Phils Rediscover Long Ball, Top D-Backs 3-2

Jayson Werth put the Phillies on his back and got a little help from Raul Ibanez along the way.

Werth hit a pair of solo home runs while Ibanez added a solo shot of his own, as the Phillies came from behind to beat the Diamondbacks, 3-2.
Werth’s big shot was the game-winner in the top of the ninth inning off of Juan Gutierrez.

It had been 46 innings since the Phillies had put a ball in the seats, exactly one week dating back to Werth’s solo shot against the Marlins last Saturday; however the three solo home runs, combined with a solid night out of the bullpen propelled the Phillies to their third win in their last four games.

Making the spot start due to the injury to J.A.Happ, Nelson Figueroa took the mound and kept the Phillies in the game through five innings. His lone mistake was a two-run homer off the bat of Kelly Johnson that put the D-Backs up 2-1. All things considered, you couldn’t have asked for much more out of Figueroa as he scattered five hits, two walks and struck out four.

After Figgy’s night was over, the trio of Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson kept Arizona off the scoreboard, and struck out eight batters over the course of the final four innings.

Werth and Ibanez combined to go 4-8 with the three home runs, picking up the slack for the top of the lineup. Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard all failed to reach first base, combining to go 0-16.

One last interesting nugget from this one, the Phillies only struck out four times, but managed only six hits. Of those six hits, there were three homers and a pair of doubles. Ibanez provided the only single of the game for the Phils.

Tomorrow Kyle Kendrick will take the mound as the Phillies try to take the second series of this road trip and improve to 9-3 on the road.