Phils Drop 2nd Straight to G-Men
In the bottom of the second, Aaron Rowand’s RBI triple gave the Giants a 1-0 lead. Jimmy Rollins tied the game with a solo home run down the left field line. Jayson Werth’s infield single led to a throwing error by second baseman Freddy Sanchez. On the play, Chase Utley scored to give the Phillies the lead. Carlos Ruiz’s RBI single made it 3-1 in the fifth inning.
It appeared that the Phillies were in good position to win, but the Giants fought back and scored six unanswered runs. Sanchez, who was making his first start since being traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates, doubled in a run which tied the game at three.
With two outs in the fifth, Hamels could see his way out of the inning. Pablo Sandoval placed the ball perfectly in between the mound, first, and second. Since Sandoval is a slow runner, Ryan Howard had a chance to throw him out because he fielded the ball cleanly. Instead, he threw the ball away and the go-ahead run scored. The Giants did not look back.
Hamels pitched five innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, on ten hits and two walks. He struck out two, but it was not a pretty line for Hamels.
Hamels was not backed by his offense either. During the current road trip, the Phillies have had trouble hitting with runners in scoring position. Today, they could barely get runners into scoring position.
The Giants won, 7-3, taking three out of four games against the Phillies. The west coast is no joke, as they are surprisingly one of the stronger divisions in baseball.
