Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and centerfielder Shane Victorino
each hit leadoff homers off of Dodger starter lefthander Clayton Kershaw in the first and second innings respectively.  The other Roy, Roy Oswalt carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Los Angeles 3rd baseman  Casey Blake ended the bid with a 2 out single.  The Dodgers couldn’t take advantage of an unusual 6 walks by Oswalt over 6 1/3 innings while 3 Phils relievers locked-down the Dodgers the rest of the way.  2nd baseman  Chase Utley came alive with the bat hitting 3 doubles and driving in 2 runs.  The Phils offense recorded 3 late inning runs, just to make sure as  Oswalt lost a no-hit bid but the Phillies beat the Dodgers by a 5-1 score to take 2 of their 3 games.

Once again, The Phils were unable to make up any ground and remained 3 games behind NL East division-leading Atlanta’s who again beat the Mets. The Phils continued to hold a 1 1/2 game NL wildcard lead on San Francisco who repeated beating the Colorado Rockies.  The St. Louis Cardinals dropped to 5 games behind the Phils in the wildcard race after losing again to Houston.  The 3rd place Florida Marlins pounded Washington in a slugfest and remained 10 1/2 games behind the leaders while the Mets dropped to 13 games off the pace in 4th place due to  their loss to the Braves.

Rollins nailed Kershaw’s 2nd offering of the game sending it over wall in leftfield to get the Phils on the board.  Utley followed with the first of his 3 doubles.  But then Kershaw recorded 2 strikeouts and a ground out to end the first inning.  In the second, Kershaw got behind 2-0 to Victorino before the “‘Flyin’ Hawaiian” jumped on his next pitch slamming over the leftfield wall to notch the Phillies 2nd run.

From there, it was all Oswalt throughout 6 2/3 innings.  He threw 115 pitches for the game while walking 6 and striking out 6.  The AP game recap for Yahoo offers these observations on Oswalt:

The right-hander, who turned 33 on Sunday, held Los Angeles hitless until Blake lined a clean single to right field on a first-pitch fastball with two outs in the sixth after Oswalt issued his fifth walk.

“I knew they didn’t have any hits, but I knew I had too many pitches to get through nine innings,” Oswalt said. “I was just wild. I didn’t have any command with my fastball at any time during the game. So I had to work my slider and my changeup pretty much the whole day, and I got a lot of jam shots. That’s the good thing about having four pitches.”

Oswalt finished with a winning record in each of his nine previous big league seasons—topping out at 20 wins in 2004 and 2005. If he pitches every fifth day the rest of the campaign, he would get six more starts to extend his streak.

“I never get caught up in wins and losses too much, and I know a lot of people do. But it’s more important how you pitch,” Oswalt said. “If you throw a shutout and the team doesn’t score any runs for you, you’re not going to win. If you give up one run, pitch nine innings and lose 1-0, you still pitched a pretty good ballgame.”

The Dodgers got an unearned run in the eighth off Ryan Madson on James Loney’s RBI single off the right-field wall, which would have been a double had Matt Kemp not missed second base and had to go back. But Madson minimized the damage by retiring Blake on an inning-ending, double-play grounder.

Kershaw (11-9) allowed two hits and five hits over six innings, struck out 11 and walked two. The 22-year-old left-hander overtook Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay for the NL lead in strikeouts with 191 and is second in walks with 76, two behind Milwaukee’s Randy Wolf.

Credit has to be given to the Phils bullpen throughout the Dodger series and over the past couple of weeks.   Lefthanded reliever J.C. Romero, as well as Madson and closer Brad Lidge have all been lights out of late.  It’s just that the offense has sputtered and not supported the great pitching, as in the recent Houston sweep and the opener of this Dodger series.

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

On Thursday, the Phils travel to Colorado for a single, make-up game.    Joe Blanton is opposed by Jhoulys Chacin.

Following Thursday’s make-up game, the Phils return home for 6 games, 3 weekend games against the Milwaukee Brewers and 3 against the Florida Marlins.
 
To view the schedule of all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick pitched effectively for long enough to pick up a win as the Phils scored 6 runs on 2 homers, 5 runs off of Dodger starter  Carlos Monasterios with another run charged against reliever Ramon Troncoso.  Catcher Brian Schneider clubbed a 3 run second inning homer and 1st baseman Ryan Howard, who ended a 13 game homer drought, went park against Troncoso clubbing a 3 run third inning shot.  Kendrick walked in a run in the first inning, gave up a run in the fifth and was chased after giving up a 2 run dinger to 1st baseman James Loney in the sixth.  Four Phillies relievers shut the door on Los Angeles allowing only a 1 sixth inning hit the rest of the way.  Pinch hitter Carlos Ruiz drove in 2 eighth inning insurance runs as the Phillies provided offensive support for Kendrick and beat the Dodgers by an 8-4 score in game 2 of their series.

Despite the win, the Phils remained 3 games behind NL East division-leading Atlanta who pounded the Mets. The Phils continued to hold a 1 1/2 game NL wildcard lead on San Francisco who beat the Colorado Rockies.  The http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/stl St. Louis Cardinals remained 3 games behind the Phils in the wildcard race after being shut out by  Houston.  The Florida Marlins shut out Washington to increase their hold on 3rd place while remaining 10 1/2 games behind the leaders.  The Mets dropped to 12 games off the pace in 4th place with their loss to the Braves.

The AP game recap for Yahoo provides highlights:

Brian Schneider and Howard each hit a three-run homer to power the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-4 win…

“Three-run homers are nice. It’s a good weapon,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “We haven’t done that in a while.”

Especially Howard, who had gone 13 games without a homer since July 27 at Arizona. In April, he went 15 games without one.

“I feel like I’ve had some good at-bats and good swings over the last five, six games,” he said. “I was just happy to have gotten a hit.”

Howard missed 16 games in August because of a left ankle sprain, and he’s still working on getting his timing back.

“He’s got to get going,” Manuel said.

Kyle Kendrick (9-7) allowed four runs and seven hits in five-plus innings, walked one and failed to record a strikeout for the first time this season.

“I’m missing up and down the middle,” he said. “I just need to finish pitches more.”

After being held to two runs or less in eight of their previous 12 games, including a shutout loss Monday night in which they managed just one hit, the Phillies got going early against Carlos Monasterios (3-5) and then kept up the pressure on the Dodgers’ shaky bullpen.

Monasterios gave up a leadoff double to Jayson Werth in the second. After Raul Ibanez flied out, Shane Victorino walked and Schneider homered to right on the first pitch he saw, putting the Phillies in front 3-1.

Monasterios allowed five runs and five hits in two-plus innings, struck out one and walked one in his shortest outing of the season.

“I was trying to pitch my game, but they were able to read all my pitches,” he said through a translator.

Monasterios was yanked with runners at the corners [in the third inning] after allowing singles to Placido Polanco and  Chase Utley to open the third. Ramon Troncoso came on to face Howard, who sent a 1-0 pitch into the left-field pavilion for his 24th homer, extending Philadelphia’s lead to 6-1.

George Sherrill, the Dodgers’ third reliever, walked three batters—one intentionally—to load the bases. He turned it over to former closer Jonathan Broxton, who gave up a two-run single to pinch-hitter Carlos Ruiz, making it 8-4.

The Dodgers led 1-0 after Kendrick yielded a bases-loaded walk to James Loney in the first. But Kendrick got Casey Blake to ground into an inning-ending double play to minimize the damage.

Los Angeles added a run in the fifth on [Jamey] Carroll’s RBI groundout, and Loney hit a two-run homer in the sixth, making it 6-4.

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

The Phils hope to take 2 of 3 from the Dodgers as the other Roy, Roy Oswalt is opposed by lefthander Clayton Kershaw in Wednesday’s series final.
 
To view the schedule of all of Wednesday’s games, click here.

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Another mediocre pitcher took on the appearance of a world beater as  L.A. Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched 7 1/3 innings of no-hit ball against the sputtering Phillies offense.  Phillies hitters, apparently still impressed with their punchless 3 game sweep of San Diego, slept through this one.  Ace Roy Halladay, lacking any offensive backing at all, gave up single runs in the first, second and fifth innings.  The Dodgers capped their scoring as, another former Phil who never amounted to much, catcher Ron Barajas came back once again to haunt his former team by solving Halladay with a fifth inning lead off homer.  The Phils threatened only in the eighth when rightfielder Jayson Werth led off with a walk and centerfielder Shane Victorino broke up the no-hitter with a 1 out bloop single to shallow rightfield.  With 2 outs in the inning, it took lefthander Hong-Chih Kuo 1 pitch to retire the side getting pinch hitter Mike Sweeney on a fielder’s choice grounder in relief of Kuroda.  Kuo went clean on the Phils in the ninth to record his 7th save as the bumbling Phillies offense fell to the Dodgers’ by a 3-0 socre on a 1 hitter.

With the loss, combined with Atlanta’s pounding of the Mets, the Phils dropped to 3 games behind the NL East division-leading Braves.  The Phils continued to hold a 1 1/2 game lead on San Francisco for the NL wildcard lead as the Colorado Rockies scored 2 ninth inning runs to edge the Giants.  The St. Louis Cardinals remained 3 games behind the Phils in the wildcard race after being pounded by Washington.  The Florida Marlins remained in 3rd place 10 1/2 games behind the leaders while the Mets hold 4th place falling to 11 games off the pace.

Halladay threw another solid effort, only making 1 mistake — Barajas’s fifth inning leadoff homer.  Once again, the Phils failed to provide any offense whatsoever, thus denying ‘The Doc’ in another shot for his 17th win.

1st baseman Ryan Howard took another 0-fer hitting 1 ball solidly, right to the shortstop, while popping out twice.  But at least he didn’t strike out. 

There’s nothing much else that can be said about this one.  Masochists can continue reading by clicking here for the AP game recap for Yahoo.

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

In game 2, Kyle Kendrick is opposed by Carlos Monasterios for the Dodgers.
 
To view the schedule of all of Tuesday’s games, click here.

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Phillies starter Cole Hamels outpitched San Diego Padres starter Clayton Richard on Sunday in a battle of lefthanders.  The Phils got a lot of mileage from their 5 hits as shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ 3rd inning RBI single and 1st baseman Mike Sweeney’s seventh inning 2 run homer provided offensive support and Hamels held the Padres scoreless for eight innings.  Catcher Carlos Ruiz collected 2 hits and scored 2 unearned runs as the Padres committed 4 errors in the game.  Rightfielder Jayson Werth’s ninth inning solo homer was topping on the cake as Hamels was masterful as the Phillies shut out the Padres by a 5-0 score to sweep their 3 game series.

Despite the win and having squandered 6 of 7 previous opportunities to catch up, the Phils remained 2 games behing NL East division-leading Atlanta who rallied back from 5 runs down to edge the Florida Marlins.   The Phils continued to hold a 1 1/2 game lead on the San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead as the Giants narrowly beat Arizona. The St. Louis Cardinals are now 3 games behind the Phils in the wild card race after losing their game with Washington.  The  Florida Marlins held on to 3rd place 9 1/2 games behind the leaders while the Mets hold 4th place 10 games off the pace.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports provides game highlights:

Mike Sweeney, starting in place of slumping Ryan Howard against left-hander Clayton Richard, hit a two-run homer, his first for the Phillies since being acquired from Seattle on Aug. 4. Jayson Werth added a solo shot.

Hamels (8-10) prevailed over Richard (12-6) in a duel of lefties to win for the first time since July 11 against  Cincinnati. He had gone 0-3 despite a 2.83 ERA in his previous eight starts.

Hamels retired his final 16 batters after allowing Adrian Gonzalez’s single with two outs in the third. He struck out six and walked none.  Ryan Madson finished the combined five-hitter as several thousand Phillies fans stood and cheered.

Gonzalez had three hits for San Diego.

Two of Philadelphia’s runs were unearned. Carlos Ruiz singled with one out in the third and advanced on Richard’s errant pickoff throw. He took third on Hamels’ groundout and scored on Jimmy Rollins’ single.

In the eighth, Ruiz hit a leadoff single and was safe at second on Richard’s throwing error after he fielded Hamels’ bunt. Right fielder Ryan Ludwick made a nice diving catch of Rollins’ fly. But when Ludwick attempted to double Hamels off first, his throw was wide and bounced into the Padres’ dugout for another error, allowing Ruiz to score.

In between, Sweeney lined a pitch over the left-field wall with two outs in the seventh. It was seventh overall.

Werth hit a solo homer off Luis Perdomo with one out in the ninth, his 18th.

Richard allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits in 7 2-3 innings. He struck out five and walked one.

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

Ace Roy Halladay goes for the Phillies in the opener of the 3 game series with the L.A. Dodgers on Monday.  He is opposed by Hiroki Kuroda.
 
To view the schedule of all of Monday’s games, click here.

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The Phillies, whose offense had not scored more than 1 run in any inning over the span of 4 1/2 games — 52 innings, eeked just enough offense out to get by the San Diego Padres twice in their weekend series, despite an ugly bases loaded Brad Lidge ninth inning balk on Friday.  It was Lidge’s 5th blown save of the season.  But 3rd baseman Placido Polanco’s RBI single scored shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the tweflth.  Rollins made a neat slide at home to avoid a tag and score the winning run as the Phils prevailed over the Padres by a 3-2 score.

Tied at 1-1 on Saturday, the Phils came back to give Joe Blanton 2 runs of support in the sixth inning against Padres starter Jon Garland.  Blanton had another excellent outing giving up but 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1 in six innings.  Centerfielder Shane Victorino’s 1 out, 1 on seventh inning triple drove in rightfielder Jayson Werth who Garland walked to lead off the inning.   The Phils got an additional run of cushion when pinch hitter Mike Sweeney’s 1 out fielder’s choice grounder scored Victorino.  3 Phillies relievers went clean on the Padres over the final three innings to insure the Phillies 3-1 win over the Padres in game 2.
 
The Phils finally cashed in on an opportunity to gain ground — 1/2 game on Atlanta over the weekend after blowing their previous 6 opportunites in 8 games to gain ground or overtake the Braves.  The Phils returned to holding a 1 1/2 game lead on the San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead.  The St. Louis Cardinals are now 2 games behind the Phils having split their games with Washington.  The Florida Marlins held on to 3rd place 8 1/2 games behind the leaders while the Mets hold 4th place 10 games off the pace.

In Friday’s game, the Phils’ newest Roy — Roy Oswalt cruised through 102 pitches over eight innings with the Phils holding a 2-1 lead on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s third inning RBI single off of Padres starter Matt Latos and leftfielder Raul Ibanez’s bases-jammed shallow rightfield run-scoring single off of reliever Mike Adams.  The only run off of Oswalt was catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s third inning leadoff homer.  Oswalt tossed 1 run 5 hit ball over his eight innings while striking out 6 and walking none.  But Manuel went to Lidge for the ninth. 

A leadoff single by pinch hitter Matt Stairs, a former Phillie, a sacrifice bunt to the pitcherr and a ground out, followed by an intentional walk followed by a hit batsman put Lidge in a sacks-jammed 2 out peckle.  Lidge went 2-2 on 3rd baseman Chase Headley before balking in Jerry Hairston Jr. (who pinch-ran for Stairs) with the tying run and costing Oswalt his 10th win, which would have been his 4th win with the Phillies.  Lidge blew his 5th save opportunity but would come back to gain his 18th save in Saturday’s game 2 by pitching a clean ninth inning.

The Phils’ winning run was scored in the twelfth inning when Jimmy Rollins doubled off of rookie reliever and losing pitcher Ernesto Frieri and Polanco singled him in.  Rollins, who went 3 for 5 for the game, appeared to be a dead-duck at the plate as Torrealba had the ball and was waiting for him.  But the resourceful Rollins slid wide to avoid Torrealba’s tag and then reached back to glaze the plate with his left hand.

Chad Durbin pitched scoreless eleventh and twelfth innings giving up only 1 hit and striking out 2 to notch his 4th win.  For more on Friday’s game, click here for the AP recap for Yahoo sports.

On Saturday, the Phils and Padres traded fifth inning runs as Shane Victorino singled off of Garland to drive in the 1st of his 2 runs.  The Garland tried to help his own cause in the Padres’ fifth with 2 out, 1st and 3rd base situation.  His single off of Blanton drove in the only Padres run of the game.  The Phils took the lead for good in the seventh on Victorino’s RBI triple and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder.

When Blanton left the game after six innings, relievers Jose Contrera,  Ryan Madson and closer Brad Lidge took care of the rest retiring the final 9 Padres they faced to insure the win.  For more on Saturday’s game, click here for the AP recap for Yahoo sports.   

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

After having been swept by Houston last week, the Phils hope to return the favor by sweeping the Padres on Sunday and gain momentum going into their series withe the L.A. Dodgers, although a bit more offense seems necessary. In a battle of lefthanders, Cole Hamels is opposed by Clayton Richard.  

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

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Houston leftfielder Carlos Lee solved Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick for a double, a solo homer and 2 RBIs on Thursday to lead the Astros to their first sweep of the Phils in 11 years.  Lefthander Wandy Rodriguez looked like another world-beater allowing the Phils only one run, on 2nd baseman  Chase Utley’s sixth inning RBI double, and five hits while striking out six in seven innings of work to win his 10th game vs 12 losses.   Rodriguez retired 12 of the first 13 Phillies he faced before rightfielder Jayson Werth led off the fifth with a single as the Astros swept the Phillies’ non-existent offense winning the final by a 5-1 score.

The Phils blew their 6th opportunity in 8 games to gain ground on Atlanta and actually lost ground dropping to 3 games behind NL East-leading Braves who were idle on Thursday.  Having been swept by Houston, the Phils dropped to 1/2 game behind the  San Francisco Giants for the NL wildcard lead.  The Giants were also idle on Thursday. The St. Louis Cardinals remained 1 game back of the Giants and 1/2 game behind the Phils and play Washington later on Thursday.  The Mets and Florida Marlins continued jockeying for 3rd place with the Marlins now holding 3rd after edging the Mets.  The Marlins are 9 games behind the division-leading Braves while the Mets remain 9 1/2 games back as they prepare to square off later on Thursday.

Aside from the one Phillies score in the sixth, their only other serious shot that the Phils sputtering offense had to score off of Rodriguez came in the fifth.  Werth led off with his single and leftfielder Raul Ibanez followed with a double putting runners at 2nd and 3rd base with none out.  But Rodriguez struck out centerfielder Shane Victorino.  Catcher Brian Schneider followed by lining out to shallow rightfield for the 2nd out.  Werth was caught at home trying to score on the play by a fine relay through from rightfielder Hunter Pence to retire the side.  The Phils finished what should have been at least a 7-3 homestand with 4 wins in 10 games.

Those interested in more minutae on this latest Phillies bummer can click here for the AP game recap for Yahoo sports.

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

After a less than successful homestand where the Phils failed to gain ground on NL East-leading Atlanta, the Phils now head west for a 7 game roadtrip; 3 games with San Diego, 3 games with the L.A. Dodgers and a makeup game against Colorado.

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

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