Phils Win, 5-1, in Escape from Los Angeles
The Phillies seemed to put it all together for their fifth win on this California road trip, as La Furia Roja blasted past the Dodgers, 5-1. Jimmy Rollins led off with his seventh homer of the year, and one inning later, Shane Victorino followed suit. J-Roll would later add another RBI, driving in Domonic Brown with a double in the top of the 9th. Chase Utley doubled thrice from the two-hole, driving in insurance runs in the top of the 7th inning off converted catcher Kenley Jansen and in the 9th off Hong-Chih Kuo.
All told, the Phillies tallied 10 hits, seven for extra bases, and scored on each of the four Dodger pitchers.
Roy Oswalt, for his part, pitched very well in 6 1/3 innings, despite throwing 115 pitches and tying a career high with six walks. It looked like The Speedwagon would combine with Brad Lidge on a no-hitter for the second time in his career, at least until Casey Blake singled to right in the sixth inning for the Dodgers’ only hit off Oswalt.
The bullpen, which had been implacable in recent days, once again made things interesting. After J.C. Romero ended the seventh on a double play, Ryan Madson allowed a run in the eighth on a James Loney single, which missed being a home run by a couple feet. Though Jamey Carroll scored on the play, Matt Kemp missed second base initially, forcing him to go back and holding James Loney at first. That became important when the next batter, Casey Blake, grounded into a 6-3 double play. Instead of getting out of the inning, Madson would have faced Phillie Killer Rod Barajas with runners on second and third. Brad Lidge closed out a four-run game successfully for the second time in 17 hours.
Speaking of Barajas, he and Andre Ethier, who hit Phillies pitching like Chris Brown hit Matt Kemp’s girlfriend, combined to go 0-for-7 with a walk. No doubt their quiet afternoon contributed to the Phillies’ victory.
The sun gave outfielders fits all day long. Jayson Werth lost a Barajas pop-up in short right field in fifth inning, and Dodger left fielder Scott Podsednik lost no fewer than four fly balls in the sun–both home runs, plus Utley’s 7th-inning double and Brown’s 9th-inning ground rule double–thought relatively little damage came of these missteps.
Tomorrow, the Phillies head to Denver for a makeup game against the Rockies. Joe Blanton takes the mound for the Phillies against Gustavo Chacin Jhoulys Chacin.
