The on-again, off-again Phillies offense, stifled by Giants’ Matt Cain on Wednesday, were again totally shut down on Thursday by ace Tim Lincecum.  Meanwhile, the Giants scored single runs in the second and fourth innings, as well as 2 more runs in the seventh off of Kyle Kendrick building a 4-0 lead.as the Phils blew scoring chances in the first, third and fifth innings before 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s 2 out seventh inning double plated the Phils’ only run. They could have scored more in the seventh but 3rd baseman  Michael Martinez was stranded on 3rd base as 1st baseman Ryan Howard grounded out to end the inning.  In the ninth, pinch hitter Ross Gload connected for a 1 out double off of closer Brian Wilson but was stranded on 3rd base with Wilson striking out Martinez to end it.   Kendrick went 6 1/3 innings, and the 4 relievers who came after retired the final 8 Frisco hitters but the Giants topped the Phillies by 4-1 behind Lincecum and the bullpen thus taking 2 of the 3 games from the Phils.

Despite their 2nd straight loss, the Phils’  NL East lead remained at 5 games over the 2nd place Atlanta Braves who lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The 3rd place Mets moved to 11 1/2 games back, while the 4th place Florida Marlins improved to 13 1/2 games back, 2 1/2 games ahead of Washington by again beating the Nationals.

In what seemed the only piece of good news for the Phils in this one, newly acquired outfielder Carlos Beltran took an 0-4 collar in his debut appearance with the Giants after coming from the Mets in a non-waiver trade on Wednesday.

AP’s Thursday game recap for Yahoo sports on notes:

Lincecum and Matt Cain dominated the Phillies last October, and they did so again in this series.

“Our pitchers did a great job and we got the hits when we needed,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “They’re a great club.”

Lincecum (9-8) showed no negative effects from the stomach illness that forced him to push his start back two days. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner allowed three hits, struck out six and worked around four walks.

“I felt fine, a little fatigued but I just tried to keep a good pace,” Lincecum said.

The Phillies hadn’t lost consecutive games since June 4. They went a club-record 45 straight games without dropping two straight.

[Pablo] Sandoval gave the NL West leaders a 1-0 lead when he led off the second inning with an opposite-field shot to left. It was Sandoval’s 10th homer, becoming the first Giant to reach double digits this season.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (5-5) gave up four runs—three earned—and six hits in 6 1-3 innings.

The Giants went up 2-0 in the fourth when Nate Schierholtz ripped an RBI single.  Aubrey Huff hit a two-out double and scored on Schierholtz’s liner to right-center.

In the seventh, the Giants had runners at first and third with one out when pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand hit a grounder to third.  Michael Martinez bobbled it and then made a wild throw to first base. Schierholtz scored from third and Chris Stewart came all the way around from first, sliding in safely on a close play at the plate to make it 4-0.

Ramon Ramirez took over for Lincecum to start the seventh. He gave up a double to Carlos Ruiz. Chase Utley drove him in when he hit a double off Jeremy Affeldt later in the inning.

Brian Wilson finished for his 33rd save in 37 chances.

Before the at-bat against Affeldt, Utley had stranded five runners, including three in scoring position, in his first three times up.

The Phillies had a runner on third with one out in the first after [Jimmy] Rollins led off with a double and advanced on a bunt. But Utley popped out to shortstop and Ryan Howard struck out. Utley struck out with men on first and third to end the third. He struck out with two runners on to end the fifth.

Roy Oswalt (back) is expected to make another rehab start before possibly rejoining Philadelphia’s rotation. … All-Star 3B Placido Polanco is moving closer toward returning to the Phillies. He’s scheduled to play nine innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday. … Rollins snapped an 0-for-19 slump with his double.

Reliever Brad Lidge, recently reactivated from the DL, has given up no runs, no hits while walking 1 and striking out 2 in 2 appearances over 1 1/3 innings in his first action in 2011.

For all of Thursday’s scores and recaps, click here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are next into Philly for the final 3 games of this 10 game homestand to finish out July.   Ace Roy Halladay goes for the Phils in Friday’s opener against Charlie Morton.   On Saturday, lefthander Cliff Lee again tries for that elusive 10th win opposed by James McDonald.

For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s scheduled games throughout MLB, click here and here.

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Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels dueled with Giants’ Matt Cain as Cain stiffled the Phils offense holding them to a run and spreading out 4 hits while pitching into the eighth inning.  Hamels gave 2 runs on 6 hits over 7 2/3 innings an deserved a better fate than losing his 6th game along with his 12 wins.  Ex-Phil centerfielder Aaron Rowand tripled in the Giants 1st run in the third inning while rightfielder  Nate Schierholtz doubled in the winning run in the seventh.   Rightfielder Domonic Brown’s 1 out  single drove in the Phils’ only run in their seventh.   Runners were few and far in-between for the Phils offense as catcher Carlos Ruiz went out twice with runners on base grounding out to end the second inning leaving 2 on and grounding into a doubleplay with Brown on 1st in the seventh.   The Phils had shortstop Jimmy Rollins at 2nd base in scoring position with 2 outs in the eighth against lefthanded reliever Javier Lopez, but 2nd baseman Chase Utley flied out to centerfied to end the inning.   Closer Brian Wilson set the zPhils down in order in the ninth inning as Cain handcuffed the offense as the Giants edged the Phillies by 2-1 to knot the 3 game series at 1 win apiece.

With the loss, the Phils’  NL East lead dropped to 5 games over the 2nd place Atlanta Braves who edged the Pittsburgh Pirates again in extra innings.  The 3rd place Mets moved to 12 1/2 games back, while the 4th place Florida Marlins improved to 14 1/2 games back and 1 1/2 games ahead of  Washington by nipping the Nationals.

AP’s game recap for Yahoo sports summarized the game:

Rowand helped the Giants strike first when he sliced an opposite-field triple into the right-field corner in the third for a 1-0 lead.

Jeff Keppinger doubled to lead off the seventh and Cody Ross, the NLCS MVP, walked.   Nate Schierholtz followed with a low liner and right fielder Domonic Brown took a weird route before failing on a diving attempt, helping the Giants extend the lead to 2-0.

Hamels, who threw eight shutout innings in his last start against San Diego, escaped the rest of the [seventh] inning without further damage after loading the bases with no outs. Rowand grounded into a double play to end the rally.

Staked to a 2-0 lead, Cain ran into trouble in the seventh. Cain and catcher Eli WhitesideShane Victorino’s infield popup. They bumped each other and the ball was knocked into foul territory for a two-base error. Brown’s hard grounder deflected off first baseman Aubrey Huff and into right to make it 2-1.  Carlos Ruiz hit into a double play to end the threat. couldn’t get out of each other’s way on

Cain allowed an unearned run and four hits before he was yanked when pinch-hitter  Ross Gload reached on catcher’s interference leading off the eighth. Javier Lopez got three outs and Brian Wilson finished for his 32nd save and a combined four-hitter. The Giants have won 12 of 17.

For all of Wednesday’s scores and recaps, click here.

On Thursday, the Phils hope to continue their string of 10 straight series wins as Klye Kendrick is slated to oppose Giant ace Tim Lincecum and to face centerfielder Carlos Beltran, now in a Giants uniform as a result of the non-waiver trade between the Mets and Giants.  Lincecum suffered from a stomach virus and thus had his start postponed from Tuesday’s opener to Thursday.

For all of Thursday’s scheduled games throughout MLB, click here.

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The Phillies collected 9 hits off of Houston starter Brett Myers.  But the offense blew numerous chances plating only 2 runs off of the former Phil.  Both runs came in the third inning when catcher Carlos Ruiz led off with a homer off of Myers.  After a ground out, 2 singles, and a fielders choice play at the plate, 2nd baseman Chase Utley looped a single into shallow centerfield to score the 2nd run.  Phillies starter Joe Blanton came up with another fine performance going seven innings and giving up a first inning run and 6 hits while striking out 9 and walking none.  With the Phils leading 2-1 starting the eighth inning, reliever Ryan Madson blew the lead giving up 2 runs as Myers and the Astros edged the Phillies by a 3-2 score as the offense sputtered again in the series opener.

The Phils blew their 3rd opportunity in 5 games to gain ground on Atlanta and remained remained 2 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were edged by Colorado.  The Phils wildcard lead dropped back to 1 game over the San Francisco Giants who pounded Cincinnati. Both the third place  Florida Marlins and the 4th place Mets had the day off but each picked up a 1/2 game on both the division-leading Braves and 2nd place Phillies.

Blanton retired the next 11 straight hitters after after giving up a run on 3 hits in the first inning.  Then he gave up a single hit in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.  In addition, he singled to shallow center in the third but, being slow afoot, he was rubbed out at home on centerfielder Shane Victorino’s fielder’s choice grounder.   With shortstop Jimmy Rollins at 3rd base after following Blanton with a single, Utley drove him home with his single to centerfield. 

With Madson in the game in the eighth and Astros on 2nd and 3rd base with 2 out, leftfielder Carlos Lee singled to shallow leftfield driving in both runs.  Madson was charged with the loss.

Manager Charlie Manuel was tossed from the game in the eighth for arguing a call when Astros centerfielder Michael Bourn bunted safely, barely eluding a tag attempt by 1st baseman Ryan Howard.  Manuel was tossed for claiming that Bourn step out of the baseline on the play.  Manuel was tossed by the same umpire under similar circumstances 2 months ago for arguing when Victorino was called out for running out of the baseline.

Winning pitcher Myers similarly fanned 9 Phils while walking 1 in his seven innings.  All 9 of Myers’ strikeouts were recorded against the 3rd through 6th hitters in the Phils lineup.  Howard alone accounted for 3 of strikeouts — that’s 112 strikeouts in 107 games.

Closer Brad Lidge tossed a scoreless ninth inning while Astros reliever  Brandon Lyon notched his 7th save. 

For more on another moribund offensive showing by the Phils, click here for AP’s game recap for Yahoo.

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

In Tuesday’s game 2, lefthander Cole Hamels opposes Bud Norris.

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

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Newly-acquired Phillies starter Roy Oswalt was on his game winning his 1st game as a Phil on Wednesday shutting down the L.A. Dodgers for seven innings. Meanwhile, rightfielder  Domonic Brown grounded into a fourth inning bases-loaded fielder’s choice to plate the first of 2 Phillies runs off of Dodger starter Chad Billingsley.  Leftfielder Raul Ibanez, who’s hitting streak is now at 18 games, drove in the 2nd run with a double in the sixth.  When Oswalt left after seven innings, Reliever Ryan Madson took over pitching a scoreless eighth inning, only giving up a double.  Closer Brad Lidge, who is starting to resemble the Lidge of 2008, tossed another lights-out ninth inning for his 15th save as Oswalt and the Phillies bullpen shut out the Dodgers by a 2-0 score in game 2 of their 3 game series.

With the win, the Phils remained 2 1/2 games behind the NL East division-leading Atlanta Braves who pounded the Houston Astros. The 4th place  Mets dropped their game to the Colorado Rockies and are now 9 1/2 games behind the Braves and 7 games beneath the Phils. The Florida Marlins jumped into 3rd place, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets with their win over Washington.

Oswalt brushed aside 2-men-on threats in the second, third and fitfth innings with a doubleplay wiping out the second inning threat.  He threw 109 pitches through seven innings while walking 2 and striking out 5.  The Dodgers’ mounted their only serious threat — a fifth inning 2nd and 3rd base 2 out situation.  But a fielders’ choice grounder ended the fifth as Oswalt nursed the 1-0 lead brought about by Brown’s sacks-loaded, 1 out fielder’s choice RBI.  Back-to-back doubles by 1st baseman Ross Gload and leftfielder Raul Ibanez put the 2nd run on the board.  Although Billingsley also pitched a fine game, the Dodgers could privide no run support as Oswalt, Madson and Lidge made the 2 runs stand up.  Gload went down injured limping into 2nd base with a with a strained right groin on his leadoff sixth inning double.   Recently acquired pinch-runner Mike Sweeney scored the 2nd run on Ibanez’s sixth inning RBI double.  Sweeney finished the game at 1st base.

Madson gave up a leadoff double before finishing off the Dodgers in the eighth on 2 strikeouts and a fly out.  Lidge was even better going clean in the ninth on 11 pitches getting a groundout and 2 strikeouts to end it. 

Lidge has to be feeling mighty good about this one having brought back his memories of the many Oswalt games that he saved when they both pitched for Houston.

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

The Phils hope to come away with 2 of the 3 games as Joe Blanton is opposed by 22 year old lefthander Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers in Thursday’s series final.

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

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