Game Recap:
The Phillies continued their winning ways with a good showing at the plate against Arizona, which helped offset an average night from Cole Hamels and continued their season high six game winning streak.
What went right?
Shane Victorino was 2-4 with a run scored before leaving the game with a hip injury in the seventh inning.
Placido Polanco went 2-5 and scored a run.
Raul Ibanez continued his hot streak, going 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Ryan Howard was 2-4 with a two run home run, two runs scored and three RBI.
Jayson Werth went 2-3 with a run scored, a home run and two RBI.
Carlos Ruiz went 2-3 with an RBI.
Cody freaking Ransom was 1-2 off the bench with a two run home run.
What went wrong?
Cole Hamels didn't have the best game, throwing just five innings while allowing three runs on six hits. He walked four batters and struck out eight.
David Herndon picked up the win, but only because someone had to. He allowed two runs (one earned) in the sixth inning on a hit and a walk.
Wilson Valdez went 0-3, proving once again that Wilson Valdez is the only man who can't get just a single hit out of 13 from the Phils.
Did I mention that Shane Victorino got hurt?
Game Analysis:
Another day, and it's another win for the Phillies, who suddenly look more like the team that started out this season on fire than the team that couldn't do anything right for almost two months. Tonight, Cole Hamels didn't pitch that well, but the offense was actually able to back him up, scoring nine times on 13 hits as the Phils won their sixth in a row and moved to within 3.5 games of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East.
With Ryan Howard doing most of the heavy lifting for the heart of the offense, it was hopefully only a matter of time until the other bats got back to hitting, and for tonight, it at least looked that way. Raul Ibanez kept up his little hot streak, hitting safely in his sixth consecutive game while driving in another run with a single in the sixth inning. Jayson Werth had his first home run in ages with a two run shot in the fifth, and Ryan Howard just kept being Ryan Howard, driving in three runs and hitting his 23rd home run of the season. With a little backup from Cody Ransom and his home run in the seventh, the Phils had more than enough at the plate tonight. Jimmy Rollins missed the game with a sore foot, however, and Shane Victorino had to leave with a left oblique strain that could keep him out for a period of time, so the injury bug may be striking yet again.
This time, if Victorino is out for any extended period of time, the Phillies have to look into calling Domonic Brown up from Lehigh Valley. It sounds like a broken record right now with people saying he needs to come up, but the Phils have no other options right now if Victorino does need to go on the disabled list. To put it simply, Brown is ready. He hit .318 in Reading this season with 15 home runs, and is killing the ball at Triple A, smacking five home runs and batting .340 with 19 RBI in 27 games. To top it off, he's only 22 years old right now. Honestly, without making a move outside the club, there are no other options at this point. I hope that Victorino isn't going to miss much time, but if he does, at least the Phillies have Brown at a backup plan. Jayson Werth can play a few games in center field, and Brown can handle playing right field for a bit. Besides, a little major league experience would help him out even more. It's going to happen next season anyway, so the Phils might as well call him up a bit early if they have to.
All the hitting tonight offset what was a pretty average showing from Cole Hamels. Hamels didn't have his usual solid stuff tonight, though he was still decent. Arizona made him throw a lot of pitches and worked a lot of deep counts, which is why he only lasted five innings. Usually, if you can get six hits and three runs out of a starting pitcher, that's a good night, but when it happens in only five innings with 108 pitches being thrown, it wasn't that good of a night on the mound. However, the Phillies at least had the offense ready and able to back Hamels up tonight, which was a nice change from most of his outings this year. It was another no decision for Cole, but at least this one ended up with a win, despite the best efforts of David Herndon out of the bullpen. Luckily, the rest of the bullpen was solid, with Jose Contreras getting into a little trouble in the eight, only to get bailed out by a great defensive play by Ryan Howard. Other than that, Arizona was held without another run, as Danys Baez, Contreras and Ryan Madson shut the door for the final three innings.
It was another good win tonight for the Phillies, who did it this time with their bats in place of solid starting pitching. One bad outing isn't going to kill Cole Hamels, who is still having a great year, despite his 7-7 record. Regardless, the Phils have turned a six game hole in the National League East into just a 3.5 game hole in a week. This is a very good thing.
Tomorrow, Roy Halladay (11-8, 2.28 ERA) looks to extend the winning streak, as he faces off against Edwin Jackson (6-9, 5.01 ERA).
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