» Hamels, Howard and Werth Lead Phillies Over Boston

Hamels, Howard and Werth Lead Phillies Over Boston

Phillies lefthanded starter Cole Hamels outclassed Boston’s John Lackey on Friday as 1st baseman Ryan Howard and rightfielder Jayson Werth drove in 2 runs apiece — Werth’s RBIs on a 2 run homer and Howard’s on a solo blast and an RBI single. Reliever David Herndon relieved Hamels tossing a clean eighth inning while Danys Baez threw a dicey 1/3 of the ninth before lefthander J.C. Romero worked out of a bases loaded jam to earn his 2nd save as Hamels, Howard and Werth led the Phillies over Boston by a 5-1 score.

With the win, the Phils maintained an NL East division 4 1/2 game lead on the now 2nd place Atlanta Braves who beat Pittsburgh while Florida, Washington and the Mets all dropped further back due to losses in interleague play.

Hamels was masterful going seven innings allkowing only 3 hits while walking 1 and striking out 8. His only mistake was giving up a 2 out first inning solo homer to catcher Victor Martinez. Hamels threw 116 pitches over his seven inning stint.

AP sports writer Rob Maaddi recaps the game for Yahoo:

The NL East-leading Phillies (26-15) are back to a season-high 11 games over .500, but it may have been a costly victory. Jimmy Rollins left the game in the sixth with a mild right calf strain, and he’s day to day. The three-time All-Star shortstop missed 29 games with an injured right calf before returning to the lineup Monday.

“It’s not as bad as I felt it the last time,” Rollins said, hopeful he may only miss a few games.

Hamels (5-2) outpitched John Lackey (4-3) in a matchup of World Series heroes. The lanky left-hander allowed one run and three hits, striking out eight. Hamels had a sharp fastball and baffled hitters with his changeup. Six of his strikeouts came on the change.

After struggling last year, he’s getting back on track. Hamels lowered his ERA to 3.92 and already has half his win total in ’09. He’s 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA in four starts this month.

Rollins was playing his fifth game and batted leadoff for the first time since coming back from the disabled list. He took six steps out of the box after hitting a single, jogged slowly to first and immediately came out after touching the bag.

Werth gave the Phillies a 4-1 lead in the fifth with a mammoth drive that reached the second deck in left field. Werth’s ninth homer of the season was measured at 426 feet.

Howard hit an opposite-field shot to left to tie it at 1 in the fourth. Werth followed with a double on shallow fly to right that J.D. Drew seemingly lost in the lights. He scored when Shane Victorino lined a one-out single to left-center, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

J.C. Romero got the last two outs to earn his second save in three tries. He entered with two runners on and loaded the bases by hitting Adrian Beltre with two outs before retiring pinch-hitter David Ortiz on a deep fly to center.

Phillies LHP J.A. Happ, out with a forearm strain, is expected to continue rehabbing in Florida next week. He was encouraged after throwing Friday. “It’s just feeling crisp as far as the ball coming out of my hand,” he said.