Game Recap:
The Phillies got six plus innings out of Jamie Moyer, as well as home runs from Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to move them past Randy Wolf and the Brewers in the first game of their series.
What went right?
Shane Victorino was 3-5 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI.
Chase Utley was 1-5 with a home run.
Ryan Howard went 1-5 with a two run home run.
Raul Ibanez was 2-5 with two runs scored and a home run.
Wilson Valdez went 2-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Paul freaking Hoover scored two runs and was 1-3 at the plate.
Jamie Moyer picked up his fifth win of the season as he pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits. He walked three and struck out three.
The bullpen was solid, allowing three hits and no runs in 2.2 innings.
What went wrong?
Honestly, not much. Placido Polanco went 0-3, but even he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, so nothing went really wrong.
Game Analysis:
After the weather decided to keep the Phillies from playing more than two games out in Colorado, the Phils made their way to Milwaukee to face an old friend of theirs. Randy Wolf was on the hill for the Brewers, and his showing last night looked a lot like his showing last year in the NLCS when he was with the Dodgers. Last October, the Phillies got to Wolf early and forced him to throw a lot of pitches. He didn't make it out of the sixth inning. Last night, they did the same thing, rocking him for three runs in the first two innings and forcing him to throw over 100 pitches in five innings.
The way that the batting order approached Wolf was much the same way that they played against pitchers earlier in the season. The Phils were patient last night, forcing Wolf to make pitches to them, rather than swing at bad balls. When Wolf did groove something down the middle, the Phillies made sure it was hit well. Every Phillies batter saw at least ten pitches during the game, and Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez all had home runs. When the heart of the lineup is hitting that well, there's no way the Phillies are going to lose a game, and that's what happened last night.
Fresh off of his complete game shutout against the Braves, Jamie Moyer came out last night and didn't look like he had the same stuff. In the second inning, Moyer allowed three home runs, all on thigh high fastballs down the middle of the plate. He was missing his location, and didn't look like he had the same confidence that he had shown against the Braves, but he still pitched well, save for that second inning. He wouldn't allow another hit until the seventh inning after the second, and the two runs that the Brewers scored in that inning were after he left the game and due to an error by Chase Utley. As long as Moyer can pitch the way that he did for most of the game last night, he's more than welcome in this starting rotation, I can tell you that much.
All in all, it was a good win against a team that the Phillies should beat. Save for Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee, no one is hitting the ball that well for the Brewers, and their pitching is questionable, at best. Hopefully, the rest of the series goes as well as last night did.
Today, Joe Blanton (0-2, 4.97 ERA) gets his third start of the year for the Phillies. He'll be facing off against Chris Narveson (3-0, 5.06 ERA).
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