Rollins, Blanton Lead Phillies Rout of Giants
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Phillies starter Joe Blanton gave up 2 solo homers to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, but stymied them otherwise over 6 1/3 innings. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins collected 3 hits — a single, a triple and a fourth inning 3 run homer, all off of Giants starter Matt Cain. 2nd baseman Chase Utley, rightfielder Jayson Werth and catcher Carlos Ruiz all pitched in with 2 hits, 1 run scored and 1 RBI each. Leftfielder Raul Ibanez tripled in a run and pinch hitter Domonic Brown belted a pinch-hit eighth inning solo homer to cap Phillies scoring. The Phillies bullpen was air-tight going clean over the final 2 2/3 innings as Rollins and Blanton led the Phillies in an 8-2 rout of Giants in the 2nd of their 3 game series.
Despite their win, the Phils remained 2 1/2 games behind the NL East division-leading Atlanta Braves who edged the the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. However, the Phils took a 2 game lead over the Giants in the NL Wildcard race. The 3rd place Mets remained 11 games behind the Braves and 8 1/2 games behind the Phils by edging Houston in fourteen innings. The Mets remain 1/2 game ahead of the Florida Marlins who edged the the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Giants centerfielder Andre’s Torres led off the game against Blanton with a rightfield homer. But from there, Blanton had things well under control holding the Giants in check until former Phils leftfielder Pat Burrell’s 2 out solo shot to centerfield in the sixth. The homer was Pat ‘the Bat’s’ 2nd homer of the series.
When Blanton got in a bit of seventh inning trouble — 2 one out singles, reliever Chad Durbin coaxed Torres into a 5 pitch doubleplay grounder to end the inning. Relievers Ryan Madson and Jose Coontreras shut the lights on the Giants the rest of way with perfect eighth and ninth innings. Blanton threw 97 pitches in his 6 1/3 innings striking out 7, walking none and giving up 8 hits. Phillies pitchers have gone nineteen innings without issuing a walk.
AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports highlights a solid Phillies offensive performance:
Rollins singled, tripled and homered off Matt Cain. He flied out against Jeremy Affeldt in the seventh and grounded out against Guillermo Mota in the eighth.
“The last couple of days, I felt better,” said Rollins, who missed 54 games this season with a calf injury. “My hitting area is starting to come to me. It doesn’t feel like the plate is in the other batter’s box.”
Pinch-hitter Domonic Brown blasted a solo homer into the second deck in right with two outs in the eighth, earning the rookie a curtain call from the sellout crowd. It also gave Rollins another chance to go for a double, but he grounded to first.
Cain gave up five runs—two earned—and seven hits in six innings. Giants starters are 0-9 with a 5.73 ERA in the last 14 games.
Carlos Ruiz put the Phillies ahead 2-1 with an RBI single during a four-run fourth. He has 21 RBIs in his last 19 games.
Before Ruiz’s hit, second baseman Mike Fontenot booted Ross Gload’s one-out grounder. The error proved costly when Rollins came up with two runners on and two outs. Rollins drove one deep into the seats in right to make it 5-1. His shot ended a string of 49 straight innings without a homer for Philadelphia.
Burrell cut it to 5-2 in the sixth with his 12th homer in 58 games with the Giants. He has homered in his first two games back at Citizens Bank Park since helping the Phillies win the 2008 World Series.
Raul Ibanez hit an RBI triple and Jayson Werth followed with a double to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 7-2 in the seventh.
To view the scores of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
The Phils hope for a series sweep in Thursday’s final as Cole Hamels, hoping for more offensive support, is opposed by Jonathan Sanchez im a battle of lefthanders.
The Phils next face the Washington Nationals in a 3 game series, followed by 4 games with the Houston Astros.
To view the schedule of all of Thursday’s games, click here.
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