The Phillies broke a 6-6 tie as well as Cincinnati reliever Arthur Rhodes’ scoreless string at 32 innings on Tuesday with a 3 run uprising in the tenth inning.  Leftfielder Raul Ibanez doubled in the lead run while pinch hitter Ben Francisco and 2nd baseman Wilson Valdez also drove in tenth inning runs.  Up by a 6-3 score in the ninth inning,  closer Brad Lidge blew his 2nd save opportunity of the season as Reds 1st baseman Joey Votto slammed a 3 run, 2 out game-tying homer.  Lidge ended up being the winning pitcher as lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero went clean on the Red’s in the tenth inning to end it, thus earning his 3rd save as the Phillies beat Cincinnati by a 9-6 score in ten innings while breaking Rhodes’ scoreless string.

With the win, the Phillies gained a game on NL East division leading Atlanta and trail the Braves, who lost to Washington, by 2 1/2 games while trailing the 2nd place Mets, who were edged by Florida, by a game.

3 run homers in the second and fourth innings off of Cincinnati starter Mike Leake by catcher Brian Schneider and subbing 2nd baseman Wilson Valdez staked the Phillies and starter Joe Blanton to a 6-1 lead.  Blanton tossed his typical 7 2/3rd innings of 3 run, 8 hit ball only to have closer Brad Lidge give up a 2 out, 3 run game-tying homer to Reds 1st baseman Joey Votto.

But the ninth inning tie opened the way for the Phils’ tenth inning heroics. The AP game recap for Yahoo describes the inning and the game:

Rhodes (2-2) hadn’t allowed a run in his last 33 appearances, tying the major league season record. The left-hander gave up a leadoff double by Ryan Howard and walked Jayson Werth.

Ibanez then doubled—the ball bounced off Drew Stubbs’ glove at the wall in center—for the first run allowed by Rhodes since April 10, starting the winning rally.

Francisco was sent in to bat for Schneider and slammed a single to drive in the 8th run — the 2nd off of Rhodes, all with none out.  Reliever Nick Masset retired the side after replacing Rhodes, who was charged with all tenth inning 3 runs.

The recap continues:

For one night, their fill-ins did fine.

Wilson Valdez started at second base for the first time this season and hit his third homer, a three-run shot off well-rested rookie Mike Leake. He also drove in a run on a fielder’s choice in the 10th.

Brian Schneider had a three-run homer off Leake, who had his last turn skipped to cut down on his innings. The 22-year-old has thrown 95 1-3 innings— the most by any NL rookie—prompting the Reds to skip his turn last week.

Pitching for the first time in eight days, Leake left several pitches right down the middle. He gave up seven hits and six runs in six innings. In his last four starts, Leake is 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA.

Joe Blanton gave up three runs in 7 2-3 innings, and the Phillies turned it over to a closer who had blown only one save this season.

Lidge started the ninth and got the first two outs. He walked  Brandon Phillips, then gave up a single by Orlando Cabrera and Votto’s tying homer deep to center, his 17th. J.C. Romero pitched the 10th for his third save in four tries.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was ejected by plate umpire C.B. Bucknor for arguing a ball-and-strike call during the winning rally in the 10th.

The Phils reported on Tuesday that both 2nd baseman Chase Utley and 3rd baseman Placido Polanco were placed on the DL and sent home to Philadelphia for exams to determine how long they’d be sidelined.  The report noted:

Utley has a sprained right thumb. Polanco has a sore left elbow.

To view the scores of all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

In Wednesday’s series final, ace Roy Halladay goes for his 10th win opposed by Aaron Harang for the Reds.

To view all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick again displayed his inconsistency on Monday while being pounded by Cincinnati’s shortstop Orlando Cabrera, 1st baseman Joey Votto while former Phils’ 3rd baseman Scott Rolen literally took care of clean-up chores with a 2 run homer and a total of 3 RBIs.  The Phils offense, which had scored 40 runs in the previous 5 games, largely took the game off against starter Johnny Cueto.  Only leftfielder Raul Ibanez showed any taste for offense with a sixth inning RBI single off of Cueto and a ninth inning 2 out, 2 run homer off of lefthanded reliever Bill Bray.  But the late game offense was too litle, too late as Kendrick was pounded and Cincinnati beat the Phillies by a 7-3 score in their series opener.

With the loss, the Phils remained in 3rd place, 3 1/2 games behind NL East division-leading Atlanta who shut out Washington.  But they remained 2 games behind the 2nd place Mets who were pounded by Florida.

Kendrick was hit hard for the 3rd time in his last 4 starts after breezing through the 1st three innings and retiring the 1st ten Reds he faced.  But with 1 out in the fourth, Cabrera doubled but was caught trying to steal 3rd base.   Votto followed with a double and former Phil Rolen jacked one out to left to put the first 2 Cincinnati runs on the board.

In the sixth, Votto and Rolen each drove in a run as the lead swelled to 4-0. 

The Phils, held by Cueto to 4 hits through six innings, finally dented the scoreboard in the seventh as Howard poked a leadoff triple to deepest centerfield.  Ibanez followed by singling Howard in.  But the Reds came up with 2 more runs chasing Kendrick with 1 out in their seventh.   Actually, reliever  David Herndon came on with 1 out and got the 2nd out while the Reds scored the 2nd run, also charged to Kendrick as the lead increased to 6-1.  Lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero got the final out to end the inning.

The Reds added an icing run in the eighth inning on a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly off of recently recalled lefthanded reliever Mike Zagurski.

The Phils got 2 hit games from 1st baseman Ryan Howard, leftfielder Jayson Werth and Ibanez who singled in a run and homered driving in 2 but they couldn’t push over early runs when they had opportunities.

The Phils came up very short in the ninth inning as Ibanez’s 2 out, 2 run homer off of Bray was all she wrote.

The Phils, who rested 3rd baseman Placido Polanco for a 3rd straight game with elbow pain, got more bad news.  The AP game recap for Yahoo notes:

[Chase] Utley jammed his right thumb when he tried to stretch a single in the fourth inning, getting thrown out at second. He left the game for a pinch-hitter in the ninth. He will have tests on the thumb Tuesday.

To view the scores of all of Monday’s games, click here.

In Tuesday’s game 2, Joe Blanton is opposed by Mike Leake for the Reds.

To view all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

“The old man”, 47 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer tossed his 3rd straight gem on Sunday and Phillies bats tee’d off early on Toronto’s 2nd year lefthander Brett Cecil and on reliever Jason Frasor.  Leadoff hitter shortstop  Jimmy Rollins, centerfielder Shane Victorino and leftfielder Ben Francisco each had 3 hits apiece with Rollins and Francisco driving in 2 runs apiece.  7 of the 9 hitters in the starting lineup had at least 1 hit apiece while the Phils amassed 13 hits and capitalized on 4 Blue Jay errors as Moyer pitched a gem and Phillies’ bats pounded Toronto by an 11-2 score to finish their interleague play for the season.

With the win, their 5th win in 6 games and 7th in their last 10, the Phils’ picked up a game and are 2 1/2 games behind NL East division 1st place Atlanta who lost to Detroit.  The Phils remained 2 games behind the 2nd place Mets who shut out Minnesota while taking 2 of 3 from the Twins.

The score might have been even more, but manager Manuel again took the precaution of holding 3rd baseman Placido Polanco out of the lineup after Polanco complained of left elbow soreness after diving for a ball in Friday night’s game.

The Phils pounded young lefthander Cecil 4 runs in the second inning, 2 in the fourth and 1 in the fifth and jumped on reliever Frasor for 4 more in the seventh.  The only homer of the game was a 2 run 3rd inning shot off of Moyer by centerfielder Vernon Wells as Toronto closed an early 4-0 Phillies lead to 4-2.  The homer was the 506th dinger off of Moyer for his career, passing Hall of Famer Robin Robert’s mark of 505.

Rightfielder Jayson Werth took an 0 for 5 collar for the game striking out twice, while subbing 3rd baseman Wilson Valdez went 0-5, including a fielder’s choice, while scoring 2 runs — 1 of them on an error, and getting an RBI on a sacrifice grounder in which he ended up at 2nd base on Toronto 2nd baseman  Aaron Hill’s throwing error.

Moyer threw 104 pitches while walking none and striking out 7 through his seven inning gem.  He earned his 9th win, tying him with ace Roy Halladay for the staff lead.  Moyer continues to lower his ERA, 4.30 as it now stands.  The Phils have beaten the Blue Jay in 5 of the 7 games they’ve played this season.

Relievers David Herndon and Danys Baez closed down Toronto in the eighth and ninth innings. 

For more on the Phils rout of the Blue Jays, click here.

To view the scores of all of Sunday’s games, click here.

The Phils travel to Cincinnati for 3 games beginning on Monday to finish out the month of June before beginning July with an off-date on the 1st.

Kyle Kendrick opposes Johnny Cueto in Monday’s series opener.

To view all of Monday’s games, click here.

“The old man”, 47 year old lefthander Jamie Moyer tossed his 3rd straight gem on Sunday and Phillies bats tee’d off early on Toronto’s 2nd year lefthander Brett Cecil and on reliever Jason Frasor.  Leadoff hitter shortstop  Jimmy Rollins, centerfielder Shane Victorino and leftfielder Ben Francisco each had 3 hits apiece with Rollins and Francisco driving in 2 runs apiece.  7 of the 9 hitters in the starting lineup had at least 1 hit apiece while the Phils amassed 13 hits and capitalized on 4 Blue Jay errors as Moyer pitched a gem and Phillies’ bats pounded Toronto by an 11-2 score to finish their interleague play for the season.

With the win, their 5th win in 6 games and 7th in their last 10, the Phils’ picked up a game and are 2 1/2 games behind NL East division 1st place Atlanta who lost to Detroit.  The Phils remained 2 games behind the 2nd place Mets who shut out Minnesota while taking 2 of 3 from the Twins.

The score might have been even more, but manager Manuel again took the precaution of holding 3rd baseman Placido Polanco out of the lineup after Polanco complained of left elbow soreness after diving for a ball in Friday night’s game.

The Phils pounded young lefthander Cecil 4 runs in the second inning, 2 in the fourth and 1 in the fifth and jumped on reliever Frasor for 4 more in the seventh.  The only homer of the game was a 2 run 3rd inning shot off of Moyer by centerfielder Vernon Wells as Toronto closed an early 4-0 Phillies lead to 4-2.  The homer was the 506th dinger off of Moyer for his career, passing Hall of Famer Robin Robert’s mark of 505.

Rightfielder Jayson Werth took an 0 for 5 collar for the game striking out twice, while subbing 3rd baseman Wilson Valdez went 0-5, including a fielder’s choice, while scoring 2 runs — 1 of them on an error, and getting an RBI on a sacrifice grounder in which he ended up at 2nd base on Toronto 2nd baseman  Aaron Hill’s throwing error.

Moyer threw 104 pitches while walking none and striking out 7 through his seven inning gem.  He earned his 9th win, tying him with ace Roy Halladay for the staff lead.  Moyer continues to lower his ERA, 4.30 as it now stands.  The Phils have beaten the Blue Jay in 5 of the 7 games they’ve played this season.

Relievers David Herndon and Danys Baez closed down Toronto in the eighth and ninth innings. 

For more on the Phils rout of the Blue Jays, click here.

To view the scores of all of Sunday’s games, click here.

The Phils travel to Cincinnati for 3 games beginning on Monday to finish out the month of June before beginning July with an off-date on the 1st.

Kyle Kendrick opposes Johnny Cueto in Monday’s series opener.

To view all of Monday’s games, click here.

In a series transplanted, because of the of the G20 Summit, from Toronto to Philadelphia with the Blue Jays in the role of the home team, the Phillies gave new meaning on Friday and Saturday to that old Flip Wilson expression;  “When you’re hot, you’re hot and when you’re not, you’re not.”   On Friday, ace Roy Halladay threw another masterpiece, this time against his former team, the Blue Jays while the Phils, who had scored 20 runs in previous 2 games, uncorked their offense yet again pounding starter Jesse Litsch for 6 runs in four innings.  Saturday saw almost a virtual reversal.  Lefthander Cole Hamels was pounded for 3 Blue Jay homers in four innings while Shaun Marcum carried a 4 hit shutout into the sixth inning and lost the goose-egg on DH Ryan Howard’s 1 out solo homer.  The Phillies and Blue Jays split their first 2 games with the Phils winning 9-0 on Halladay’s gem, while the Blue Jays prevailed by a 5-1 score as Hamels was clubbed in game 2.

While the Phils split of their first 2 games with Toronto, the Atlanta Braves moved to 3 1/2 games ahead of the 3rd place Phils with 2 wins over the  Detroit Tigers, while the Mets, who lead the Phils by 2 games, split their 2 games with Minnesota.

As the series is considered as Blue Jay home games, even though they are being played in Philly, Friday’s and Saturdays’s games featured Ross Gload being installed at 1st base with Ryan Howard in the DH spot.   Gload, starting in only his 4th game of the season, batted 8th but went 3 for 4 on Friday with 4 RBIs — 3 of them on a bases-clearing in the 6 run fifth inning as 2nd baseman Chase Utley drove in 2 runs and Howard drove in 1.  10 Phillies hitters came to the plate in the sixth as they peppered Litsch and lefthanded reliever David Purcey to put away what was a close 2-0 until the fifth. 

Centerfielder Shane Victorino put icing on Friday’s cake by greeting the Blue Jays’ other lefthanded reliever Brian Tallet with a leadoff homer to open the eighth inning.  2nd baseman Jimmy Rollins had 5 plate appearances on Friday, walking 4 times and scoring 1 run while striking out once.

Halladay, who suffered through comatose offense in 2 of his last 3 losing starts, threw 106 pitches throug seven innings while cruising spreading out 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 4.  Relievers Jose Contreras and David Herndon made short work of the Jays with Contreras giving up the only other Toronto hit, an eighth inning single.  To read more about Friday’s win, click the AP game recap here.

In Saturday’s game, Toronto had little trouble against Hamels breaking through with 2 runs in the second inning, 1 in the third and 2 more in the fourth — all on 3 homers as Hamels again showed himself inconsistent and very homer-prone.

Meanwhile, Marcum cruised through six innings holding the Phils to 5 hits, the last one being Howard’s 1 out solo shot in the sixth.  After Marcum left, 2 Toronto relievers went clean on the Phillies over the final three innings as the Phils offense returned to hyernation after scoring 29 runs in the previous 3 games.  3 Phillies relievers gave up but 1 hit while walking 2 over Toronto’s final four innings.

Saturday’s AP game recap for Yahoo notes:

Manuel held 3B Placido Polanco out of the lineup as a precaution after Polanco’s left elbow was sore following a dive in Friday night’s game. Polanco missed six games from May 28 to June 3 with a bruised left elbow and inflammation.

To view the scores of all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games,  click here and  here.

The Phils hope to come out of this series winning 2 of the 3 games in a battle of lefties in the series final with “the old man”, 47 year old Jamie Moyer opposing 2nd year hurler Brett Cecil.

To view all of Sunday’s games, click here.

Phillies starter Joe Blanton cruised on Thursday behind massive offensive support as 3rd baseman Placido Polanco scored All Star starter points with a 4 hit, 2 RBI game while 2nd baseman Chase Utley and rightfielder Jayson Werth each had 3 hits. The Phils peppered starter Fausto Carmona and the Indians’ bullpen for 15 hits while newly called-up catcher Dane Sardinha belted his 1st career homer as the Phillies routed Cleveland by a 12-3 score to sweep their 3 game series.

With the win, the Phils picked up another full game and are now 2 1/2 games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves who were beaten again and swept by the Chicago White Sox.  The Phils also picked up a full game to trail the 2nd place Mets by 2 games.  The Mets lost their series final to the Detroit Tigers.

Carmona managed to get through the first inning giving up only a 2 out single to Chase Utley.  But the Phils opened up on him with all barrels in the second. 9 Phils went to the plate in the inning and when the dust cleared after a fielding error, a hit batsman, 4 singles, a run-scoring groundout and a sacrifice fly, the Phils had a 5-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Blanton cruised through the 1st four innings retiring 12 of the 14 hitters he faced, only allowing a third inning 1 out single to former Phil shortstop prospect Jason Donald and a 2 out fourth inning bunt single to 1st baseman Russell Branyan.  Blanton was touched for 2 Indians runs in the fifth as Donald belted a 1 out, 2 run homer to leftfield.  He then retired the next 7 Indians he faced before Donald opened the eighth with a double and scored on centerfielder Trevor Crowe’s 2 out RBI double.

The Phils were never in any danger in this one as they added 2 more runs in the fifth on 3 hits and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder, and 5 more runs on 5 hits in the sixth — including recent call-up Sardinha’s 1st MLB homer to open the inning.  Reliever Nelson Figueroa, who has been up and down this season for the Phils and who was re-activated when Chad Durbin went onto the DL with a right hamstring strain, retired the final 4 Indians hitters and ended the game with a strikeout.

To read more about the Phils’ offensive barrage, click here.

To view the scores of all of Thursday’s games, click here.

The Phils head to Toronto for a 3 game series to end their 2010 interleague play.  In Friday’s opener, ace Roy Halladay tries again for his 9th win after some tough luck due to a sleepy offense.  He is opposed by Jesse Litsch for the Blue Jays.

On Saturday, lefthander Cole Hamels is opposed by Shaun Marcum.

To view all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.