Phillies Blow Past Nationals, 1 Game From NL East Title
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1st baseman Ryan Howard blasted his MLB-leading 48th homer, a 3 run job in the first inning. 2nd baseman Chase Utley bashed a bases-clearing 3 run double in the second and Joe Blanton was effective enough, although giving up 4 runs, 3 unearned, as the Phillies blew past the Washington Nationals in their Friday opener by an 8-4 score.
The win, coupled with the Mets’ 6-1 loss to the Florida Marlins on Friday, the Phils moved 2 games head of the Mets and to within 1 game of their 2nd straight NL East division title. The Phils magic number is presumably 1 game to clinch at least a tie for the NL wild card berth.
Collin Balester started against Blanton as the Nationals made a last minute move changing from the originally scheduled starter 24 year old lefthander John Lannan. Lefthander Lannon is now set to go in a leftys’ duel with Jamie Moyer on Saturday.
The Phillies went right to work on Balester for 3 first inning runs and 4 more in the second on 7 hits as the youngster chased after 1 2/3 innings.
AP sports writer Rob Maaddi recaps the game for Yahoo sports;
Fans kept a close eye on the out-of-town scoreboard, cheering when the Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the first inning at Shea Stadium.
A few minutes later, Howard got them roaring when he connected to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first. The sellout crowd screamed “MVP! MVP!” and waved their white-and-red “Fightin’ Phils” towels in appreciation.
Jayson Werth and Utley hit one-out singles in the first to bring up Howard. The 2006 NL MVP drove an 0-1 pitch into Philadelphia’s bullpen in right-center.
Howard is batting .349 (29-for-83) with 11 homers and 32 of his major league-best 146 RBIs this month. He has raised his overall average to .250 and is making a strong push to win his second MVP award in three years, though teammate Brad Lidge deserves serious consideration.
The Phillies chased Balester with four, two-out runs in the second inning to take a 7-1 lead.
Greg Dobbs led off with a double. Jimmy Rollins walked with two outs and Werth reached on an infield single to load the bases. Utley missed a slam by a few feet, clearing the bases with a double off the left-field wall. Howard followed with an RBI double to left.
The Nationals chipped away against Blanton (4-0), but four relievers combined to toss three scoreless innings.
The Nationals scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth after Howard booted Pete Orr’s grounder with one out. Emilio Bonifacio had a sacrifice fly and Cristian Guzman singled in a run to cut it to 7-3.
[Kory] Casto hit a solo homer in the sixth to get the Nationals within 7-4. Umpires used instant replay to make sure the ball cleared the right-field wall before it fell onto the field after a fan dropped it.
The Phillies reached 90 wins for the 12th time in the franchise’s 126-year history. They hadn’t done it since winning 97 games in 1993.
Blanton allowed four runs—one earned—and five hits. The right-hander was 5-12 with Oakland before joining the Phillies in a midseason trade.
The Phillies are 9-4 in Blanton’s 13 starts.
Blanton threw 89 pitches in 6 innings, and Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero held the Nationals to 1 hit over the seventh and eighth innings before Lidge polished off the Nationals on 13 pitches, 2 strikeoouts and a groundout to ice the win.
Some additional thoughts;
90 Wins is not 100, but the Phils did hit the 90 win plateau with every possibility of finishing with 93 wins. Who would have thunk they’d do it when they were in the July duldroms? But the race ain’t over until it’s clinched. Go Jamie!
By the way, about Moyer; I have not heard or seen this anywhere else, but I hold that Jamie Moyer MUST be considered seriously for the Cy Young Award.
One more thing to share as it seems appropo for this team;
It’s 1983, the season that the Phils caught lightning in a bottle winning 14 of their last 16 games of the season with Steve Carlton near the end of his great career, John Denny’s career season, Mike Schmidt, Gary Maddox and a patchwork group including Bo Diaz, Juan Samuel, five-for-one Von Hayes, Gary Matthews as well as Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez at the ends of their careers. They were in the final game of their 3-1 belting of the L.A. Dodgers in the 1983 NL Championship Series — I remember to this day; former Phillies great centerfielder and game announcer Richie Ashburn laughing hysterically, almost insanely as the Phils finished off the Dodgers to head to the World Series against the Orioles. One of the all-time great Phillies fans moments.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s games, click here.
Lefthanders 45 year old Jamie Moyer and Cole Hamels oppose lefthanders John Lannon and Odalis Perez on Saturday and Sunday.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s games, click here.
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