Myers, Bullpen Shut Out Dodgers on 13 Hits in Phillies Sweep
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Brett Myers pitched 7 innings giving up 9 hits while walking 3 but combined with the Phillies bullpen to shut out the Dodgers who left 13 men on base and couldn’t plate runs. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins went 3 for 3 and drove in 2 of the Phils’ 5 runs enroute to Monday’s 5-0 sweep win.
With the win over the Dodgers, the Phils remained 1/2 game back in the NL East division race as the Mets won their series final to split their 4 games the Houston Astros. The 3rd place Florida Marlins, who are 5 1/2 back, and the 4th place Braves, who are 15 1/2 games back, both had Monday off.
Myers’ 7th win vs 10 losses was gritty in emerging unscathed over seven innings as 12 Dodgers reached against him. He threw 110 pitches.
AP sportswriter Rob Maaddi describes Myers’ game for Yahoo sports;
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the league,” [Manny] Ramirez said. “That guy is nasty.”
Myers tossed seven gritty innings… and the Philadelphia Phillies completed their first four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 23 years with a 5-0 win Monday night.
Philadelphia remained a half-game behind the NL East-leading New York Mets with its eighth victory in 10 games since losing four straight at Dodger Stadium. The Mets visit Tuesday for a two-game set.
“It means we have to go get two more,” Rollins said. “It’s no more important than the four games we have in Chicago after. Every game is the playoffs right now.”
It was the Phillies’ first four-game sweep over the Dodgers since Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, 1985, at Los Angeles. Philadelphia had never swept the Dodgers in a four-game series at home.
Coming off his first shutout in four years, Myers (7-10) ran his scoreless innings streak to 16. He allowed nine hits, struck out eight and walked three.
J.C. Romero worked the eighth and Clay Condrey finished the 13-hitter. Only two teams have had more hits without scoring a run in a nine-inning game: The New York Giants got 14 hits in a 7-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 14, 1913, and the Cleveland Indians had 14 hits in a 9-0 loss to the Washington Senators on July 10, 1928.
“You draw it up and the law of averages says you’re going to score some runs, but you can’t depend on that,” Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said.
Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (12-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings.
Myers pitched out of jams all night. The toughest came in the seventh when Los Angeles loaded the bases with one out. But the right-hander fanned Jeff Kent and retired Ramirez on a liner to deep right to preserve a 3-0 lead.
Offensively, Rollins followed rightfielder Jayson Werth’s 2nd inning lead-off walk, 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s infield single, catcher Chris Coste’s line-out to 3rd base and Myers’ sacrifice bunt with a 2 run single off of Billingsley to put the first 2 runs on the board.
The 3rd run scored in the fifth on leftfielder Pat Burrell’s ground doubleplay after Rollins opened the inning with a double to right and went to 3rd on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s single to right.
The final 2 Phillies runs came in the seventh inning Werth singled in Ryan Howard who had doubled to center to open the inning. With 1 out, Werth advanced to 2nd base on Feliz’s to leftfield and scored from 2nd on Coste’s bouncer to second to cap the Phillies scoring.
Billingsley gave up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 5 and striking out 3 through six innings in losing his 10th game vs 12 wins. He threw 107 pitches.
The Phillies successfully kept leftfielder Manny Ramirez out of the Dodgers’ offense throughout the series. Ramirez was woeful going 2 for 14 with no RBIs as opposed to going 4 for 11 with a homer and 5 RBIs in the Dodgers’ seep of the Phils in L.A. He was woeful this time on the bases and in the field.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.
The Mets follow the Dodgers into Philly for a brief, but important 2 games. Two veterans hook up in Tuesday’s opener as 45 year lefthander Jamie Moyer is opposed by oft-injured 37 year old Pedro Martinez. On Wednesday, young Kyle Kendrick is opposed by Mets’ ace lefthander Johan Santana. The Phillies swept the Mets in 4 games at home last August 27-30.
The Phils then hit the road for perhaps the most important 10 games of the season; 4 against the Central division leading Chicago Cubs to finish off August, followed by 3 vs the Washington Nationals and 3 in New York against the Mets. Can lightning strike twice in the upcoming brief 2 games at home with the Mets and in the 4 game series in New York in early September?
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.
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