Phillies Sweep as Happ, Bullpen Shut Out Marlins
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Phillies 1st baseman Ryan Howard got most of the day off on Sunday as utility man Eric Bruntlett started in his place. Undefeated lefthander J.A. Happ had another superb outing tossing seven shutout innings and helping himself with a single amidst the Phillies’ 3 run second inning off of Marlins’ starter Andrew Miller. Happ scored when 2nd baseman Chase Utley was hit by a pitch with the bases jammed. Rightfielder Raul Ibanez drove in the other 2 runs in the second with a double to leftfield and shortstop Jimmy Rollins doubled in a run in the third inning. The Phils loaded the bases in the ninth and Utley notched the 5th run on a wild pitch capping the Phils’ scoring. The bullpen took over for Happ in the eighth and closed the door the rest of the way despite 2 eighth inning Florida hits as the Phillies swept the series with Happ and the bullpen shutting out the Marlins by a 5-0 score.
With the win, the Phils dropped Florida into 3rd place, 7 games back in the NL East division race. Atlanta, scheduled to play the Mets later, moved into 2nd place at 6 1/2 back as of this blog post. The Mets are currently in 4th place, 8 games back pending their game with Atlanta.
This was the 2nd shutout that the Phils scored against Florida in this series with the other being Jamie Moyer’s 1 hit gem 4-0 win in the series opener. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins took his place as the table-setter going 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored as the Phils extended their winning string to 8 games. Howad pinch-hit for Happ in the eighth inning and walked.
The Phils could have scored more in the 1st four innings and left 12 men stranded for the game. But with the starting pitching and bullpen work that they’ve been getting, 4 runs was sufficient to come out on top. The ninth inning run was icing on the cake.
The Marlins managed to keep the young lefthander hopping as Happ pitched out of touchy situations through the 1st four innings before he went clean on the Marlins in the fifth. But in the sixth, Happ faced his stiffest test of the game. He managed to get ino a bases-loaded jam with none out on singles by 1st baseman Jorge Cantu and 2nd baseman Dan Uggla while centerfielder Cody Ross reached on 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s fielding error. But Happ was more than equal to the challenge in getting catcher Ronny Paulino to pop out to shortstop and striking out rightfielder Brett Carroll and pinch hitter Wes Helms to retire the side. In his last inning, Happ went clean on Florida retiring the side on 11 pitches.
All told, Happ threw 107 pitches through seven innings giving up 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4 to record his 7th win without a loss. 4 Philly relievers took care of the rest.
Losing pitcher Andrew Miller lasted 2 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits and walking 4. 6 Marlin relievers held the Phils to 2 hits while walking 5, but the damage had already been done.
For the scores of all of Sunday’s games, click here.
The Phils now return home for a 7 game homestand entertaining the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals for 3 games each with a single game against San Diego sandwiched in-between.
In Monday’s opener against the Cubs, Rodrigo Lopez goes for his 2nd win as a Phillie. He is opposed by lefthander Ted Lilly who seeks his 10th win.
For all of Monday’s games, click here.
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