With the Phillies trailing the Giants 4-1 with 2 out in the fifth inning, they once again did what they do best — get back in the game.  After ace lefthander  Cole Hamels singled to leftfield, shortstop Jimmy Rollins, just back from a month down with ankle injury, rocketed a 2 run shot to leftfield to narrow the score to 4-3.  Hamels’ pitching kept the Phils in the game as they tied the score in the sixth and scored 3 more in the eighth, including Rollins’ 3rd RBI, to emerge victorious in Friday’s opener by a  7-4 score.

With the win, the Phils kept pace, at one game back, with first place Florida who also won and extended their hold on 2nd place to 1 1/2 games over the  Mets, who were postponed by rain, and the Atlanta Braves who lost. 

Along with 3 RBIs, Rollins went 3 for 5 in his first game back, also garnering a single and a double, only missing the cycle for lack of a triple.

The Phillies scored a run early off of lefthander Patrick Misch in the second on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s singled to center scoring leftfielder Pat Burrell who was walked 3 times in the game as the Giants gave him nothing to hit.  The Giants tied the score in the third as leadoff hitter leftfielder Fred Lewis singled to centerfield to score shortstop Emmanuel Burriss.

Hamels, who meanwhile retired the first 8 hitters he faced before the Giants tied the game in the third, found himself in a two on, two out jam in the fourth.  With runners on 1st and 2nd base, 2nd baseman Eugenio Velez singled through the middle scoring rightfielder Randy Winn who had doubled to center to start the inning.  With two men on, following Velez’s RBI single, Burrris tripled off of Hamels to clear the bases and put the Giants up 4-1.

Hamels then settled down in the fifth and sixth innings.  Although the Giants had a 2 out runner on 1st base in the sixth, Hamels took care of that himself, picking Velez off of 1st base to end the inning.

In the fifth, Hamels helped himself with his 2 out single and scappered in on Rollin’s homer to get the game close.

3rd baseman Pedro Feliz victimized his old team with a 2 out RBI single to rightfield in the sixth inning to tie the game 4-4.  Feliz went 2-5 against the Giants.

Hamels put the Giants down in order in the seventh and was pulled for a pinch hitter Greg Dobbs who RBI singled in the middle of the 3 run rally off of reliever Tyler Walker in the Phils victorious eighth.

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley describes the Phillies’ eighth inning rally for Yahoo sports;

Carlos Ruiz drove in two runs for the Phillies, including the go-ahead score in the eighth…

With one out, Ruiz chopped a grounder off Tyler Walker (1-1) to second baseman Eugenio Velez, whose throw home pulled  Bengie Molina off the plate and allowed pinch-runner So Taguchi to score after he advanced on a wild pitch.

Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs followed with an RBI single that chased Walker.

Rollins capped the Phillies’ scoring with a double to rightfield scoring Ruiz.

Winning pitcher Hamels went seven innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 7 to earn his 4th win vs 3 losses.  Misch, who pitched 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while walking 3, striking out 4 and giving up Rollins’ homer, didn’t figure in the final decision.  Tyler Walker, who was pounded for the 3 winning Phillies runs lost his first game of the year evening his mark at 1-1. 

Reliever Tom Gordon took over for Hamels to start the eighth.  Although, things got a bit dicey on on Gordon’s two walks, the Phils emerged from the inning unscathed.  In the ninth inning, closer Brad Lidge, continuing his shock and awe act, gave up a single but struck out the side on 14 pitches to earn his 9th save.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s games, click here.

In Saturday’s game two, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer faces Tim Lincecum as the Phils try to go two up on the Giants.  In Sunday’s final, Adam Eaton opposes young lefthander Jonathan Sanchez.  On Monday, the Phils have an open date before returning home Tuesday for 6 games; 3 against Atlanta and 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays and the beginning of interleague play.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s  games, click here.

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The Phillies could do nothing with lefthander Brandon Webb’s nasty,  “hellacious” sinker.  And when they finally put up some offense for 2 runs in the ninth, it was too little, too late.  The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, broke a 2-1 game wide open, lighting into Brett Myers for a 4 run fourth inning while coasting to an 8-3 win over the Phils for a series split in Thursday’s final.

Webb, undefeated this season, tossed his first complete game of the season and the 13th of career in carrying a 1 run, 3 hitter into the ninth when the Phils finally rallied for 2 runs on 3 hits.  It was his 8th win in eight starts.  Webb, who got 17 of 27 outs on ground balls, struck out 4 and issued no walks.

In losing, the Phillies dropped to a game behind the  NL East leading Florida Marlins and hold 2nd place by only 1/2 game over the Atlanta Braves who both won.   The 4th place Mets, 1 full game behind the Phils, had an open date.

Leadoff hitter centerfielder Shane Victorino opened the game with a single past 1st base and advanced to 2nd base on a ground out.  He took 3rd base on a passed ball and scored on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s sacrifice fly to centerfield as the Phils took a short-lived 1-0 lead. 

The Phils would have only 4 men reach base against Webb between the second and eighth innings. They would not get another hit off of Webb until shortstop Eric Bruntlett’s 2 out single to centerfield in the sixth, although he was also hit by Webb pitch leading off in the fourth inning.  Catcher Chris Coste singled to left centerfield in the eighth but was quickly rubbed out on  Brad Harman’s doubleplay grounder to 2nd base.  Harman replaced Utley at 2nd base to start the sixth inning.

With a runner on in the D’backs first, centerfielder Chris Young (6 for 18 for the series) went yard to leftfield with one out for his 2nd homer in two games and Arizona led 2-1.

Myers seemed to have things under control in the second and third innings retiring 5 D’backs in a row, including a doubleplay in the second with runners on 1st and 2nd base.

But in the fourth inning, things unraveled on Myers.

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel examined the fourth inning and Myers’ performance;

Lower velocity wasn’t an issue….  According to Myers, it didn’t matter whether the pitches he threw were good or bad.

“I made some good pitches and they hit them. I made some bad pitches they crushed,” said Myers, who allowed six earned runs in five innings. “I didn’t give us an opportunity to be in the game. I can’t put together back-to-back good starts and I don’t know what the problem is. It’s frustrating.”

To isolate the problem, one should refer to the fourth inning that began with walks to Justin Upton and Stephen Drew. Mark Reynolds followed with a broken-bat roller to short, with the bat and ball reaching Eric Bruntlett at the same time. Bruntlett avoided the bat, but couldn’t fire the slow roller fast enough to retire Reynolds.

[Catcher] Chris Snyder doubled hard to left field, driving in two, then another run scored when [1st baseman] Chris Burke lined a single off [3rd baseman] Greg Dobbs’ glove. An error on a feed from Bruntlett set up another run that scored on [2nd baseman] Augie Ojeda’s sacrifice fly.

Chris Young… finally ended the fourth by popping out.

“It’s frustrating,” Myers said. “I just have to keep battling. It’s definitely not fun going out there and feeling really good, then getting beat up. I wouldn’t change anything because I felt like I had good stuff today, I just got hit around.”

Up 6-1, the Diamondbacks added single runs in the fifth inning on 3rd baseman Reynold’s one out RBI single to shallow center, the final run off of Myers, and on rightfielder Upton’s leadoff homer off of reliever Clay Condrey in the seventh.

The Phillies finally strung some hits together in the ninth off of Webb as Victorino led off with a single to rightfield and promptly stole 2nd base.  Bruntlett followed with a single to center scoring the “flyin’ Hawaiian” as both players had 2 hit games.   Carlos Ruiz pinch hit for Condrey and grounded to 3rd base moving Bruntlett to 2nd.   Ryan Howard, hitless in the game til now, singled to rightfield scoring Bruntlett.   But the rally came up far short as Webb got rightfielder Geoff Jenkins to ground into a game-ending doubleplay.

Myers went five innings giving up 7 runs on 9 hits while walking 3, striking out 5 and giving up Young’s 1st inning homer in absorbing his 3rd loss against 2 wins.  Condrey took over in the sixth and finished the game striking out 1, issuing no walks and only allowing Upton’s homer.  

AP Sports Writer Bob Baum notes this about Webb’s start this season for Yahoo sports;

The easygoing Webb (8-0) became the first pitcher to win his first eight starts since Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and the first in the NL since Pedro Martinez for Montreal in 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Thursday’s games, click here.

The Phils travel to San Francisco for a 3 game weekend series with the Giants, and the return of MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins, followed by an open date on Monday, May 12.  A pair of young lefthanders start in Friday’s opener as ace  lefthander Cole Hamels opposes Patrick Misch.  In Saturday’s game two, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer faces Tim Lincecum and in Sunday’s final,  Adam Eaton opposes young lefthander Jonathan Sanchez.  On Monday, the Phils have an open date before returning home Tuesday for 6 games; 3 against Atlanta and 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays and the beginning of interleague play.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Friday’s and Saturday’s  games, click here and here.

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The Phillies did on Wednesday, once again, what the Phillies have done best over last season and through nearly the first month and a half of this one; come from behind in late innings.  This time, a third strike passed ball to centerfielder Shane Victorino, shortstop Eric Bruntlett’s RBI double followed by 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s winning RBI single followed by lights out relief by  Tom Gordon and closer Brad Lidge and the Phils had a 5-4 win over Arizona in the bag.

It seems that no team in the majors is their peer in late-inning game winning rallies.  The Phillies won a major league leading 48 games last season.  The Phils, who won the 20th game vs 15 losses, had the chance to blow the game wide open in the eighth inning after the lead run scored.  Utley took 2nd base on a wild pitch by reliever Chad Qualls.  After 1st baseman Ryan Howard and leftfielder Pat Burrell both went down on strikes, rightfielder Geoff Jenkins walked.  But Juan Cruz, who relieved Qualls, got 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz to ground into a fielders choice to end the inning.  Feliz had stroked a two run homer in the seventh to temporarily tie the game.

By winning, the Phillies maintained their tie with Florida for 1st place in the NL East and maintained their 1 1/2 game lead on both the Mets and the Atlanta Braves. All three teams won on Wednesday, the Mets by a 12-1 bludgeoning of the L.A. Dodgers.

Kyle Kendrick and his hitting phenom opponent Micha Owings were wrapped in a 1-1 duel through 4 1/2 innings with Kendrick allowing 5 hits, while Owings only allowed 2 hits in that span.

Shortstop Stephen Drew, who seems always to be in the center of D’backs’ scoring, got Arizona on the board with a 2 out RBI single to leftfield.

In the third inning, catcher Carlos Ruiz opened with a single to right centerfield and advanced to 2nd base on Kendrick’s sacrifice bunt.  Victorino followed scoring Ruiz with a single to centerfield.

The Diamondbacks touched Kendrick in the fifth as centerfielder Chris Young opened with a solo homer to leftfield.  2nd baseman Augie Ojeda followed by tripling to right centerfield.  One out later, 1st baseman Conor Jackson drove in Ojeda with the D’back’s 3rd run on a groundout.  Kendrick got Drew on a fly out to centerfield to end the inning. 

Kendrick got himself into a two on, two out jam in the sixth but got Young to ground out to third to emerge unscathed.   Kendrick left after the sixth inning having tossed 92 pitches while giving up 3 runs on 10 hits, walking 1, striking out 2 and surrendering Young’s fifth inning homer.

Feliz tied the score in the seventh with a one out, 2 run homer only to see reliever Ryan Madson give up Arizona’s 4th run on Jackson’s one out RBI double center in the bottom of the seventh.  Lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero finished out the seventh and was credited with the win when the Phils, who made optimal use of their 7 hits for the game, went ahead in the eighth.

Owings, who was one for three with the stick — a second inning double and saw his MLB best batting average for a pitcher drop to .417, left after the seventh inning.  His line was 3 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts and Feliz’s homer.  Qualls, who gave up the tying and winning runs in the eighth, was charged with the loss.

AP Sports Writer Bob Baum describes the Phillies eighth inning for Yahoo sports;

Reliever Chad Qualls struck out Victorino, but the ball got away from catcher Chris Snyder for a passed ball. Snyder retrieved it and threw to the left of Jackson. The ball arrived just as Victorino did. Victorino took an elbow to the head, and the runner’s helmet slammed into Jackson’s face.

Both players went down, but Victorino stayed in the game, while Jackson eventually got to his feet and walked off.

“When Charlie (manager Charlie Manuel) got out there and asked me if I was all right,” Victorino said, “and I said `Yeah, I’m going on the first pitch.’ … That’s just the way the game goes, I guess. You play hard.”

Victorino took off just as promised, and Bruntlett doubled to bring him home and tie the game.

“He did a good job of getting on base there,” Manuel said of Victorino. “He struck out and he hustled down there and then he got clotheslined. He got up and took off and was going to steal a base. That’s pretty good.”

Utley followed with a run-scoring single—his 27th RBI—and Philadelphia led 5-4.

“Qualls has been real good for us,” Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. “If we get the out right there (on Victorino), it’s a completely different inning.”

Jackson said he thought Victorino’s shoulder hit him but saw on video replays that it was his helmet.

“I was a little dazed,” Jackson said.

He said he hoped to be back in the lineup Thursday, but Melvin was unsure.

Snyder led off the D’backs eighth with a double to leftfield off of Gordon.  But “Flash” quickly retired the side including striking out Chris Young on three pitches.

Closer Brad Lidge was, well — awesome, overpowering in the ninth striking out leftfielder Eric Byrnes and, Jackson’s replacement at 1st base, Chris Burke and getting Drew to ground out to 1st base to end the game.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

In Thursday’s get-away game, Brett Myers opposes unbeaten Brandon Webb (7-0) as the Phillies attempt to take 3 of 4 games.  Following Arizona, the Phils travel to San Francisco for a 3 game weekend series with the Giants followed by an open date on Monday, May 12.  A pair of young lefthanders start in Friday’s opener as ace Cole Hamels opposes Patrick Misch.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Thursday’s games, click here.

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Adam Eaton, who now has not gone six innings in 3 of his last 4 starts, was pulled for a pinch hitter after Arizona’s 5 run fourth and the Phillies blew a number of scoring opportunities against lefthander Randy “Big Unit” Johnson and the Arizona bullpen in losing to the D’backs by a 6-4 score in Tuesday’s game 2.

In losing, the Phils fell from one game up to a first place tie with the Florida Marlins who shut out the Milwaukee Brewers by a 3-0 score.   The Phils remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets who lost to the LA Dodgers by a 5-4 score.

Arizona got on the scoreboard first, reaching Eaton for a run in the first inning on 1st baseman Conor Jackson’s one out RBI single to centerfield to score centerfielder Chris Young who doubled to open the game.

The Phillies took a brief 2-1 lead in the third inning as Eaton led off the inning with a double to centerfield followed by shortstop Eric Bruntlett’s 2nd homer of the season, a one out, two run shot to leftfield.  Bruntlett, who has filled in capably for injury rehabbing MVP Jimmy Rollins, had another multi-hit game and again drove in 3 runs.  The Phils missed a chance for more runs when 2nd baseman Billy Harman flied out with two runners on to end the inning. Harman started at 2nd base in place of Chase Utley who was slotted into 1st base in place of benched Ryan Howard.

The roof caved in on Eaton in the fourth although he made it through the inning.   AP sportswriter Andrew Bagnato describes the inning for Yahoo sports;

The Diamondbacks exploded for five runs in the fourth, when Eaton couldn’t find the strike zone.

He walked [rightfielder] Justin Upton and [catcher] Miguel Montero around a double by [3rd baseman] Mark Reynolds to load the bases with no outs.

After retiring [2nd baseman] Augie Ojeda on a fly to shallow center, Eaton walked the .167-hitting Johnson on four pitches to tie it at 2.

Chris Young’s fielder’s choice grounder gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead, and then [Stephen] Drew hit a 1-2 delivery 385 feet to right field for a three-run homer.

Drew has had 2 hit games in both games of the series and has driven in 4 runs thus far.

Losing pitcher Eaton’s (0-1) line for the game was four innings pitched, 6 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, a strikeout and Drew’s homer.  The Phils’ bullpen gave up a mere two hits over the remainder of the game.

Meanwhile the Phillies offense was in semi-snooze mode failing to convert on scoring chances in the fourth inning — a runner on 3rd base with one out, fifth inning — a runner on 3rd base with two outs, eighth inning — runner on 2nd base with two out, ninth inning — runners on 1st and 3rd base with two out.

In the 5th, Bruntlett doubled to rightfield to drive in his third run and rightfielder Jayson Werth solo homered off of Johnson in the sixth inning to cap the Phillies’ scoring.

“Unit” Johnson went six innings giving up 4 runs, 6 hits while walking 2, striking out 6 while surrendering homers to Bruntlett and Werth in gaining his 2nd win vs 1 loss.  The bullpen gave up 3 hits to the Phils who couldn’t capitalize.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.

In Wednesday’s game 3, Kyle Kendrick opposes the hitting phenom  righthander Micha Owings. And in Thursday’s get-away game, Brett Myers opposes unbeaten Brandon Webb (7-0).  Following Arizona, the Phils travel to  San Francisco for a 3 game weekend series with the Giants followed by an open date on Monday, May 12.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.

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Phillies veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer threw seven fine innings, giving up only 2 runs while spreading 6 hits but that was by no means the whole story.  He had 2 hits, one of them a run scoring double to cap a 4 run third inning as the Phils pounded rookie Max Scherzer and the Arizona Diamondbacks by an 11-4 score.

Scherzer, with his 98 mph fastball, was rocked in his starting debut
as the Phils scored a single run in the first inning on 1st baseman Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly RBI and scored 4 more in the third as the Phils sent 9 men to the plate including Moyer who doubled in the 4th run of the inning.  Having thrown 92 pitches in 4 innings, Scherzer, who was charged with the loss, was replaced by Edgar Gonzalez to open the fifth inning.

Having held the Phillies in check in the fifth and sixth innings, Gonzalez was pounded for 4 runs on 4 hits in the seventh as the Phils widened their lead to 9-1.

Meanwhile, when the Phils took an early 1-0 lead, the D’backs temporarily tied the score at 1-1 in the second inning on shortstop Stephen Drew’s RBI triple in the second.  3rd baseman Pedro Feliz saved the Phillies from further damage in the second with a great fielding play on a sharp grounder down the line by catcher Chris Snyder preceding Drew’s triple.  But from there, Moyer kept Arizona off-balance through seven innings, retiring 10 straight at one point between the second and fifth innings.

AP sportswriter Andrew Bagnato recorded Scherzer’s observations about Moyer for Yahoo sports;

Scherzer (0-1) talked as if he had received a pitching tutorial from Moyer.

“He rope-a-dopes you to death,” Scherzer said. “I know firsthand, he throws a 74 mile-an-hour change, then backs it up with a 71 mile-an-hour change. He’s cutting it to both sides of the plate at 81 or 82, and his fastball’s about the same velocity, but he knows how to pitch. Been doing it a while.”
 
In the fourth, he struck out Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds looking on 81 mph fastballs, and they shook their heads as they walked back to the dugout.

In the seventh inning, the D’backs scored their 2nd run as catcher  Chris Snyder belted a 2 out solo shot to leftfield off of Moyer who won his 2nd game vs 2 losses and who struck out 5 while not issuing any walks.

Reliever Ryan Madson replaced Moyer to open the eioghth and held the Diamondbacks in check.

The Phillies added single runs in the eighth, on pinch hitter Greg Dobbs’ RBI sacrifice fly to center, and in the ninth inning on a D’backs fielding error.

Things got a bit dicey for the Phillies in the ninth as Clay Condrey replaced Madson to open the inning.  Condrey gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and was stuck with a bases loaded, one out pickle which could have ended much worse.  One run scored on a fielding error by rightfielder Geoff Jenkins and the 2nd run scored on a bases loaded ground out.  Condrey got centerfielder Chris Young  to ground out to shortstop to end the game.

In addition to Moyer’s 2 hits, Jenkins and catcher Carlos Ruiz had 3 hits each, Howard had 2 RBIs and shortstop Eric Bruntlett, standing in for  Jimmy Rollins, had 2 hits and 3 RBIs for the game.

Speaking of Rollins, MLB.com’s Ken Mandel reports that he went 4-4 in his first rehab minor start.  Mandel notes that Rollins hopes for a possible return for Thursday’s game against Arizona. However Mandel also notes that manager Charlie Manuel is more cautious;

“We could see him this weekend,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “It’s very possible. We need him. He’s a big part of our team, but we want him healthy. I don’t want to put him in there one day and then all of a sudden he’s hurt again.”

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.

Adam Eaton opposes lefthander Randy “Big Unit” Johnson in Tuesday’s game 2.  In game 3, Kyle Kendrick is opposed by the hitting phenom  Micha Owings. And in Thursday’s get-away game, Brett Myers opposes unbeaten Brandon Webb (7-0).  Following Arizona, the Phils travel to San Francisco for a 3 game weekend series with the Giants followed by an open date on Monday, May 12.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.

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Giants reliever Keiichi Yabu got the first two Phillies out in the ninth inning, shortstop Eric Bruntlett and 2nd baseman Chase Utley on a lineout to 3rd base and a fly to leftfield.  But after walking both 1st baseman Ryan Howard and leftfielder Pat Burrell, rightfielder Geoff Jenkins reached on a sharp grounder which 2nd baseman Eugenio Velez couldn’t handle with Howard scoring the winning run on the play as the Phillies edged the Giants by a 6-5 score to take two of three in their series. 

Catcher Carlos Ruiz set the stage for the ninth inning with his one out, game-tying solo homer in the eighth off of reliever Vinnie Chulk.  It was Ruiz’s first homer of the season.

With the win, the Phils remained 1/2 game ahead of the Florida Marlins who pounded the San Diego Padres by a 10-3 score and a game in front of the Mets whose game with the Arizona Diamondbacks is in progress as this post is being written.  The win also marked manager Charlie Manuel’s 500th career managerial victory.

Pat Burrell once again had a productive game with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.  The AP recap for Yahoo sports notes;

Burrell is second in the National League with 30 RBIs and has reached base in 30 straight games. His two-run double in the third inning [off of starter Tim Lincecum] scored [Shane] Victorino and Eric Bruntlett for a 2-0 advantage.

But twice the Phillies took leads and twice the Giants tied the game.

With the Phils up 2-0, and lefthander Cole Hamels not nearly as sharp as he’s been in recent starts, 3rd baseman Jose Castillo singled in a run and 1st baseman Rich Aurilia doubled Castillo in to tie the score in the fourth inning.

The Phils regained the lead at 4-2 in the fifth inning as Victorino scored on a bases loaded Lincecum wild pitch with one out.  Lincecum then reloaded the bases issuing an intentional walk to Burrell.  Geoff Jenkins followed with a sacrifice fly to score Bruntlett.  The Phils were primed for more runs as Lincecum issued a second wild pitch moving Howard and Burrell to 3rd and 2nd base respectively.  But 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz flied out to end the inning and the threat.

San Francisco wasted no time in tying the game again on Hamels in the sixth inning as Aurilia went yard with a two out, 2 run shot driving in centerfielder Aaron Rowand who reached on a single.

Both starters were evenly matched both on the scoreboard and in the stats.  Hamels gave up 4 runs on 7 hits, including Aurilia’s homer, and struck out 5 while not issuing any walks.  Lincecum’s line was 4 runs, 6 hits, 2 wild pitches while walking 2 and striking out 5.

The Giants took the lead at 5-4 in the eighth inning off of reliever Chad Durbin in his 2nd inning of work in relief of Hamels.  Castillo tripled to rightfield with one out scoring Rowand who reached with a single.

Ruiz tied the score with his homer in the eighth opening the way for the game winner in the ninth.

Closer Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning and blew through the three Giants he faced on 5 pitches to earn his first win to go along with his 7 saves.  Yabu, who walked Howard and Burrell prior to the winning run scoring in the ninth on the fielding error, was charged with his 2nd loss against 2 wins.

For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Sunday’s games, click here.

Following the Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks, with the best record in the Majors, meet the Phils for 4 games beginning on Monday.  Pitchers for the series opener are rookie  Max Scherzer and veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Monday’s games, click here.

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