Phils Pull Out Solid Win In San Diego
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, June 02, 2009 01:02 AM | Comments: 19
2009 Recaps, Posts
Joe Blanton strung together another strong start, the offense came through in the clutch and the bullpen took care of business in a 5-3 win over the Padres.
The Phils could’ve scored many more runs off an ineffective Kevin Correia, but still managed back-to-back home runs from Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the fifth and a couple big hits by Utley and Victorino in the third. Utley — who had a 2-for-4 day — towered the ball past the fair pole, while Howard straight bombed it into the centerfield concrete jungle. By next season Howard will likely hit a ball in every ballpark’s centerfield concrete jungle. Victorino went 2-for-5, driving in a pair, including a key insurance run in the eighth.
Their efforts backed Blanton, who engineered another good start — seven innings, three runs, six hits, five strikeouts. In classic Blanton fashion he kept hitters off balance while mixing in a few sweet whiffs. Only the elite Adrian Gonzalez and the pesky Scott Hairston beat him for homers. Hairston also fueled the Pads’ second-inning run.
Scott Eyre relieved Blanton and almost finished the whole thing, but his superior effort ended after a leadoff walk in the ninth to Gonzalez. Brad Lidge entered, got Hairston to fly out, received a gift caught stealing by Gonzalez and got an easy final out for his fourth save in as many games. Now Lidge’s ERA stands at 7.40.
With a Mets loss to the Pirates, the Phillies now lead the National League East by 1.5 games.
Posts: 0 william
really too bad about that second homerun joes pitch count was outstanding would have been nice to see a philly starter run the table for a complete game. here’s hoping bastardo can go 6 strong with 3 or less tomorrow and happ can give 7 strong and put this rotation back in a good groove
Posted: 01:32 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Brian of CO
7IP, 3 R, thats pretty nice. 2 very darn good starts in a row now huh? Once Hamels gets back to pitching like Cole Hamels, this could be the start of a beautiful remainder of the year for the Pitchers if they can keep this up. Typical Howard fashion, start a little slow, and then the onslaught. I am Howard Fan, but several weeks ago I wasnt overly convinced of the All Star game (as a starter) for him until now. Starting to hit the ball, and his defense is much better then years past. For month I was wondering why he decided to lose all that weight, but now with him hitting, it has only served to help him alot.
Posted: 01:32 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Brian of CO
I meant first month, not for month. My bad.
Posted: 01:33 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Grrrumpy Miner
This road trip is a tricky one.Mets won 3 of 4 from a better team than the Padres (The Giants) 3 vs the Beasts in the Dodgers (albiet it was a comedy show),and back 3000 Miles to CitiField to face the Amazins who will be looking for blood vs a tired jet-lagged team.Good Luck for the next 2 weeks,you’re gonna need it.
Posted: 02:22 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 TwoTonsOfIrony
Blanton put together a very nice outing and he was getting squeezed very very badly by the umpire. There were a few low strikes that were blatantly in the zone that he was not getting. I was watching the Padres feed because that’s what MLB Extra Innings was showing and their announcers kept showing the pitch track on “balls” and saying things like, “well, we’ll take it”, or “not quite sure what was wrong with that pitch”. So that probably added a good 15 pitches to his count as well.
That double play early on where Jimmy ranged to his right, did a little pop-up off his knee, and then threw to Utley for a beautiful turn was the best one I have seen all year. Also I am pretty sure that Jimmy intentionally pushed Gonzo off the bag, but that’s the umps job to see that and call him safe, good on Rollins, a little gamesmanship never hurt anyone.
All in all Blanton looks like the guy the A’s threw out there as their opening day starter last year. Let’s hope it continues.
Posted: 07:45 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 » Blanton, Back-to-Back Homers Lead Phillies Past Padres | Blogging-Baseball.com
[...] Lidge shut the door on the Padres going an inning each with Lidge credited with his 13th save. Phillies Nation’s Tim Malcolm adds commentary on the Phils late game bullpen efforts: Scott Eyre relieved Blanton and almost finished the whole thing, but his superior effort ended [...]
Posted: 07:47 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Griffin
And it’s a good morning! Looks like Madson will get the save opp tonight as Lidge will be unavailable. Nice job by Blanton.
Tonight we see Bastardo!
Posted: 07:47 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Jeff of NoVa.
I am excited for tonight!! I have been waiting all year to see one of these young guys that have been performing on the farm.
I have high hopes but more excitement for Bastardo! I am so glad for Moyer, and glad Blanton has been the Blanton we saw in the spring. I would rather not have to trade for a starter and I have said early on in the year that they will not trade for a starter, especially a high dollar one. I am going to stick with my prediction. Go Bastardo be the Kendrick from 2007.
Posted: 09:39 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Jeff of NoVa.
Lets put Werth on the bench tonight please, maybe give Dobbs a start. Werth has looked lost at the plate for the last month. Needs a night off to maybe get the kinks out and Dobbs needs some at bats. With Peavy on the mound Werth will look even more foolish.
Posted: 09:58 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 LeaveITtoPeaver
The Philes Win was nice! The Mets Loss was even better….100 million dollars spent and thier BP still blows 5 run leads in the 8th!
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Posted: 09:58 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Don M
I think Stairs would get the start.. he at least has experience in RF, and defense will be important tonight as we aren’t likely to score a ton of runs off Peavy..
So I actually think Werth stays in the lineup tonight and bats 6th again
Posted: 10:02 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
Lidge’s ERA will take MONTHS to reach a visually-appealing level.
Posted: 10:17 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 christopher
who cares what lidge’s ERA looks like as long as he keeps closing out games.
great win last night to start a tough road trip, i’m also amped up to see what bastardo can do tonight. and i couldn’t agree more with the notion of benching werth tonight.
Posted: 10:46 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Lets not get over confident about the Mets downfall, that’s still a better team that any Phils fan will willingly give credit for with stars as good as any… But boy is it nice to see them struggle because of neglecting role players which is exactly where our Phils have achieved.
Would be nice to see Dobbs get a start to get his season going.
Posted: 10:47 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Mark B
Manny – you’re right, but the 4 blown saves total has stayed at 4 for a while now, and we just want so see it stay at 4, like through October would work just fine.
Posted: 10:50 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
I’m extremely excited about tonight… for once, the Phillies have given their guy a real chance at succeeding. They are notorious for bringing up rookies in near impossible situations. This is a great spot to start Bastardo; nobody has seen him so he has a leg up, he’s confident because he’s pitching well and he’s facing an average team on the west coast so there’s minimal pressure. He’s up against Peavy so it’s not a great matchup but he knows that it’s going to be a low scoring game so he’ll definitely want to bring his “A” game. A win is not that important… I want to see him pitch well.
Posted: 10:56 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck P
Even though he blew those saves in NY, I thought that Lidge has looked better and I really think that he turned the corner heading into that weekend… mechanically, he seemed to have his stuff back and was having better command with his fastball but he didn’t get the breaks and threw a couple of fastballs in situations where he should have been throwing the slider (and he knew it). Truth be told,I really wasn’t upset with those blown saves and actually felt much better about out the way he was pitching. He looked like he had that fire again…
Hopefully optimistic…
Posted: 11:21 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 Philly Geoff
Hopefully he will be a Glorious Bastardo!
And Stairs needs to be playing on a semi-regular basis.
Posted: 11:48 AM on June 2, 2009
Posts: 0 M.P. AKA Phillies Phan SC #54
Lidge said it last night to Sarge, he was not mechanically adjusted to his knee situation. He made adjustments and he is much better! Let’s hope the success continues.
Posted: 03:26 PM on June 2, 2009