Phillies Edge Braves on Howard’s Ninth Inning Homer
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Phillies starter Joe Blanton continued his string of consistent and effective quality outings on Friday going seven innings and dueling Braves starter Jair Jurrjens to a 2-2 stand-still. 2nd baseman Chase Utley turned an early 1-0 Braves lead into a 2-1 Phils lead with a none out, 2 run fourth inning shot off of Jurrjens. The Braves scratched in the tying run in their fourth as the score remained knotted until the ninth. Reliever Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge followed Blanton in locking-down the Braves while 1st baseman Ryan Howard led off the ninth inning with a bomb to centerfield as the Phillies edged the Braves by a 3-2 score.
With the win, the Phils maintained their 4 1/2 game lead in the NL East over the 2nd place Florida Marlins. The Braves dropped to 6 games back in 3rd place with the loss. The Mets shut out the San Francisco Giants but remained 12 games back in fourth place in the NL East.
How good has Blanton been? Since June 24, Blanton has given up 17 runs in 62 1/3 innings which works out to nearly 7 games and a 2.44 ERA. Unfortunately, due to little offensive support, Blanton got a no-decision in this on while Madson pitched a perfect eigth inning to record his 4th win.
For Howard, the ninth inning game-winning homer was his 2nd in 2 games as The Big Guy’s bat shows signs of gearing up for the stretch drive.
AP sports writer Paul Newberry reports Howard’s post-game comments for Yahoo sports:
“You’re just trying to put the ball in play, get on base and let the guys behind you try and drive you in,” Howard said. “We want to take care of business against the teams in our division. So I guess it could mean that much more right now, especially because of how the race is. We still have another month to play, so we want to handle the teams in our division as much as possible.”
Phillies’ Nation’s Jason Bintliff provides the recap on Friday’s game:
The Braves, looking to extend their own five-game winning streak, jumped out to an early one run lead in the first inning when Braves resident thorn-in-Phillies-side, Chipper Jones singled to score mid-season acquisition Nate McLouth.
In the fourth the Phils got on the board, taking the lead on Chase Utley’s 24th homer of the year. The two-run shot scored [Shane] Victorino, who had singled in the previous at-bat.
The Braves countered in the bottom half of the frame, tying the game on Ryan Church’s double, scoring Yunel Escobar.
Escobar may have never reached base, if not for yet another error from third-baseman Pedro Feliz. Feliz so far this season has ten errors, two more than all of last season.
Despite giving up seven hits, Joe Blanton came to play, allowing only one run, and walking only one Braves batter. He worked out of minor jams all evening and finished strong, pitching into the seventh inning for the 11th time this season.
Blanton also watched his once ridiculous 7.11 ERA drop to a mere 3.88 thanks largely in part to the spectacular defense of Shane Victorino whom robbed two Braves of extra base hits, including… [an] eighth inning grab to end the inning.
Pitcher Jair Jurrjens was equally tough on hitters, also going seven strong while allowing only two runs on five hits. He fanned six Phils throughout the evening.
Ryan Howard broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth with a center-field bomb to put the Phillies on top 3-2. That was all they would need for Brad Lidge who collected his 22nd save of the season.
In related news, Phils’ pitcher Brett Myers, who has shown accelerated rehabilitation progress after surgery for a torn labrum in his right hip on May 28, has had a reversal by way of an eye injury about which he’s told Phillies officials conflicting stories. AP reports about Myers’ eye injury for Yahoo sports;
The Phillies originally said Saturday that Myers injured an eye while playing catch with his 4-year-old son.
Later in the day, [a] Phillies spokesman said Myers told general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. he actually slipped while getting out of his truck and hit his face on Friday night.
“Brett told us one story and then he told us this story,… We were misinformed by Brett.
…Myers was icing the injury on Saturday and will be examined by Phillies medical staff in Clearwater on Sunday.
By the way, this surprising MLB news which slipped by, ESPN reports on the Toronto’s trade of 3rd baseman Scott Rolen to Cincinnati beating the August 1 trade deadline:
…The Cincinnati Reds got Scott Rolen from the Toronto Blue Jays… in a swap of third basemen.
Edwin Encarnacion [3d base] was part of a package of three players the Reds gave up to acquire Rolen, who is batting .320 with eight homers and 43 RBIs. They also sent right-handed reliever Josh Roenicke and a minor leaguer to the Blue Jays, who included cash to cover part of Rolen’s salary.
Rolen has one more year left on an eight-year, $90 million deal he [originally] signed with St. Louis.
Two days later, on August 2, Rolen was hit in the helmet by Colorado’s Jason Marquis and on August 11, the Reds put on the DL — real tough break for both Rolen and the Reds who literally committed highway robbery on the Blue Jays.
For the scores of all of Friday’s games, click here.
In Saturday’s game 2, lefthander Cole Hamels is opposed by Kenshin Kawakami.
For all of Saturday’s games, click here.
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