Phillies Beat the Braves in 13 Innings
A matchup that was pegged to be a pitchers duel on paper lived up to the hype Monday night as the Phillies beat the Braves 6-1 in 13 innings.
The Phillies got things going offensively in the top of the second inning as Ryan Howard launched his 12th HR to dead center field to give the Phillies the 1-0 lead. After that both starting pitchers went tit-for-tat as Cole Hamel, and Braves starter Julio Teheran, put on a pitching clinic. Cole Hamels pitched seven shutout innings, extending his scoreless streak to 23 2/3 innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.78 on the season. But when Cole Hamels is on the mound the bullpen usually blows a lead, and that’s just what they did tonight.
Jonathan Papelbon came in to close out his 16th game of the season but couldn’t get it done. Justin Upton and Chris Johnson had back to back singles and Andrelton Simmons singled in the game tying RBI. Papelbon blew his 2nd save of the season, and his first blown save since April 2nd.
The score stayed deadlocked at 1-1 until the 13th inning when the Phillies bats woke up. It started with a Ben Revere single and steal. Jimmy Rollins hit a sacrifice fly to move him over to third. After Chase Utley was intentionally walked, Ryan Howard hit a bullet that went right through Braves firs baseman Freddie Freeman’s legs which plated the go ahead run. But the Phillies didn’t stop there. They sent 10 men to the plate and scored five more runs to put the game out of reach. Antonio Bastardo, in his second inning of work, closed it out for the Phillies.
While the Phillies bats came alive in extra innings its hard not to feel bad for Phillies starter Cole Hamels tonight. This was the 28th time that the Phillies bullpen has blown a game in which Cole Hamels departed in line for the win. Hamels is sitting on 101 career wins, but should be looking for career win #130 in his next start.
The Phillies will face Ervin Santana tomorrow. The righty is sporting a 5-3 record with a 4.09 ERA. The Phillies will counter with Kyle Kendrick.
