The Phillies beat the Houston Astros 10-2 today. Brett Myers got the win while Brandon Backe got the loss for the Astros. The Phillies scored 10 runs but still left another 10 men on base. There were 6 homeruns hit in the game; 4 by the Phillies and 2 solo homeruns hit by the Astros for their only runs.
Brett Myers pitched another strong game going 7 innings with only giving up 1 run while he struck out 8. Tom Gordon came in and recorded a scoreless 8th inning, and Clay Condrey came in for the 9th and gave up a solo homer to Carlos Lee on his first pitch, then followed that up with a single, then retired the next three to end the game.
The Phillies chases Astros starter Brandon Backe from the game with no outs recorded in the 4th inning. He gave up 6 runs, but one was due to an error.
I almost feel bad for Jose Valverde…almost. I think that we might have really done some damage to his psyche in this series. Not only did he blow the first game, but he came in tonight to get some work and gave up a double to Geoff Jenkins and then a homerun to Chris Coste. He started the 8th inning on a roll, but then got hammered. Hopefully he will be able to still be their closer and only blow up against us.
Every starting position player had a hit today. Everybody besides Eric Bruntlett that is, but I don’t count him oftentimes. Chris Coste lead the way going 4-5 with a homerun, a double, and 3 RBIs. He also reached base on an error in his one at bat that wasn’t a hit.
Chase Utley hit his 4th homerun of the season. Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell combined for their first back to back homeruns of the season in the 6th inning. Burrell continues to put up video game like numbers (he is the leading MVP candidate for me in 2K8) with 6 homers and 17 RBIs.
While it was nice to see the bats get hot, it could have been so much more. We really need to capitalize on our opportunities. Luckily our pitching was fantastic tonight and we got away with leaving so many men on base.
Tomorrow is the game that every phan has been waiting for since the winter deal of Johan Santana to the Mets. Tomorrow, Phillies ace lefty Cole Hamels (2-1, 0.82) will take on Mets ace lefty Johan Santana (1-2, 3.05). It is the first time that each pitcher will face the other team this season. Opening pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm.
Jimmy Rollins will not be available for the game. He went home to California to be with his family following the death of his uncle. I wish all the Rollins family the best.
Oh yeah. Here are the stats I came up with for the offense on my scorecard:
So Taguchi CF:
2-5 (Run)
Greg Dobbs 3B:
2-5 (2 Runs)
Chase Utley 2B:
2-5 (HR, 2 RBI, 2 K)
Ryan Howard 1B:
2-4 (HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K)
Pat Burrell LF:
2-4 (HR, 2R, 2 RBI, 1 BB)
Geoff Jenkins RF:
2-4 (2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K)
Chris Coste C:
4-5 (HR, 2B, 1 R, 3 RBI, Reached on Error)
Eric Bruntlett SS:
0-5 (2 K)
Brett Myers P:
0-3 (BB, K)
