The Phils continue their winning ways, in spite of a short brawl, as they crush the Giants, 9-2.

In spite of a short brawl in the sixth inning, the Phils continue their present winning ways as they crush the World Champs, 9-2.

The Giants took the lead in the first as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Pablo Sandoval hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in Jeff Keppinger, who had earlier walked, then went to third on Carlos Beltran’s single, giving the Giants a 1-0 lead. The Phils tied the game up at one-all in the fourth as, with one man out, Shane Victorino hits a solo home run, his eleventh home run of the season. The Phils then took the lead as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Raul Ibanez hits an RBI force out, 4-6, as Chase Utley, who had earlier singled, then went to third on Hunter Pence’s single, scored as Pence, who had just singled, is wiped out at second base for the inning’s second out, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead, as Ibanez beat out the throw back to first. One batter later, the Phils’ took a 4-1 lead as John Mayberry, Jr. hits a two-run home run, his ninth home run of the season, knocking in Ibanez. The Phils then took a 5-1 lead in the fifth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Placido Polanco hits an RBI single, scoring Jimmy Rollins, who had earlier walked, then stole second base, before he is thrown out trying to go to second base to make sure that Rollins did score, 9-2-6, for the inning’s second out. The Giants got a run back in their half of the fifth as Eli Whiteside hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the year, making it a 5-2 Phils’ lead. The Phils added to their lead in the sixth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Brian Schneider hits an RBI single, scoring Ibanez, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Mayberry’s single, giving the Phils a 6-2 lead, while sending Mayberry, who had just singled, on to second base. Two batters later, after Vance Worley had pop bunt out on an excellent catch near home plate by Whiteside for the inning’s second out, both Schneider and Mayberry moved up a base on Ramon Ramirez’s wild pitch, with Rollins batting. Rollins then gave the Phils an 8-2 lead with an RBI single, scoring both Schneider and Mayberry. After Rollins stole second base, for his second steal of the night, Polanco got on base with an infield single, sending Rollins on to third. The next batter, Victorino, is then hit in the middle of the back by Ramirez, which would lead to both team emptying their benches and their bullpens, and then to a very short brawl, thanks in part to Whitestide tackling Polanco, just as it looked like things were about to cool down. This would lead to Ramirez, Whiteside and Victorino all being thrown out of the game, all now waiting for how hard they will each be punished for their actions. (Personally, I’m hoping that Ramirez and Whiteside will get the worst punishments. I mean: Ramirez, sore loser/man up, dude. Whiteside, this is not the WWF. Victorino, seriously, cool the temper, dude.) The Phils then made it a 9-2 lead in the seventh as Pence hits a lead-off solo home run, his thirteenth home run of the season. That would end up being the final score as David Herndon pitched an easy ninth.

Vance Worley (8-1, 2.35) gets the win as he pitched seven strong innings, as he ignored the fireworks in the sixth inning, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk, while striking out six. Michael Stutes and David Herndon combine for two scoreless innings, giving up two hits (one hit each), while striking out a batter (Stutes). Jonathan Sanchez (4-6, 4.10) took the lost as he went four and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four. Ramon Ramirez pitched an inning, before he is ejected from the game because of his involvement in the brawl, as he gave up three runs on four hits, a walk and a wild pitch. Jeremy Affeldt pitched an inning and a third, giving up a run on a hit, while he struck out one.  Guillermo Mota and Brian Wilson combine for two scoreless innings, giving up a hit (Wilson) and two walks (one walk each), while striking out three (Mota (1), Wilson (2)) between them.

The Phils had thirteen hits in the ballgame, with Placido Polanco (Singles, RBI), Shane Victorino (Single, Home Run, RBI, before his ejection from the ballgame because of his involvement in the brawl), Hunter Pence (Single, Home Run, RBI) and John Mayberry, Jr. (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs) all leading the team with two hits each. Jimmy Rollins (Single, 2 RBIs), Chase Utley (Single), Raul Ibanez (Double, RBI), Brian Schneider (Single, RBI) and Vance Worley (Single) had the other five Phils’ hits.

The Phils (73-39, 1st East) continue their series with the Giants (62-51, 1st West) with an afternoon game that will be televised on Fox. The game will start at 4:10 pn EDT (1:10 pm PDT). The Phils will start Cole Hamels (12-6, 2.62), who is coming off a no-decision against the Rockies on August 1, as he went six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk, while striking out five, in the Phils’ 4-3 extra-innings win. He will once again be going for his thirteenth win, while trying to increase the Phils’ winning streak to nine games. The Giants will counter with Matt Cain (9-7, 3.10), who is coming off a lost to the Diamondbacks on August 1, as he went five and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and three walks, while striking out five, in the Giants’ 5-2 lost. He will be trying to stop the presently fast-running Phils. The Phils will be out to beat one of the Giants’ best starters to show who is the best team in the NL.

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