Phillies Mix Pitching, Homers, Nifty Baserunning to Edge Brewers Twice
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Friday’s opener between the Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers lived up to expectations as a pitchers’ duel between lefthanders Cole Hamels and Chris Capuano with Hamels getting a wee bit the better of the going. Hamels retired 12 of the first 13 Brewers he faced through 4 1/3 innings. The only Brewer to reach of the first 13 did so on a walk and was rubbed out immediately after on a ground doubleplay. With 1 out in the fifth inning, 3rd baseman Casey McGehee got the 1st hit off af Hamels singling to centerfield. But McGehee was rubbed out on ground doubleplay as well. Centerfielder Shane Victorino led off the second inning by doubling to centerfield and going to 3rd base on a ground out. Then catcher Carlos Ruiz grounded out plating Victorino with the only run of the game. Although the Phils loaded the bases with none out in the fourth, the threat was wiped out by a strikeout followed by a line-doubleplay. Hamels, accustomed to a lack of offense support, made the best of the single run as the Brewers never seriously threatened. Hamels, who is approaching his MVP level of 2008, went seven innings throwing 103 pitches while walking 3 and striking out seven to win his ninth game. Relievers Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson, who was credited with a save, both shut the lights on Milwaukee going clean in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the Phillies series opening 1-0 win over the Brewers.
On Saturday, ace Roy Halladay notched his 17th win going seven innings, but for while it looked as if the teams were playing Homerun Derby as 6 solo shots flew out of Citizen’s Bank Park. 4 of the dingers came off of Halladay, a career first. Rightfielder Corey Hart pounded 2 of the round-trippers. 1st baseman Prince Fielder and shortstop Alcides Escobar both homered in the second inning. But the Phils, not to be denied, came back in their second with back-to-back solo shots by 1st baseman Ryan Howard and rightfielder Jayson Werth off of starter Dave Bush. Hart homered in the third and seventh innings. But sandwiched in-between Hart’s homers was a third inning RBI single by 2nd baseman Chase Utley as Milwaukee carried a 4-3 lead into the Phillies’ seventh. Nifty base-running by Carlos Ruiz and pinch hitter Wilson Valdez, as well as an errant throw and faulty catcher positioning led to the winning runs scoring on 3rd baseman Placido Polanco’s shallow sacrifice fly to leftfield. From there, relievers J.C. Romero, Madson and closer Brad Lidge — all in relief of Halladay, closed the door on Milwaukee going clean in the eighth and ninth innings to nail down the Phillies 5-4 win over the Brewers in game 2.
The Phils moved to 1 game behind NL East division-leading Atlanta who split their weekend games with 3rd place Florida. The Phils remained 3 games ahead of San Francisco in the NL wildcard race as the Giants split their weekend games to the L.A. Dodgers. The St. Louis Cardinals dropped into a tie for 2nd place with Colorado in the wildcard chase 6 1/2 games behind the Phils. The 3rd place Florida Marlins dropped to 10 games behind the Braves in the division while the Mets dropped to 13 games off the pace in 4th place after losing twice to the Chicago Cubs.
The AP game recap of Friday’s game for Yahoo notes:
A Milwaukee miscommunication led to the game’s only run. Centerfielder Lorenzo Cain and leftfielder Ryan Braun converged on a Shane Victorino fly ball, but it dropped between them for a double, despite Braun’s last-minute lunge. Braun appeared to initially be calling for the ball, but neither outfielder took command.
“It was a tough situation,” Cain said. “Loud crowd. He initially called it and thought I called it, so I just backed off. It was just a missed communication.”
Victorino, hustling from the instant he made contact, ended up on second. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on Carlos Ruiz’s grounder.
Hamels allowed only two runners to reach second base. In his final inning, Hamels walked Braun and surrendered a single to Prince Fielder, but escaped by retiring Casey McGehee, Cain and Alcides Escobar.
On Saturday, Halladay coughed up 4 Brewer homers in his seven innings — a 1 game career-high. In his last 3 starts, he’s coughed up 7 homers in a total of 21 innings. But the Phils’ winning runs scored in the seventh on Brewers’ fielding miscues, faulty judgement and positioning. The AP game recap for Yahoo notes:
Placido Polanco hit a tying sacrifice fly and Wilson Valdez hustled home with the go-ahead run on an errant throw on the same play…
Polanco’s fly ball to left with the bases loaded in the seventh inning scored Carlos Ruiz. Ryan Braun’s throw sailed behind a sliding Ruiz and hit the backstop, allowing Valdez to slide home.
“It’s a credit to the guy running the bases,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “He took a chance.”
Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz opened the seventh with singles off Kameron Loe (3-4). Zach Braddock entered and walked Valdez on four straight pitches to load the bases. He got slumping Jimmy Rollins on a fielder’s choice that kept the bases full.
Polanco hit a fly ball just a few shades shy of shallow and a strong throw and better positioning out of catcher Jonathan Lucroy might have nailed Ruiz at the plate. It certainly wouldn’t have allowed Valdez to score.
Closer Brad Lidge notched his 20th save in 25 opportunities on Saturday with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
To view the scores of all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.
The Phils series with the Brewers concludes on Sunday as Kyle Kendrick opposes lefthander and former Phil Randy Wolf. Then the Florida Marlins come to town for 4 games, including Monday’s doubleheader, to conclude the homestand.
To view the schedule of all of Sunday’s games, click here.
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