Rollins comes up clutch, Phillies win 5-3

Oh Jimmy.  Last night he commits the dagger, I mean error, that cost the Phillies the game.  A game in which Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson battled it out.  Tonight, a different story.

Jimmy Rollins had one hit in five at bats tonight.  He struck out once and left four runners on base.  His batting average dipped a couple specs of a point.  None of that matters now.  Rollins came up big in the ninth inning tonight roping a two run single to right field off Marlins closer Leo Nunez to give the Phillies a 5-3 lead.

That lead would hold to give the Phils a victory when anything but seemed it was going to happen.  Cliff Lee had been struggling through low run support for his past three starts.  The Phillies had only provided one run of support in his last three starts.  This game seemed to be the same story from the beginning.

Hanley Ramirez jumped on Lee early in the first inning hitting a home run to put the Marlins out in front 1-0.  Lee cruised through the next five innings until he ran into trouble in the seventh.  The Marlins hit four straight one out singles and scored twice in the inning and Lee failed to record an out.

J.C. Romero came in to pick up the pieces and got out of the inning with no more damage being done.  Kyle Kendrick worked a scoreless eighth (I know, I was surprised too) and picked up the win.   Ryan Madson converted his fifth save in as many chances in the ninth.  His ERA is now at 0.60.  He has allowed only one run in 15 innings of work.

Heading into the eighth inning the Phillies were trailing 3-2.  Up to this point in the season, the Phillies were 1-10 when trailing heading into the eighth inning.  Shane Victorino

hit a game tying home run off reliever Mike Dunn.  It was his sixth home run of the season and he extended his hit streak to 14 games.

Pete Orr had two doubles on the night after coming into the game in the seventh inning.  Nice move Charlie.  Brian Schneider left the game with what looked like a hamstring injury pulling up lame rounding third base in the fifth inning.  This could prove costly for the Phillies who already have starting catcher Carlos Ruiz on the disabled list with lower back tenderness.

Worth noting: Believe it or not, Kyle Kendrick’s ERA is 1.42.  He picked up the win tonight and is 3-2 on the season.  Also, Joe Blanton threw a bullpen session before the game and says his elbow is still not 100% but is still on track to make his next start against the Braves this weekend.