The Reds put two on the board against Cliff Lee in the first but the Phils fired back with back-to-back homers from Jimmy Rollins and Wil Nieves in their half to knot the game at two. After a Chase Utley ground out RBI in the fifth and a Marlon Byrd solo homer in the sixth, the Phils put up a four spot in the seventh with an RBI single from Byrd and three-run homer from Cody Asche to put the Phils ahead 8-2. The Reds added an unearned run in the eighth off Mike Adams but would fall to the Phils 8-3.
Rollins Closing in on History
With his 1-2, 2 BB, 2 run, 1 RBI day, J-Rol is now 11th all-time in homers, 17th in runs, and 34th in RBI among shortstops, in addition to being tied for 10th in steals, 27th in hits, 8th in doubles, and 14th in triples. Rollins is in a really meaty part of the record books in the counting stats and should make substantial jumps within the next few months. Is J-Rol a Hall of Famer? He has put himself among them.
Speaking of having a place among Hall of Famers, J-Rol is now just 21 hits behind Mike Schmidt for first place all-time in club history. Rollins tied Ed Delahanty for third place and when Rollins gets his fourth-next hit, he will tie Richie Ashburn for second place. With his homer, J-Rol moved into a tie for ninth place with Dick Allen.
Asche is On Fire
In 14 games in the month of May, Cody Asche has 3 HR and is hitting .333 with a .418 OBP and 5 2B. After hitting .200/.284/.300 in April, Asche is rewarding manager Ryne Sandberg for his patience. A lot has been made of Asche being a historically slow starter: as his numbers are baring out this year, there may be some merit to that.
Lee Bends, Doesn’t Break
Lee went 6 and 2/3 for the Phils, giving up 9 hits and walking a batter while striking out only 3. While it wasn’t vintage Cliff Lee, and is nothing compared to Cole Hamels‘ last two outings, Lee pitched solid enough for the Phillies to give them their second win in a row to stay within 3.5 games of the first place Braves and Nats.
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