Bats Come Alive in Win Over Orioles
Ordinarily, one would expect a team that scores 13 runs in a game to get more than one walk, but the Phillies made the most of their opportunities in a 13-6 shellacking of the Baltimore Orioles. The Phils put up 14 hits, nine of them for extra bases, including four home runs, and in a true total team effort, those nine extra-base hits came off the bats of eight different players. The Phillies were a combined 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left only two men on. The result, a 13-6 win for La Furia Roja.
The Phillies got to work early against Orioles ace Jeremy Guthrie. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer with one out in the top of the first, and three batters later Delwyn Young scored Ross Gload with the first of his three hits. Ryan Howard had the first of his three RBI on a sacrifice fly in the 3rd, then added two more with a home run off Kevin Gregg, part of a four-run fifth inning for the Phillies. Two pitches later, Gload made it back-to-back homers.
While Danys Baez and Antonio Bastardo each pitched two scoreless innings of relief, Cliff Lee and Brad Lidge were both tagged for crooked numbers. In three innings, Lee allowed three earned runs on five hits, including a solo homer by Adam Jones. Lidge walked Matt Angle on four pitches to start the eighth, retired Ryan Adams, then allowed first-pitch hits to Josh Bell, Joseph Mahoney, and Randy Winn to bring the score to 8-5. Ultimately, it wouldn’t matter, as a five-run ninth inning at the expense of Rick Vandenhurk put the game out of reach.
Action resumes tomorrow with a pair of split-squad games, one in Bradenton against the Pirates, and the other at Bright House Field against Tampa Bay. Both are set to start at 1:05 p.m., and the Tampa game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.
