Game Recap:
Four two run home runs, along with eight innings from Joe Blanton, pushed the Phillies to a series win over the NL Central leading St. Louis Cardinals.
What went right?
Jimmy Rollins was 1-5 with a two run home run.
Shane Victorino was 2-4 with two runs scored.
Chase Utley went 3-4 with a two run home run and two runs scored.
Ryan Howard was 3-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and a two run home run.
Raul Ibanez went 1-4 with...wait for it...a two run home run.
Joe Blanton pitched eight innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out six.
Pedro Feliz was 2-4 with a run scored.
What went wrong?
Matt Stairs went 0-3.
That's it.
Game Analysis:
For the second day in a row, the Phillies came out and showed why they are one of the best teams in baseball. If you notice who hit the home runs today that put the Phils in the win column, one came from Jimmy Rollins, who has been reborn in July, while the others came from the number three, four and five batters in the lineup, which is exactly where you want that kind of power to come from. Any time you can have Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez launch home runs in the same game, it's almost certain that the Phillies are going to win.
In addition, Joe Blanton continued his awesome pitching of late, going eight innings, making it the fourth game in a row that Blanton has pitched into the eighth inning. For the month of July, Joe has allowed four runs in 29.2 innings, while walking five and striking out 22. He's 3-0 in the month, and if he's not at least in the running for Pitcher of the Month, I'm going to be ticked. He's been the most consistent pitcher that the Phillies have had of late, and if he can keep this up, the starting rotation will certainly be less of an issue, though Roy Halladay would certainly be nice, no matter how bad the talks seem to be getting.
It's so fun when this team is winning. The Phils have taken 17 of their last 20 games, are two games over .500 for the season at home, and have a 6.5 game lead in the National League East. All of these things seemed so far out of reach at the start of the month, and now here they are. There are still two months to play in the season, but if the Phillies keep playing like this, the last three weeks won't matter for much except positioning in the postseason.
Tomorrow, the Phillies take their act on the road, as they travel to Arizona. Jamie Moyer (9-7, 5.65 ERA) goes for win number ten on the season against Jon Garland (5-9, 4.41 ERA). Go Phils!
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