The Phils salvaged a win with a six-run rally in the seventh inning against the Red Sox, avoiding being swept.

After coming home from a 7-3 road trip, which included seeing the Phils take two out of three games from the Mets at Citi Field, the Phillies come home and went on to lose the first two games of a three games series with the Boston Red Sox as Interleague Play resumes. The Phillies then won the final game of the series, after coming from behind to take the lead in the fifth before taking the game for good with a six-run seventh, as the Phils defeated the American League East leading Red Sox, 11-6, thus avoiding the sweep, while leaving themselves at 3-3 in Interleague Play.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with runners on the corners, and two men out, Jayson Werth hits an RBI single, knocking in Chase Utley, who had earlier singled, and had gone to third on Ryan Howard’s single, making it a 1-0 Phils’ lead, while Howard went on to second. The Red Sox would come back in the second as Rocco Baldelli started the inning off with a lead-off home run, his third home run of the second, tying the game up at one. The next batter game the Bosox the lead as Nick Green hits a solo home run, his third home run of the season, making the score, 2-1 Red Sox. Four batters later, with runners on the corners, and one man out, the Bosox increased their lead to 3-1 as Jacoby Ellsbury hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in George Kottaras, who had earlier walked, and had gone to third on Julio Lugo’s single. After a walk to Kevin Youkilis moved Lugo up to second base, Jason Bay would bring Lugo home with a single, giving Boston a 4-1 lead, while sending Youkilis up to second. The score would stay 4-1 Boston until the fifth inning. Pedro Feliz started the inning off with a single, before moving up to second base on a Chris Coste single. Phils’ starter J.A. Happ would move both men up a base with a sacrifice bunt, 3-4, putting both man in scoring position. With runners on second and third and one out, Jimmy Rollins would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Feliz from third, and making it a 4-2 Red Sox’s lead, while sending Coste over to third. Shane Victorino then made it a 4-3 ballgame with an RBI single, knocking in Coste. Utley followed with an infield single, sending Victorino up to second base, who would then go on to third on the throwing error committed on the play by Red Sox’s third baseman Mike Lowell, while Utley would move up to second, putting two runners once again into scoring position. Howard then gave the Phils a 5-4 lead with a two-run double, knocking in both Victorino and Utley. The Bosox would tie the game up at five-all in the sixth as Red Sox starter Josh Beckett started off the inning with a lead-off home run, his first home run of the season. The Phillies then took full control in the seventh. Rollins started the inning off by hitting a lead-off home run, his fifth home run of the year, giving the Phils a 6-5 lead. Three batters later, with two men on, and still nobody out, the Phils would increase their lead to 7-5, as Victorino, who had earlier singled and then stole second, scored on a force play-throwing error on a Howard grounder to first, 3-6, forcing out Utley, who had earlier walked, at second, while Red Sox’s shortstop Lugo threw the ball past the first baseman, allowing Howard to reach first base. Three batters later, with runners in scoring position and now two men out, Feliz hits a two-run double, knocking in Howard, who had went to third on Werth’s double, and Werth, who had just doubled, making it 9-5 Phils. After Coste is intentionally walked, and then Chan Ho Park is walked to load the bases, Rollins is hit by the pitch, forcing in Feliz, to give the Phils a 10-5 lead, while Coste and Park both moved up a base, as the Phils battered around. Victorino followed with a walk, bringing in Coste, and making it an 11-5 Phils’ lead, with Park and Rollins moving up a base. The inning would finally end with an Utley strike out. The Red Sox would get a run back in the eighth as, with runners on first and third, and nobody out, Lugo hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Kottaras, who had earlier doubled, and had gone to third on an Eric Bruntlett fielding error when he tried to pick up the ball after it had dropped in between him and Victorino, making it an 11-6 Phils’ lead. That would end up being the final score as Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless ninth.

J.A. Happ got a no-decision as he pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and six walks, while striking out three. Chan Ho Park got the win as he pitched two and a third innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk, striking out three. His record is now 3-1 with a 6.08 ERA. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up just two hits. Josh Beckett took the lost, as he went six innings plus two batters, giving up seven runs, six of which were earned, on eleven hits, as he struck out five. His record is 7-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Daniel Bard pitched two-thirds of an innings, giving up four runs on two hits and three walks, while striking out one. Takashi Saito pitched a third of an inning, giving up a walk, as he struck out a batter. Justin Masterson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit, while striking out one.

The Phillies collected fourteen hits in the game, with Pedro Feliz leading the way with three hits, knocking in two runs, as he increased his average to .318. He was followed by Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, who each collected two hits. Jimmy Rollins, Eric Bruntlett and Chris Coste had the other three hits. Besides Feliz, Rollins brought home three runs, Howard and Victorino each knocked in two runs and Werth had one RBI.

The first place Phillies (36-25), have the day-off today, as they lead the Mets by four games. Their next game will be tomorrow night at home against the Toronto Blue Jays.

2 comments

  2. philliesredpinstripes

    I get the feeling he isn’t laughing, since he lost both the game,
    and his composure.

    Reply

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