games, click here.
Saturday’s 2nd game features Kyle Kendrick opposed by Matt Morris. In Sunday’s get-away game, Brett Myers opposes lefthander Paul Maholm. The Phillies have an open date on Monday before heading home to entertain the San Diego Padres for three games on Tuesday through Thursday.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s games, click here.
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