The Phils put an exclamation point on the first half of their season, hammering the Braves 14-1 behind another dominant start by Hamels and a 20-hit performance from the offense.
With the win, the Phils take two of three in the series. They go into the All-Star break with the best record in baseball, on pace to win 101 games.
They won the opener of the series 3-2 on a walkoff homer by Ibanez in the tenth. Halladay started for the Phils and gave up a run in the second when Chipper Jones singled, took second and then came in to score on a single by Freddie Freeman, putting Atlanta up 1-0. The Phils tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second on singles by Ibanez and Ruiz and a sac fly by Valdez. Halladay gave up three hits in the fourth, the third of which was a single by Dan Uggla that plated Brian McCann to put the Braves up 2-1. Again the Phils tied the game right back up on a homer by Ruiz in the bottom of the fourth. The Phils didn’t allow a run in the game after that. Halladay pitched scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh and was followed by Stutes, Bastardo and Perez, who combined to throw three innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Ibanez homered off of righty Scott Proctor with one out in the tenth to give the Phils the win.
Atlanta took game two 4-1 in eleven innings. Cliff Lee started the game for the Phils and pitched great. He gave the Phils a 1-0 lead himself in the third, hitting his first career home run. Dan Uggla tied the game with a homer of his own off of Lee in the fifth. It was the only run that Lee would allow in the game. He went eight scoreless innings and was followed by Bastardo, who threw a scoreless ninth, and Perez, who threw a scoreless tenth. Stutes walked Eric Hinkse to start the eleventh and Hinkse was bunted to second. Alex Gonzalez hit a popup in foul territory that Howard couldn’t make a play on, allow the at-bat to continue. Gonzalez singled Hinkse home to make it 2-1 and McCann followed that with a two-run homer.
Yesterday Hamels was fantastic and the offense pounded out 14 runs as the Phils rolled to a 14-1 win.
The Phillies go into the All-Star break at 57-34 on the year after beating the Atlanta Braves 14-1 yesterday afternoon. The Phils take the series two games to one and are in first place in the NL East, 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Braves.
Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He struck out six and goes into the break at 11-4 with a 2.32 ERA and an 0.93 ratio. Right-handed batters have hit 198/242/282 against him for the year.
He walked McCann with two outs in the first, but got Freeman to fly to left behind him for the third out.
Uggla led off the second with a double and moved to third on a ground out by Jason Heyward. Julio Lugo was next and hit a ground ball to third, which was fielded by Rollins. Rollins threw to first in time to get Lugo, but Howard didn’t catch it for an error and Atlanta led 1-0. Nate McLouth was next and grounded to second with Lugo forced at second for the second out. Jordan Schaefer went down trying to bunt for a hit to end the frame.
More bad defense from Howard in the series, even though it didn’t cost the Phils a run.
Hamels set Atlanta down in order in the third with the score tied at 1-1. Martinez made a fantastic playing leaning over the third base railing to retire Freeman for the third out.
Heyward doubled to right with one out in the fourth and the Phils up 3-1. Hamels struck Lugo out behind him for the second out before walking McLouth. The pitcher Derek Lowe flew to center for the third out.
Up 4-1, Hamels set Atlanta down in order in the fifth.
He got them in order in the sixth and again in the seventh.
Up 10-1, Hamels threw a 1-2-3 eighth. David Ross hit for McCann with two outs and hit a long fly ball to left, but Ibanez made a great catch, timing his jump perfectly and catching the ball at the top of the wall to set Atlanta down.
Kendrick pitched the ninth up 14-1. He allowed a leadoff single to Freeman, but got the next three hitters behind him.
Seven pitches in the game for Kendrick. The pen should be really well rested for the next game, which isn’t till Friday.
The Phillies lineup against righty Derek Lowe went (1) Rollins (2) Martinez (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ibanez (6) Ruiz (7) Brown (8) Mayberry. Martinez at third for Polanco and Mayberry in center for Victorino.
Rollins led off the bottom of the first with a single and moved to second when Martinez followed with a single to right. Utley grounded to short with Martinez forced at second for the first out before Howard hit into a double-play.
Rollins probably could have gone to third on Martinez’s single to right. Not doing so keeps the Phils off the board.
Down 1-0, Brown singled to center with one out in the second. He came around to score when Mayberry followed with a double to left, tying the game at 1-1. Hamels grounded to short for the third out.
Martinez and Utley singled back-to-back with one out in the third, putting men on first and third. Utley stole second before Howard singled to center, scoring Martinez to put the Phils up 2-1 with men on first and third. Ibanez was next and hit a ball hard to second that Uggla didn’t handle for an error. Utley scored (3-1) and Howard took second. Ruiz and Brown both grounded out to keep the Phils from getting more.
Mayberry started the fourth with another double to left and Hamels bunted him to third with the first out. Rollins singled into center, scoring Mayberry to make it 4-1. Martinez moved Rollins to second with another single, but Utley hit into a double-play to end the inning.
The Phils went in order in the fifth and again in the sixth.
They scored six times in the seventh. Rollins singled and went to third on a one-out single by Utley. Utley stole second again and Howard was walked intentionally to load the bases for Ibanez. Ibanez singled to right, scoring Rollins and Utley (6-1) and moving Howard to second. The runners took second and third on a wild pitch before Ruiz walked, loading the bases again. Brown singled to left, scoring Howard and Ibanez. 8-1 with men on first and second. Mayberry doubled to left yet again, scoring both runners and making it 10-1 with a man on second and one out. Hamels struck out and Rollins flew to center to leave Mayberry at second.
Martinez started the eighth with a single and moved up to second on a one-out single by Howard before Ibanez homered to right. 13-1. Ruiz doubled and moved to third on a single by Brown. Mayberry grounded to third for the second out with Brown forced at second and Ruiz scoring. 14-1. Gload hit for Hamels and flew to right to end the inning.
Rollins was 3-for-5 in the game. He was 5-for-14 in the three-game series and goes into the break hitting 268/340/383 for the year.
Martinez was 4-for-5 in the game and 5-for-6 in the series to raise his line on the year to 229/270/289.
Utley was 2-for-5 yesterday with five men left on base. 3-for-14 with a walk in the set. 280/370/439.
Howard 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. 3-for-14 with a walk and an RBI in the series. 257/353/475 for the year. 238/333/349 over his last 72 plate appearances.
Ibanez 2-for-5 with a home run and six RBI yesterday. 5-for-15 with two home runs and seven RBI in the series. Hit the walkoff homer that won game one in the tenth. 241/287/416 for the year. Over his last five games he’s gone 9-for-25 with three home runs and 13 RBI. 275/307/498 over his last 244 plate appearances.
Ruiz 1-for-4 with a double and a walk. 4-for-10 with a walk, a double and a home run in the series. 255/360/359 for the year. 279/388/382 in his last 161 plate appearances.
Brown 3-for-5 with two RBI. 5-for-13 with five singles and two RBI in the series. 252/327/408 on the year. He came into July hitting 214/294/411 for the year and has hit 371/436/400 so far in 35 July plate appearances.
Mayberry 3-for-5 with three doubles and four RBI. 4-for-14 with a walk, four doubles and four RBI in the series. 244/326/439 for the year so far.
No game today. The next game for the Phils is against the Mets in New York on Friday.
Polanco will join Victorino in not playing in the All-Star game. The linked article also suggests Madson may be back shortly after the break.
July 11th, 2011 on 4:40 pm
Well, the first half ended the way most of us thought, with the Phillies in first place. I doubt, though, that anyone anticipated that it would be as close as it is. The offense is largely responsible for that. (One can only imagine what this team would have accomplished if they had scored four runs a game more often than they have scored two or less.)
The starting pitching is certainly as advertised, Oswalt’s injury notwithstanding. Hamels has been awesome, to say the least. Worely has been a delightful addition so far. Time will tell if he is the guy we have seen. I sure hope so.
The bullpen has been a surprise. The guys we had counted on are not there; maybe they will be back and maybe they will not be. Contreras and Lidge are seemingly past history, though I would be happy to be proven wrong. Guys whose names were hardly known outside of a small circle of minor league afficionados have become key players in the mix. Stutes has been more than ayone could have hoped. I sure would like to have Madsen back in form, though.
The offense. One can only hope that the last game with the Braves is a harbinger of thigns to come. Ibanez and Howard have to be better. Ibanez ended the first half well, but he is sooooooo streaky. Howard’s not having even one dinger off a leftie is worrisome to me. I just wish the offense would give the starters a little more room for error. If they do not, they will be ok in the regular season, but it is not a good recipe for the post season.
July 11th, 2011 on 5:17 pm
Great to see the offense come alive at the end of the first half. Let’s hope it’s for real.
The Phils were great in the first half this year. It would have been nice if the Braves hadn’t been quite so good, too, but pounding them was a nice way to go into the break. Fantastic pitching for the Phils so far — the only thing I feel a little worried about was how much contribution they got from unexpected sources like Worley, Bastaro, Stutes and even Kendrick. Hopefully they get it in the second half, too, but they shouldn’t be counting on it.